Prolific bloomers

The garlic vine produces not garlic but beautiful lavender blooms, writes Elaine Yim

Garlic Vine, Wild Garlic, False Garlic, Amethyst Vine, Ekuinox Vine, Ajos Sacha (Spanish), Cipo d’alho (Brazil), Amazonian Garlic Bush

Members of Bignoniaceae are mostly tropical trees, shrubs and vines with very showy flowers.

The genus Mansoa was named in honour of Antonio Luiz Patricio de Silva

Trim off the spent flowers but do not overprune.

Garlic Vine flowers have a mild garlicky scent. Manso (1788-1848), a Brazilian botanistcum-physician. There are about 12 species of plants in this genus. The epithet is derived from the Latin word allium for garlic. It means “like garlic”.

THE PLANT

Mansoa alliacea is an evergreen, semiwoody climber native to tropical America, from Mexico to Peru and Brazil. It grows wild in the Amazon rainforest. This moderately fast grower climbs by tendrils. It can reach a height of 2.5m. The vines can extend to 15m long. The glossy, bright green leaves are arranged in pairs opposite one another. They’re oval-shaped, measuring about 15cm long and 4.5cm wide.

The real showstopper are the bellshaped flowers. They’re very beautiful and bloom abundantly in clusters. The flowers open as deep lavender and change to a paler shade of lavender to almost white over time.

At any time, the plant appears to have flowers in three different colours. Some varieties flower infrequently but there are some that flower several times a year. The flowering may occur intermittently but lots of flowers are produced.

HOW TO GROW

It’s best grown in the ground. You can also grow it in a large container or planter box but you’ll need a very strong support. When grown in the ground, you can train it on a trellis, tree trunk, fence or wall.

THE STEPS:

1. PROPAGATION. You can buy a starter plant from local nurseries or propagate one from stem or root cuttings, by air- The flowers are a deep lavender with a white throat.

layering or marcotting. After pruning, don’t throw away all the cut branches. Reserve some semi-hardwood stem cuttings. Each cutting should have at least three nodes. Remove the leaves at the lower nodes. Poke into moist soil mix and keep in bright shade away from heavy rain and the blistering sun. It should root in two weeks’ time and be ready for transplant in a month.

2. SUNLIGHT. Full sun.

3. MEDIUM. Rich well-drained soil.

4. WATER. Moderate watering up to twice a day during the dry season. Water regularly and thoroughly. Don’t let the soil dry out. Inadequate watering will lead to leaf drop which makes the plant look straggly. When the weather is hot, mist the leaves in the morning but be careful not to wet the flowers.

5. FERTILISE. Applyabalancedcompound fertiliser once a fortnight. Use a growing inducer on seedlings and young plants. Once established, apply a bloom booster to encourage flowering.

6. MAINTENANCE. Trim to remove spent flowers. Do not hard prune, otherwise there’ll be no flowers as flower buds are produced on new growth. Those in containers can be kept below 1m tall. Twirl and twine new growths along or around the support for a compact shape.

7. PEST AND DISEASES. Not a problem.