I first saw the quisqualis indica down the road . It was blooming in abandon; ravishing blooms in clusters of blush, pink and red.
Predictably, I stopped the car to get a few cuttings of the rambling plant. Sadly, though none of the cuttings took but I was determined to get one.
I found the quisqualis easily at a garden centre. They had both the single-petalled variety and the double-petalled ones. I bought the latter.
The quisqualis surprised me. It grew quickly, throwing out branches and leaves at an amazing speed. The plant could have been on steroids. Try pruning the plant all the way back to base, and it’ll bounce back even before you can say ‘Geronimo’.
When I first saw so much green I wondered if I had done the right thing.
But the good thing about the quisqualis is that once it decides to bloom, the whole plant is ablaze. New flowers have a faint blush that slowly deepens into a ruddy colour.
Their heavy clusters of flowers are attention grabbers. And if you miss them in the fading daylight, your nose won’t. Just let the delicate perfume assail your senses.
Care and cultivation: Full sun; water moderately; well-drained soil; propagation through stem cuttings, root cuttings or suckers
Is this also called the Rangoon Creeper? My mum has one in her garden and I had this amazing picture I took with my mobile phone months ago of it in full bloom. The leaves and flowers were so lush, the branches drooped heavily over the fence from the weight of it all. The fragrance was simply heady.
It’s too bad I subsequenly lost the photo because of my wonky memory card.
yes, it is. common names are rangoon creeper and drunken sailor (odd, yeah?). your mum’s plant is an ‘off-spring’ of this plant.
I took some cuttings from the pergolas at the Taman Tun wet market before. I couldn’t get them to grow either. I like the flowers and colours. Really a nice and beautiful creeper to have if space is not an issue.
i think suckers are the way to go, stephanie. did you manage to get a plant eventually?
Nope… I realised that I really do not have space for a creeper.
Hey Gardener, I think you are slowly succeeding in sowing the seeds of gardening as a hobby (you decide if the pun is intended or not) in me. However, everything has to be in a pot I guess, due to lack of space. Is that a good idea? To have lots of plants in pots?
chipmaker, you are hilarious, but i am so glad this habit is catching. a pot is better then nothing, but bigger pots and troughs means more growing of course.