Bonnie it sounds like an impossible dream as far as what I can Google is concerned,but you never know what can happen when you are determined Martha

Bonnie I think some people just take cuttings to keep going over the winter. The lady down the street from me actually has one growing in her home but I think it has never been outside. She can grow anything so Im not sure if there is a trick to it or not ..

If you need some seeds I have some :o) LMK and I will send some along.

Laura

Hi Bonnie:

We overwinter ours in the sunroom. It is currently blooming also. Just trim out any dead wood and clean up any leaves it drops. Should turn out fine.

Cheers,
MG

Thanks guys! I don't have any more good window spots left, but I can probably give it enough light to let it limp through the winter. I'll give it a try like that then.

If it doesn't make it I might take you up on your seeds Laura! I really liked the look of the leaves this summer, even if it didn't bloom for me (until now that is!). I might be able to get some seeds of my own - I'm going to pollinate the one flower that's opening, so if it sets seed I'll be fine :-)

Hopefully I'll be starting next spring with a nice established root system and the darn thing'll bloom for me outside!

MG - does yours normally start blooming this late? Everything I read about it said it started blooming in the summer.

BP

Bonnie how did you Cobaea handle the move indoors?? I had mine growing near my back door and I just loved it. It too only began to bloom late in the season but I did get to see it bloom :o) Being the fool I am .. I chopped it back and mulched the heck out of it. With any luck (and the heat loss I get from my foundation) it might come back in the spring. I actually think I am only fooling myself that this could happen but what the heck its worth a try :o)

So far so good, but it's not sitting in any kind of light though - it's moving between the tub and the bathroom sink! I've got to put up a shelf in front of a window, then I can move a bunch of plants that are on the floor in front of that window onto the shelf, then I can move the Cobaea to the floor spot...

The flower opened up and is turning a nice purple-blue. I've pollinated it, but I don't know if it'll set - I'll find out soon enough I guess. I'm surprised at the flower - the photos I've seen don't really do it justice. It's beautiful!

The vine is kind of in a pile on top of the pot, so I'll probably just hack most of it back. It was on a trellis outside and I had to pull it off to take it in.

Yours probably won't make it if you left it outside :-( - it is a tropical vine. But what the heck, as you say, you'll find out if that's a good zone pushing spot or not! Mine had survived several nights just one or two degrees below freezing without any leaf drop or sign of damage, so maybe the roots will be fine if you can keep them from freezing. Dump a bunch more mulch on it maybe...

BP

Hi BP:

Ours bloomed later this year than last, not sure why. It was in a sunnier and drier area this year so maybe it preferred some protection during the hottest part of the day.

Dug up a couple of pics from last year.

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Flower colour when it first emerges

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Turns deep purple as it maures

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Foliage and stems are also nicely coloured, excellent vine, wish we could grow it outdoors (running out of space to overwinter plants.;-) I know you can relate to this.;-)

Cheers,
MG

Wonderful photos MG .. I too was surprised at just how lovely these vines are. I truly wasnt expecting such large flowers.

Laura

Ditto - very nice photos MG!

What kind of camera do you use? I bought an automatic digital camera a couple of years ago, but I find it's really bad at taking photos compared to my old 35mm SLR. You can adjust depth of field (well, in theory - I can't get it to look right), exposure times and zoom, but the camera keeps wanting to focus on the wrong thing, and it always looks overexposed. The macro function is just as bad too :-(.

I'm thinking I might splurge on a digital SLR body when they come down in price, but I don't know if it's better to do that or just buy a better scanner and go back to my old Ricoh...

BP

Hi BP:

Go for the digitl SLR! That is what I am using (Canon). This allows me to use the entire range of Canon lenses. Going digital allows you total control over the finished product. Learning to use a good photo editor is a must though.

If you are really interested in digital, send me an email and I will send you some good links to other photo resourses on the net.

Cheers,
MG

Here is a link that might be useful: Best (fully independant) digital camera review site

Thanks for that site - it's actually got better information than my manual on how to use my current digital. I may be able to figure it out yet :-) I have a Cannon Powershot S50, which is considered pretty good, so if I can get it to work the way I want, I might not be so hard on it :-)

I'm just not used to an automatic camera - and I find that it's too fiddly to use the manual controls easily. It takes forever to set the settings the way you want, and if you turn it off you have to do it all over again. And then it doesn't look right anyway...

I'm not a professional photographer, but I am able to take decent photos given a camera I know how to use, so I might just start saving my pennies and get a good SLR too. If I can use my old lenses it should help cut down on the price a bit. DH likes the digital we have now (he finds my current SLR too fiddly!), so it'll be good to each have a camera!

I'll keep that site bookmarked, so I know where to go when I get enough saved up to afford what I want.

BP