Just 2 days after recognizing the flower buds of the Queen's Wreath or Purple Wreath vine, the purple 5-lobed calyces appeared. Notice that further towards the end of the raceme, the flower buds remain closed.
Queen's Wreath Flowers Growth on Old Wood
So why didn't we easily catch the growth of this first raceme of the Queen's Wreath or Sandpaper Vine? I suppose we were actually anticipating the new flower buds to be coming off from the new shoots at the top of the vine.
On the contrary, the tiny buds first appeared at the lower part of the vine. You will see the raceme at the lower right of the picture.
If there's one thing peculiar about the placement of this new raceme, it is this. It seems like it flowers from old wood. This old branch where it sprouted has not been growing new shoots for some time. It is at the low-lying branches of the vine.
Queen's Wreath Vine Tree-like Appearance
From the photo above, you might notice that there seem to be three branches coming out from the central trunk of the Queen's wreath vine. This was deliberate.
For one thing, it looks neater because the foliage is essentially on the top of the Queen's Wreath vine. The vine appears tree-like rather than the regular bushy and shrubby growths you normally see for the Queen's Wreath vine.
I wanted to have a single trunk for the vine and then have the branches at the top. Notice that there are no other side branches on the trunk which is now one-inch thick. It wasn't difficult to achieve this effect of have a single tree trunk for the Sandpaper Vine or Petrea volubilis.
In the photo below, only the calyces are seen at this stage of their development. The flower corolla is yet to "pop-out" from the center of the Queen's Wreath flower.
Queen's Wreath with the Corolla
On the succeeding days after the calyces have appeared, it would be the corollas turn. The corolla of the Queen's Wreath has a much deeper color than the calyx.
This lends a much pleasing contrast of colors on the raceme. The photo below shows the corolla appearing on the older flowers.
Although the corollas appear late, they usually fall off earlier than the calyces. The petals on the corolla are softer and wilt faster than the lobes on the calyx.
When the calyx does fall off, it spins as it briefly floats and falls to the ground. The spinning makes it look like the blades of a helicopter.
Here's a short video clip of a detached calyx spinning and falling to the ground. The video clip's speed has been reduced to 1/4 of the original.
Queen's Wreath or Purple Wreath's Flowering Months
Now I could be wrong, but the hairy-like new growths that I mentioned in the previous article also appear on old wood rather than the new, long and fresh shoots at the top.
From some indications, they may be new racemes waiting to blossom. How could I say that?
I've researched on the internet the flowering months of the Queen's Wreath or Sandpaper Vine. And I've found that, at least in Asia, it seems they flower around February and maybe again in November.
Well, one more month from now and it will be February. If I'm right, the "new growths" previously mentioned would have blossomed by then.
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