THUNBERGIA. Africa, Madagascar and Asia. A large group of mostly tropical vines, varied in foliage but similar in flower to the trumpet vines. Gardeners here are most familiar with T. alata, the black-eyed Susan vine, grown as a summer annual because of its tenderness to frost. The following are hardier and also adapt well to container culture, making it possible to winter them indoors. Sun or part shade, most soils, moderate to regular watering. 25^oF or less, recovering after extensive damage to the tops.

alata. Black-eyed Susan vine. This is one of the tenderest species in most of its forms and is often treated as an annual. However, this selection appears to be several degrees hardier than the norm. It it thickly covered by angled, nearly heart-shaped, bright green leaves, 2-3” long. Scattered among them most of the year are brilliant orange flowers with 2" faces and blackish purple centers.

battiscombei. Not quite a vine; if free-standing it will make a fountain shaped 3-6' shrub. The leaves are 3-6" long, thick, deeply veined and polished in surface. It blooms more or less continuously from spring to fall, carrying open clusters of large lavender blue blossoms.

grandiflora. Blue trumpet vine. The giant of the group in all respects. It has vigorous shoots with broad, glistening leaves up to 6" long. The summer flowers have a flat face about 3" across, at the end of a tube of equal length. Coloring of the typical form, which we hope to recapture, is a soft blue to purple. The variety angustifolia has nearly arrow-shaped leaves; flowers in this unnamed clone are bright purple-blue. ‘Alba’ has pure white flowers. It recovered after passing through our 10^o freeze of December, 1990 outside.

gregorii A closely branched, slender stemmed vine, growing 10' or more tall and making a thick curtain over any support. The leaves are only about 2" long in this selection, given an odd color cast by their thick coating of tan hairs. Similarly hairy buds open almost continuously from spring to fall into 2" blossoms. These are colored a bright, flat orange, much resembling those of T. alata but lacking the black centers.