Show him a picture of kudzu's leaves so he can compare for himself.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:838121}}

Maybe you should find a photo...the 2 leaves look similar except for the purple veins on the hycianth bean vine...also, the vine is purple. He might want to keep those lopers ready just in case?

One thing you might not be able to tell from a photo; the stems of purple hyacinth bean are smooth (and purple), but kudzu stems are fuzzy (and green or brown).

My Hyacinth Flower Vine just started blooming 2 weeks ago. Grown from seed planted in May in a container near a fence and is perhaps 15 feet at longest point. Never fertilized although the potting soil may have had some in it.

I wondered if you have fertilized...if so, you may be getting excess foliage growth at the expense of blooms. Or it may still bloom...we still have a lot of warm weather ahead. Good luck. josh

I had the same thing happen one summer. The vine grew like crazy but never bloomed. I tried it again the next year and it bloomed most of the summer, as it has for me this season. There was no difference in culture/location - only a different source of seed from the originals that did not bloom. I'm not sure if its possible to get a "bad" batch of seed that produces non-blooming plants.

On the same note, I plant Moonflower vine every year and have yet to get more than one bloom on the plant. One of these days I'm going to get it in just the right place where it will be happy and thrive.

I have had hyacinth bean vines that never had more than two or three blooms in a season, and one that didn't bloom at all. My mom has had the same problem. Wish I knew what the problem was.

My Purple Hyacinth Bean Vines have been blooming for several weeks now and are still producing more flower buds.
{{gwi:838123}}
You should be able to see the stems are a bit purple and the leaves much darker than Kudzu in this pic.