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Oh, the Wonders of Coral Vine!

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I suspect most of you have noticed the hot pink flowers cascading over fences all over town. It’s what we fondly call Coral Vine-Antigonon leptopus. It is the prettiest vine I have ever seen and surely the easiest vine to grow. I have wanted one for many years and last year finally planted one near our courtyard fence. It was not too impressive last fall. I found myself thinking there’s got to be some secret to getting them to look so beautiful. So I waited, and this year it did not disappoint! The entire top rail of our fence is covered with brilliant green hearts and rosy pink flowers hanging down like grape clusters. Every morning it is filled with honeybees and hummingbirds and butterflies. Coral vine is unnoticeably common most of the year; lying dormant during the winter, then resembling a pretty weed-vine you might find growing in an alleyway or up a telephone pole. It is that vigorous and grows quite rapidly during summer.

They need some to most sun with well drained soil. They are very drought tolerant once established. They are a true vine with tendrils so they need something to grow on; a fence, trellis, another plant. There is a new variety called fandango that has more brilliant flowers…hard to imagine but they are! We have them in stock now!

Debbie debbie

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Comments

  1. Art Siebert says

    What color is fandango? Guess the real question is are there red coral vines. My wife took a picture at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens and they look very red. Believe it is coral vine. Any guesses.

    • james says

      I think its a stretch calling it red, but Fandango is darker than the species. I have not yet seen one I personally would call red.

  2. Dimitri says

    I grow these plants in my bee yard to provide a good nectar source for honey bees. My plan is to make a garden full of coral vine to keep more beehives.

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