Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 11 Oct 2024

Everyone wants this vine: Blue Sky is in full bloom now!

Thunbergia laurifolia - Blue Sky vine, Blue Trumpet Vine, Scrambling sky flower

Everyone wants this vine: Blue Sky is in full bloom now!



Thunbergia laurifolia - Blue Sky vine, Blue Trumpet Vine, Scrambling sky flower - is a super-fast growing climber that will cover your fence in just one season!

📚 Learn more about Thunbergias from previous posts:


Perfect everblooming hedge for shade
Blue Sky in just one season and forever
Clock Vine

🛒 Shop Thunbergia vines

#Hedges_with_benefits

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Date: 4 May 2025

Top Eight irresistible vines for a hummingbird haven

vines for a hummingbird haven

vines for a hummingbird haven

🕊 Top Eight irresistible vines for a hummingbird haven. Part 1.



Below is the Hummingbird Haven Plan designed for continuous blooms, vertical interest, and year-round hummingbird attraction.

Centerpiece (Tall Structure / Arbor)
  • Thunbergia, especially Thunbergia mysorensis (Clock Vine). Provide strong overhead support for its hanging blooms. Let this showstopper trail over a sturdy pergola or arbor. Its long, red-and-yellow flowers will be your garden’s main hummingbird magnet.

  • Side Support (Trellis or Fence)
  • Bignonia capreolata (Crossvine) - A hardy, fast-growing native that clings to supports. Train it on a trellis for early-spring blooms that attract the season’s first hummingbirds.
  • Tecomaria (Cape Honeysuckle) - A vigorous, evergreen bloomer that loves full sun. Its bright red-orange tubular flowers draw hummingbirds throughout the year and are perfect for training along fences or trellises.

  • Mid-layer (Fence, Arch, or Large Pot Trellis)
  • Passiflora (especially vitifolia or coccinea). Needs full sun, rich soil, and regular water; prune to manage size and boost flowering. Let it twine near seating areas for bold red blooms and close-up hummingbird visits.

  • Ground-Level Accents
  • Ipomoea (including Prince Kuhio Vine) - Thrives in warm, frost-free zones with sun and moisture. Plant at the base of structures or in containers to sprawl or climb with vivid purple-pink blooms.
  • Lonicera (including L. sempervirens - Coral Honeysuckle) - Plant at the base of a trellis or fence, near the arbor. This cold-hardy native has red-orange or yellow tubular blooms from spring to fall and adds a delicate contrast to tropical textures.

  • Wild Touch / Quick Filler
  • Antigonon leptopus - Mexican Coral Vine - Loves sun and drains well; drought-tolerant but frost-sensitive. Great for fences and open trellises as a fast-growing, summer-to-fall bloomer buzzing with activity.
  • Pyrostegia venusta (Flame Vine) - Bursting in fiery orange, perfect for fences or pergolas. Plant along a back fence or side trellis where it can sprawl wide and fill empty space. Thrives in full sun, blooms in winter-spring, and complements vertical stars like Thunbergia and Passionflower.


📝 These vines feature tubular, nectar-rich blooms that hummingbirds adore.
Add a shallow birdbath or feeder nearby, and you'll have a full-service nectar station!

See full list of Hummingbird favorite vines in next post ⤵️

🛒
Turn Your Garden Into a Hummingbird Paradise!

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants #How_to

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Date: 21 Jun 2024

Why is it called Clock Vine?

Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine

Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine

Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine

👁 Why is it called Clock Vine? It will cover a Pagoda in NO TIME!
  • 🕰 Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine - is a stunning vine originating from India.
  • 🕰 Vibrant yellow flowers with a dark mauve border, of a unique, eye-catching shape.
  • 🕰 Supposedly, it is called the Clock Vine because the flowers hang down in a regular, clock-like pattern around the vine. This consistent and orderly arrangement of the blooms resembles the numbers on a clock face, giving the plant its charming and unique name. Do you see it in the flower?
  • 🕰 The blooms hang in cascading clusters, creating a spectacular display that can beautifully drape over a trellis or pagoda.
  • 🕰 Attaracts butterflies and hummingbirds.
  • 🕰 Though it's one of the most popular species among garden enthusiasts, its rarity adds an element of exclusivity to any garden lucky enough to host it.


🛒 Shop flowering vines

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 4 May 2025

Top irresistible vines for a hummingbird haven

Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine

Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine

Bignonia capreolata - Crossvine

Bignonia capreolata - Crossvine

Tecomaria capensis - Cape Honeysuckle

Tecomaria capensis - Cape Honeysuckle

Passiflora coccinea - Passion Flower

Passiflora coccinea - Passion Flower

Ipomoea - Prince Kuhio Vine

Ipomoea - Prince Kuhio Vine

Lonicera japonica - Japanese Honeysuckle

Lonicera japonica - Japanese Honeysuckle

Antigonon leptopus - Mexican Coral Vine

Antigonon leptopus - Mexican Coral Vine

Pyrostegia venusta - Flame Vine

Pyrostegia venusta - Flame Vine

🕊 Top irresistible vines for a hummingbird haven. Part 2.



Full list of Hummingbird favorite vines for the previous post
⤴️

Antigonon leptopus - Mexican Coral Vine 📸
Aristolochia - Dutchman's Pipe
Bignonia capreolata - Crossvine 📸
Camptosema - Dwarf Red Jade Vine
Chonemorpha fragrans - Frangipani Vine
Clerodendrums - Bleeding Heart and others
Clitoria ternatea - Butterfly Pea
Combretum aubletii - Monkey Brush Vine
Dipladenia (Mandevilla)
Faradaya splendida - Glory Vine
Gmelina philippensis - Parrot's Beak
Hiptage benghalensis - Helicopter Flower
Ipomoea - Prince Kuhio Vine 📸
Lonicera - Honeysuckle 📸
Mansoa alliacea - Garlic Vine
Pandorea jasminoides - Pandora Vine
Passiflora - Passion Flower 📸
Petrea volubilis - Queen's Wreath
Pyrostegia venusta - Flame Vine 📸
Quisqualis indica - Rangoon Creeper
Senecio confusus - Mexican Flame Vine
Solandra - Butter Cup
Stephanotis floribunda - Bridal Bouquet
Tecomanthe dendrophylla - New Guinea Creeper vine
Tecomaria capensis - Cape Honeysuckle 📸
Thunbergia - Sky Vine, Clock Vine 📸
Turn Your Garden Into a Hummingbird Paradise!

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants #How_to

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Date: 7 Jun 2025

This is what we plant for a compact colorful hedge solution

Thunbergia erecta - Kings Mantle

💜 This is what we plant for a compact colorful hedge solution

  • 💜 Thunbergia erecta - Kings Mantle - is currently in full bloom in our garden, showcasing its vibrant flowers that last almost year-round.
  • 💜 One of our favorite flowering shrubs, it's compact, easy-going, and perfect for adding a splash of color.
  • 💜 Available in blue, white, and even variegated lavender flowers, King's Mantle thrives in both sun and filtered light, with its dense, manageable habit making it ideal for low-growing hedges or garden specimens.
  • 💜 It attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, and with simple pruning, it stays under 4 feet while producing a profusion of blooms.
  • 💜 Hardy to 30°F and suitable for USDA Zones 9-11, it's also great for container gardening in colder regions.


🛒 Shop Thunbergias - colorful flowers for sun and shade

📚 Learn more:


#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants
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