TOW pink bulb
320083817243-0001@t-online.de (Sat, 14 Aug 2004 14:25:24 PDT)

Dear All,

Hoping not to repeat anything that has been written before...... I did not have
the time to read much recently.

One of my favourite pink plants is Ipomoea cairica. It forms a giant tuber and
has annual shoots (with me but they may in fact be perennial) and from now on
bears lots of pink flowers with a dark eye until it is cut down by the first
frost. It likes full sun and has interesting palmate leaves. The whole plant is
rough to the touch due to bristly hairs all over. Unfortunately I have never
managed to get any seed as I only have one clone. But it can be propagated from
cuttings which are not sent into dormancy their first winter. An extremely easy
and rewarding plant being stored totally dry in its pot in my cellar over
winter and sprouting explosively each spring. The shoots are cut dwon to a few
centimetres each autumn. Even young plants flower profusely as pot plants,
surprising it is not seen more often.
The great advantage of this species is that it does flower reliably under my
north European conditions in the open garden in summer, quite opposed to many
other tropical Ipomoea species that seem to need more heat. Are there other
species around that are as reliable?

Greetings from warm high summer in Germany, Uli