Cobaea scandens

10 Dec '06 4:02 am

Hello everyone! Very Happy

I have just stumbled across this site and it looks very friendly and cosmopolitan so I thought maybe it a good idea if I joined this global family.

I am fairly cosmopolitan myself ... having been born in Wales, GB, we emigrated to Canada (Montreal and Toronto) and then onward to the US (Long Island, NY, and Connecticut). From there it was to England and seven years later back to the US, this time to Alabama with a brief spell in South Carolina. Next move was back to England and now we have retired early here in Portugal. My hobbies are my cats, gardening and various arts and crafts.

Earlier this year I planted Cobaea scandens, the Cup and Saucer Vine, from seeds and five plants emerged. One in particular thrived and has now taken over a lean-to seating area. The flowers are beautiful and the vine is heaving with them. Today I discovered two fruits, which I have been looking for as I have promised a friend some seeds. They are plum sized and bright green. My question is this ... does anyone have experience with this vine and, if so, when should I harvest the fruit?

I look forward to receiving any advice or comments you wish to offer.

VickyB

10 Dec '06 4:37 am

This site is 'Home' for lots of lovely people,Vicky .My daughter spent several years wandering around the world ; she stopped longer than she originally intended in Portugal because she loved it so much - the same with Provence.
Sorry I can't help you with your vine ,but someone will know .Do you have any pictures ,because I have never heard of it ?
Dixie

10 Dec '06 4:55 am

Thank you for the welcome Dixie.

I certainly know why your daughter probably spent longer than intended here ... it's a lovely country and the people so warm and friendly!

I do have pictures of this vine and I will attempt to put them up but as I'm new here, I'm not really sure what to do. :confused:

10 Dec '06 4:39 pm

...and those photos of your flowering vines are beautiful! Smile

11 Dec '06 12:12 am

... Jacqueline for your greeting.

I have only had a quick look through your sites but you are such a handsome and happy family!

It's funny, but a couple of years ago on the Isle of Wight in England we had a purple Christmas tree decorated silver! We have been doing royal blue and silver for the past couple of years but this year went for traditional red and gold .... although we did put a small blue and silver one on top of the fridge / freezer!

I shall look at your sites in more detail when I have time.

Have a lovely day ... or should I say I hope you HAD a lovely day? ! Very Happy

VickyB

11 Dec '06 2:38 am

Hi VickyB, it is always so nice to welcome a fresh new voice. I was very interested in your Cup and Saucer Vine. One of the forum members (I think it was Gail) suggested that as a good choice for a new roofed gate structure in my garden. It was nice to read that you had such great success with seeds. I don't know anything about this plant specifically, but most vining plants must have the fruits dry to a brown, almost papery state before harvesting the seeds. If it were my vine, I would leave the fruits in place until they dried out. The one proviso, however, is that some seedpods actually explode and eject their seeds when fully ripe; so maybe you should tie a small paper bag over the fruit just in case.

I live in Alabama now and am wondering what part of the state you lived in previously.

Faith

11 Dec '06 3:10 am

Hello Faith

I read on another forum that this vine actually produces two types of seeds, one is a dark brown nut filled with tiny black seeds and the other is the plum-shaped fruit pod (like I have) which will be filled with the flat papery-edged seeds. As these pods just appeared a couple of days ago, I now check on a regular basis (sad, isn't it? :rolleyes:) especially to see if I get the second sort of pod. As you can see from my pictures, on one stem I have what appear to be two types of flowers, the stamens are certainly different!

I would certainly recommend this vine to anyone who wants something smothered very quickly and with blooms late in the year. At the moment our day temps are around 16oC but we are dropping at night to about 8oC. It's sunny and crisp! We only have a wee bit of frost for a few days either in January or February but it's never enough to really slaughter anything, so I think this vine will be a perennial here.

I lived in Huntsville from 1963 to 1977 and it's where I met my husband. Where are you? I loved it there and saw it change from a small country town of about 50,000 to I think 250,000 when we left! We went back for a "flying" visit in 1996 and boy had it ever changed by then! Surprised

Vicky

11 Dec '06 9:50 am

Welcome aboard. Smile

I don't have anything intelligent to add, not that that's ever stopped me...
I'd ditto the waiting for the seed pod to dry out but other than that I got nothing! Very Happy

12 Dec '06 3:01 am

... someone once said ... but I don't know who! Very Happy

Hello, Anna, and just a welcome is very nice indeed! Smile

Thank you.

I discovered a third fruit today on my daily "rounds". I may do as Faith suggested and wrap a small bag around them ... but we are in rainy season and a paper sandwich bag will soon get soggy! Shocked

I may try a loosely tied plastic sandwich bag and hope they don't rot!

Vicky

12 Dec '06 3:28 am

Hi VickyB, and apologies for not welcoming you sooner!

I love the look of your vine and the flowers are just gorgeous!

I wouldn't ever claim to have more knowledge than Dixie, Faith or the others because I'm still learning a great deal, but what has been said about waiting until they're brown seems to make sense to me. I'm sure we'd all be keen to hear how you get on, so please do keep us posted. Very Happy

Bambi

Cobaea scandens

Cobaea scandens

very interesting

Cobaea

Welcome, VickyB!

Thank you ..

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Southern Belles

Something is better than nothing ...

Welcome!