Ipomoea lobata – called Spanish Flag and Exotic Love, due to its cascading flowers – are made up of funnel shaped petals, arranged along just one side of each flower stalk.
A fast growing perennial climber often cultivated in temperate regions as an annual climbing plant, that can eventually grow five metres tall.
Grown especially for late summer and autumn flowers, it will often flower until the end of October, or even up to December in milder climates.
This plant will produce masses of striking red, orange and creamy yellow flowers from July. The leaves are dark green and very attractive too, with deep lobes.
It is a lovely plant for training over tall garden structures, such as arches and pergolas. Alternatively grow it in a border to scramble through mature early flowering shrubs or roses.
It will also perform beautifully in a large pot, with a wigwam of canes for support, on a sunny patio.
Easy to grow from seed in May, in individual pots and store in a dark warm place. As soon as shoots appear move into shaded light, until the young plants have a well developed root ball and plenty of shoots and leaves.
Water regularly, allowing the compost to dry out a little in between watering.
Plant out six weeks later in June, into a sunny border or as part of a summer container display, in well draining soil positioned in full sun.
Ensure you allow plenty of space between plants and make sure they each have sturdy support of some kind to grow up, as they will soon shoot up and climb by twining, winding themselves around anything.
Flowering will begin in July and dead-heading spent blooms will help prolong the flowering
