PYROSTEGIA venusta

Very original and vigorous perennial and semi-deciduous climber, with a rather high growth rate, sometimes even dangerously infesting, and expanded and dense habit, native to South America: at its maximum development it can rise over 5 m in height and expand in width more or less to the same extent. Branched and well lignified from the base, it has numerous stems, woody or semi-woody and even herbaceous at the extremity, which, moving up and branching repeatedly, hook onto everything they encounter on their path thanks to delicate but robust tendrils. The leaves, opposite and thin, glabrous, smooth and shiny, of an ovate-lanceolate shape with smooth margins and acute apex, are dark green. Between the end of winter and spring, it blooms profusely: clusters of narrow and tubular flowers, of an intense orange color, bloom in loose inflorescences at the leaf axils, with such redundancy that the whole plant suddenly changes its usual look and wears a gaudy robe. If fertilized, the flowers are followed by abundant fruits, smooth brown capsules full of papyrus seeds.

It prefers very bright and sunny exposures, but where summer afternoons can be hot, it can also appreciate partial shade. While adapting to any type of soil, it prefers rich, fertile, well-drained and permeable ones. It bears periods of drought, provided they are not very prolonged, and instead takes advantage of periodic constant summer wetting that can improve its general appearance. It does not tolerate the typical salinity of sea winds in coastal regions where it is therefore recommended to plant it in protected corners. It resists winter minimum temperatures, only a few degrees below zero, and therefore, where cold is intense and lasting, give it a sheltered position, mulch the base with straw and dry leaves or guarantee it shelter in a cool and bright environment in winter. Immediately after the end of flowering, it may sometimes be necessary to shorten the various stems in a generous way, allowing a more regular and compact vegetative restart and increasing the subsequent flowering. It can give excellent results on terraces and balconies, if in large vases or containers. In the open ground, it is the ideal essence to cover quickly pergolas and gazebos, to cover metal nets, walls or fences, or to give color to anonymous bushes and trees, on which it should be left free to climb. In any case, its showy amazing flowering that immediately speaks of tropical dream countries will not escape even the most distracted visitor of our garden.