Trellised Thunbergia Grandiflora in a Garden Pot

From the loot of seven Thunbergia grandiflora small saplings we took home, all seven survived. That's an excellent survival rate but then, these are saplings. They have rooted well already and will continue to grow unless you intentionally kill them. Internet sources say T.grandiflora is easily propagated by cuttings.


But we discovered otherwise with a neighbor's T.grandiflora vine. I suspect we would've succeeded using the soil layering technique on the neighbor's vine, but it would be presumptuous on my part to say that that acquaintance of mine would readily agree to my "plan B".

Among the seven vine saplings, I picked out the tallest and most robust and put it in a garden pot with a built-in trellis, which I made. This particular sapling had thicker stems, greener leaves and well-established growth. This vine flourished and flowered, and I had to move it a couple of months after it first bloomed.





Reasons for Moving the Trellised Garden Vine

It's a good thing that this garden pot had a self-contained trellis, otherwise there was no way to move it. But I had to relocate it because:

  • The lawn area had to be cleared and the garden pot was sitting on the catch basin cover in the middle of the lawn. The lawn grass had grown tall because of the rainy season and now needed cutting. The lawn grass at the edges of the catch basin cover was thick and needed some hefty trimming. And because of this, the vine in the pot would just get in the way. So the garden pot, heavy with filled-in soil, had to be relocated or moved away, at least temporarily.

  • I wanted to show it off. That's right, really showcase it. I admire the T.grandiflora's showy lavender flowers and would love to have passersby to gawk at them too. The vine already had around eight flower buds in different stages of growth.

I knew it had a few weeks of continuous flowering. in its new place. A corner in our front porch was the ideal place to put it. And shown below are the beautiful flowers of the T.grandiflora, with some flower buds shown on top.



Getting Rid of Ants

Here's an interesting consequence of the garden vine's relocation. When the T.grandiflora vine's garden pot was sitting on the catch basin cover in the middle of the lawn, ants were always on the vine's tender shoots - everyday.

I've often wondered how to get rid of them. But when the vine was transferred from the garden lawn to the porch, there where no more ants.




My theory is that, in the previous location, ants were crawling from the ground or possibly from the catch basin cover where there was access to water.

Now, I don't know if ants are good or bad for the T.grandiflora. I do know that the vine yielded its flower buds even when it was still in the garden lawn (meaning, with the ants). Of course, the growth stage from flower bud to full bloom is another matter. But given the preference, I'd rather not have ants, in the garden, porch or elsewhere.

Here's another photo showing the sides of the flower buds. Do you notice the Christmas lights and wreath on the door. Yup, it will be a floriferous Christmas this year.





Go ahead, post your comment below!

Anonymous said...

How beautiful flower!

Blackdove said...

Yes, thank you!

Anonymous said...

Think keeping it in a pot will prevent it from being too vigorous...

Blackdove said...

Yes, but I'm also guessing that putting it in a pot limits its flowering potential.