Common Name:

Plant Type:
Evergreen vine
Family:
Solanaceae (The Nightshade Family)
Geographic Origin:
Mexico
California Native?:
No

Plant Size:
8 feet+ high and wide
Landscape/Garden Uses:
walls and fences
Flowering Season:
Spring to fall

Flower Color:
Lavender blue
Exposure:
Sun or light shade
Soils:
Most soils

Suggested Irrigation:
Moderate watering
Estimated Hardiness:
Hardy to 25-30 degrees F.

A friend recently identified this beautiful climbing nightshade as S. macranthum. However, further research brings us back to "just don't know". It was brought to us from Jalisco, Mexico by our own Narcizo Dueñas. It has lush, dark, tapered leaves up to 4 inches long. Like S. jasminoides, it seems to be nearly everblooming, with large pendant clusters of waxy purple 3/4 inch flowers with prominent yellow centers. A surprising bonus is its sweet fragrance, something like that of heliotrope. It has taken bouts of 25 degrees thus far, and may be still hardier. However, it would be wise to protect it from hard frosts.