Saturday 28 April 2012

chocoholic





This plant is looking fabulous at the moment, growing on an east facing wall of my house. It is Akebia x. Pentaphylla, a rare-ish hybrid between the two species Akebias: A. trifoliata and A. quinata. Like other chocolate vines, it can get a bit raggedy towards the end of the season, but its lush lime green leaves look glorious in spring and early summer, and it looks fantastic against red brick walls. It's nice and vigorous too, and will thrive in almost any situation. The chocolatey flowers have a lovely, spicey vanilla aroma - and i've been told that this hybrid fruits more freely than other Akebias. We shall see.