We have been growing a variegated Bower Vine with pinkish flowers for three seasons, this being the third. It has been a disappointing performer up until now. This year however, we tried something new! Like any vine, we supported this one on a trellis. Each year the vine would grow long and unwieldy, but would not cover the entire trellis as our Snail Vine had done on it’s support.

This spring we decided not to let the Bower Vine grow as tall as it wanted. We began clipping the long tendrils as soon as they reached the top of the trellis. Much to our amazement and delight, the plant put the energy into producing copious blooms. It is understandable that a more mature plant would generate more flowers, but this vine had produced only a sparse display of a few flowers a year and the memories of last year’s bloom are vague to say the least.

Below is a closeup of a cluster of this pink Bower Vine’s flowers. The dark purple throat is beautiful!

The second picture (below) gives a better view of the plant and the contrast between the flowers and the variegated leaves. There is one school of thought that variegated plants do not bloom as much as their non-variegated cousins, but this year that does not seem to be the case.

How do you think the color of the flowers look contrasted with the variegated leaves?