I’ve only ever grown the the parachute plant Ceropegia sandersonii once and then not very successfully – just when it was covered in these remarkable flowers I let the soil get too cold and wet and it rotted off, and I haven’t been able to get my hands on another plant since. It comes from South Africa and belongs to a genus of plants that trap insects inside the flower until they effect pollination. Flies carrying pollen crawl in through one of the five openings at the top, crawl down the funnel-shaped tube where downward-pointing hairs prevent them from retreating and are trapped in a chamber at the bottom until they pollinate the flower. Then the hairs wither and the flies escape, carrying more pollen for another cross-pollination. There are numerous Ceropegia species, each pollinated by different insects and some very small. You can see the internal structure of the flower of another species, Ceropegia woodii, also known as the Chain of Hearts, here.
I think this is a plant I bought last year,and currently it is growing well. It has just begun to flower again, one flower fully open, several small buds appearing. Hope I do not manage to kill it off.
ReplyDeleteIf I can get ideas on propagation, you are welcome to have a few cuttings.
Just cut a short cutting and root in gritty compost (? let it dry out a bit first or not).
Margaret (NW England)
Hi Margaret, My mistake was to over-water it ....... so I guess that would be the danger with a cutting ............. thanks for your kind offer
ReplyDeleteFirst two cuttings have failed already! I left them to dry out for too long, or perhaps they don't need to dry out at all, they drooped and have not picked up at all. I'll try again
ReplyDeleteMargaret
Sorry to hear that Margaret - when my plant rotted off at the roots I tried to rescue it .... but no luck..... I wonder how they propagate them commercially?
ReplyDeleteI bought mine in Squires garden centre for less than £10. It is flouishing and flowering in a green house.It was labelled "tropical plant" and I had no idea what it was until it flowered. jenny
ReplyDeleteHi jenny, I must get my hands on another one - it's such an unusual flower. thanks for visiting. best wishes, Phil
ReplyDeletePhil,
ReplyDelete2 further cuttings not doing anything, but not dead yet. If I get it to set seed I could send you some!
Mine was £5 from my local garden centre - reduced last autumn with just a couple of flowers on it to identify it (the label just said Ceropegia).
Now it has several flowers, hope the flies are suitably enticed!
Margaret
Hi Margaret, thanks for the offer - I'd love to grow it again. Strange how some cuttings survive for ages without producing any roots, isn't it? best wishes,
ReplyDeletePhil
Hi. I stumbled into this and thought I would comment. I got a cutting from a huge plant at a nursery here in Florida that had mealy bugs. Without knowing any different, I got rid of the bugs, dipped it in a rooting material and planted it. It has been a couple years and it is blooming wildly. I never dried out the cuttings. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteMelanie Watson in Florida, USA
Hi Melanie, Thanks for the advice - I'll try it out. Greetings and kind regards, Phil Gates
ReplyDeleteFantastic blog Phil and now added to my favourites!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and for the kind comment Keith
ReplyDeleteWell, I got mine today and was surprised to note that it smells faintly of lime!
ReplyDeleteI never thought to find out what the flowers smell like Keith - wish I had now..... Good luck with yours..
ReplyDeleteI was so surprised to find, one day this vine growing out of a basket of maidenhair fern when I had moved from a farm to a Surburb in Brisbane Australia. Then when I saw a flower I was wild with excitement here is something unique! I described it to a Local Nurseryman who told me its name. Then I moved the basket.
ReplyDeleteThe Maidenhair is not doing well but the Parachute is romping away, so I am doing something right for one of the 2 plants and I should remove the Fern and put in the Chain of Hearts, which I aslo have and she may prefer to be in a drier place too, do you think so Phil? I am thrilled to have found you. Cheers Diana
Hello Diana, this is a tough call - when plants are doing well I'm always wary about disturbing them too much. If it's the same maidenhair that I grow it likes to be fairly moist and out of direct sunlight ..... but on the other hand I lost my parachute plant because the soil was too moist! Chain of hearts likes dry conditions I think - I sometimes forget to water mine for weeks and it doesn't show any signs of distress.I think I'd probably give the parachute plant a pot of its own and be cautious with the watering.... Good luck! Kind regards, Phil
ReplyDeleteHi Phil
ReplyDeletePlanted a couple of cuttings of Ceropegia Sandersonii in a 3" pot, two thirds peat, one third course gravel and put in a plastic bag closing the top and placed below a Velox window in 2010, it was March2011 before any sign of growth 6 months
Re planted in a mixture found in The Marshall Cavendish Encyclopedia of Gardening 100% sucess,
Both plants are in one 5" pot and have 7 flowers in different stages.
Just pinched the tendrills tips ? hope to make them branch out ???
Pearce Taylor Tillicoultry Scotland
Hi Pearce - congrats! You've tempted me to have a go at growing it again ... and this time I won't be so heavy-handed with the watering!
ReplyDeleteMy parachute plant is over 20 years old. It started flowering about 18 months ago and continues to do so. When starting cuttings be sure to bury the nods.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous, hat must be a very fine plant - thanks for the cuttings advice. Best wishes, Phil
ReplyDeleteMine bloomed prolifically all summer. It has just been moved to the dark corner of the living room for its winter rest.
ReplyDeleteIf you're still looking, Paul Shirley Succelents do cuttings for a Euro and a half.
Or if you can wait until the spring, I'll happily pop a young cutting in the post for you.
I have had my Ceropegia sandersonii in a first floor east facing room since 2006. It sits in a pot on my windowsill above a radiator - so always kept quite warm and gets plenty of light. I potted it in soil from the garden which is fertile and well draining and have included a hoop which it is encouraged to grow around.
ReplyDeleteThis is a plant that I find you can be quite forgetful about when it comes to watering as it has a underground tuber. So do not water alot. Unfortunately I have not propagated these, however the Royal Horticultural Society recommend putting cuttings in the sand and maintaining a heat of 22 to 25 degrees centigrade.
You might want to try the Ceropegia woodii - these produce smaller pink/brown flowers. They are very easy to propagate as they produce tubers that form along the stem - just chop them off leaving the free side of the stem attached and stick them in the soil.
Another couple of plants that are spectacular and from the same family: Asclepias (bit of a pain to keep alive) and Hoya... if you google these you will see how truely lovely the flower morphology is.
Good luck
Julia
Hi Julia, thanks for visiting and for the info, which is much appreciated. I grow C. woodii (pictures of flower at http://beyondthehumaneye.blogspot.com/2009/06/floral-prison.html) and have always been amazed at how tolerant it is of neglect - my plant is on top of a bookcase where I often forget o water it, but it still seems to thrive. It's a fascinating plant family, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteHi Phil - yes the species in this family are quite amazing. I had the pleasure of studying them for a year. I think the pollination systems complexity is simply beautiful... from the Secamonoids with their pollen on a scoop, to the Aclepiads and their pollinia on a clip. Evolution at its finest. I enjoyed reading your text on C. woodii - very well put
ReplyDeleteThanks Julia, I can understand why people develop an abiding interest in these plants - they are really fascinating......
ReplyDeleteHi there, I have a Ceropegia sandersonii for two years now. Bought in mainland Europe. For propagation, I got lucky with this method. Unwind one of the longer shoots.
ReplyDeletePut a part under the soil and a part above soil, in the same container or a separate container, while you leave it attached. Wait. It can even flower before you see new leaves, wait at least for some new leaves. Then there will be some roots as well and you can cut the new shoots loose from the mother plant. Regards, Fallon.
Thanks Fallon - will try yourmethod - sounds like the answer to my problem. Best wishes, Phil
ReplyDeleteHi Phil. I'm a follower of your Cabinet of Curiosities, but have just ventured into this blog for the first time. Thank you for reminding me about Ceropegias. I used to be a fairly serious grower of cacti and succulents up until about thirty years ago, towerds the end specialising, to some degree, in Stapeliads. It was a natural progression into Ceropegias, with beautiful and complex flowers, and aromas that were often a lot more pleasing to the nose than the Stapeliads!!! I think that I probably only had three species of Ceropegia but cannot remember which. I seem to remember that one, a native of The Canaries, grew quite rampantly in the greenhouse (a bit like a vine) and had quite a pleasant aroma. Will be returning to this blog on a regular basis now! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Richard, Thanks for visiting. The other Ceropegia that I've grown (that is amazingly drought tolerant and seems almost indestructible) is C. woodii, which has exquisite flowers like little lanterns and produces aerial tubers .... I posted some pictures of the flowers at http://beyondthehumaneye.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/floral-prison.html
ReplyDeleteHi, I love this blog, very informative!
ReplyDeleteI have a Ceropegia sandersonii plant for almost 2 years now.
I Bought it only about a foot tall, now it's over 5 meters long, climbing up a pole.
I neglected it for a really long time, something like 8 months, haven't watered it even once. All leaves and flowers withered and died. It looked like a bunch of dead twigs. A few weeks ago I started watering it again, and it's still very naked, but it's now flowering at it's very top (althogh I need binoculars to see the flowers, LOL).
A question about cuttings... does it matter where I cut? All the cuttings that I've tried either rotted or dried up, no roots, no leaves no thing....
Thanks!
Thanks for visiting and for your kind comments Alon. I think you'd stand the best chance with the cuttings if you cut just below a leaf node. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteIf you're only wanting to root a few plants, I find the most reliable methods are to air layer or simply take one of the older stems and bury several of its nodes about 1/2 deep in a small pot of something like sunshine mix. Let it dry between waterings as the attached parent will be supplying its nutrients until roots are formed. I find it useful to use a yard staple to hold the nodes down, but a U-shaped piece of floral wire would work just as well. I used one of the longer stems and was able to get 4 pots/footings, just trailing from pot to pot in between. Just a thought if you're having trouble with stem cuttings. Also, don't cut loose from parent until the roots are well established.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice Anonymous, I'll give it a try - with this species and C.woodii.
ReplyDelete