Kristin
I have grown both in the past. You are right the cypress vine leaves are much mor feathery than the cardinal climber and I believe the seeds are blacker than cardinal climber. There is not much difference in the flowers and the hummers will use both just the same.

Penny

Can you remember if the seeds of the Cypress Vine are more slender than the Cardinal Climber seeds? It would make sense to me if they were. Given that the Cypress vine leaves are more feathery, maybe the seed that contains them doesn't need to be as wide as the seeds for Cardinal Climber, which has beefier leaves. I remember marveling how those crazy, double lobed cotyledons unfolded from the Cardinal Climber seeds. I think it takes a wide seed to hold all of that!

What I suspect is that Burpee has packaged Cypress Vine seeds, put a photo of Cardinal Climber on the front, and written BOTH names on the packet, just to cover all the bases! You would think a reputable company like Burpee would have better quality control, but I guess I'm just going to have to wait and see what sprouts from these seeds. I expect it will be Cypress Vine. It's good to know that the hummers like both, but I prefer the leaves of Cardinal Climber. They're so beautiful, that you could almost grow the vine just for its leaves.

Kristin
I can't remember for sure but the cypress vine seeds may be just a bit more slender than cardinal climber. the cotyledons as best I can recall do look the same for both. I have seen several different seed companies interchange the names and I think it is because one is a hybrid of the other.

I tend to prefer the cypress vine more. I love the more fernlike texture of the leaves. It seems to grow better for me...almost too well and is a little longer blooming for me.

Penny

Thanks for the info, Penny!

I have special plans for the cardinal climbers/cypress vines. I have been taking a pottery class and am making a great big pot that I have specially designed to sit upright on our sloping driveway, and with a notch that will allow it to fit tightly into the southern corner of my mom's house. I'm going to make a simple wire trellis out of 2x3 mesh, put a 90 degree bend in it, put it in the pot, and attach it to the house so that it sort of wraps around the corner of our house. I even put hook-shaped bits of clay in the bottom of the pot, inside, so that the trellis wire won't pull out of the pot. At least, that's the idea. I don't know if you can visualize this or not.

In short, it's a slanted pot, with a notch, allowing it to nestle into the sunniest corner of our house. The trellis will have a vertical bend in it such that part of it will wrap around the wall that faces the driveway, the other will wrap around to the front.

I figure there's enough room for three plants. If my Burpee seeds turn out to be Cypress vines, I'll put two Cardinal Climbers in and one Cypress vine, and let them fight for the trellis. I'm hoping some will wrap around the front of the house (a bit less sunny), but I imagine most will tend to grow towards the driveway, which has the sunnier exposure.

I guess I'll find out for myself which does better for me. I imagine the hummers will like both.

I have similar mis-labeled seeds - called "Cardinal Climbers" but apparently Cypress vine. I don't mind either as long as I can get them to survive long enough to bloom (ie., the foliage and vines are a bit fragile when they are young and they don't do well in windy spots when small).

Kristin when you get your pot all planted out we would like to see a picture if you can take one and post it.

Penny

Great suggestion, Penny, but a lot will have to go right for that to happen. The pot is made, but needs to be bisque-fired, dipped in glaze, and then fired again at a higher temperature. If all goes well, the pot should be ready towards the end of May. Sometimes things get warped in firing, so I'm hoping it will fit into the corner of the house as I designed it to.

If the pot survives, then the plants have to do well enough that I won't be ashamed to show them to all of you! Finally, I don't have a digital camera, so will have to take a conventional photo and scan it. I've never posted a picture before, so will have to figure out how to do it. That, of course, should be the least of my problems. There are so many "ifs!" I'm almost afraid to promise that I'll post a photo, because it feels sort of like counting my cardinal climbers before they've climbed!

Jenny, you are right about their intolerance to wind and harsh conditions. I actually killed one of the younger ones because it got buffeted around too much sitting out on the porch roof, plus temperatures have been brutally cold for mid May, and I carelessly left it out when I should have brought it in. It was nowhere near freezing, and the plant was used to being outside in the sun, it just didn't like overnight temperatures in the upper 40's. The older plants are doing better, but are also sulking a bit. That's why I planted some backups last week, in case the remaining 3 don't do well.

Kristin
even with possibly a little distortion ins the second firing it will be truly unique and as someone who has worked with pottery and ceramics I would love to see it even if there are a few less than perfect flaws. I love the concept and it just sounds really unique. Never be embarrased to show what you can do. I am sure we would all admire your artisitc enterprise.

Penny

Assuming the pot doesn't crack in firing, would you like to see a photo sooner or later?

I could either photograph it in early June, shortly after transplanting the seedlings, or I could wait until later in the summer when the plants have hopefully had a chance to climb up the trellis. Maybe I should take two photos. Even if the plants do great, I'm not sure how well their red flowers will show up against my mom's dark red bricks. White stucco would be ideal, but hey, you work with what you've got.

I sure hope I can figure out how to post a photo. If I can't figure it out, I'll ask and I'm sure someone will explain it to me. I'm not a computer genius, but I'm educable!

This seems to be a common point of confusion, as the plants are so similar. Cypress Vine is the common name for Ipomoea quamoclit, and Cardinal Climber is the common name for Ipomoea x multifida. CC is generally believed to be a hybrid of Cypress vine, and a more standard Morning Glory (Ipomoea coccinea). Both do attract Hummingbirds (Cypress works a little better for me, but I've heard others who feel that CC is a little more effective for them). Both the flowers and leaves are a bit more filled out for CC as compared to Cypress Vine. It's a shame the seed companies have as much trouble keeping the names straight as the rest of us! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Link with pics of both Cypress Vine and CC

Kristen
I will let you decide when to do the pics. If you have trouble you can email me and I will be happy to post the pics for you.

Penny

Thanks, Penny. The pot survived the bisque firing, it's now been glazed and waiting for cone 8-9 high firing on the 23rd of May. That means it should be out of the kiln on the 26th or 27th, and ready to receive soil and plants.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will look nice, and fit into the corner of the house, as planned.

Kristin,
I am envisioning it now. I can't wait to see it. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Penny

Here's an update on the pot and the Cardinal Climber/Cypress Vines. The pot just came out of the kiln and is intact. Hooray! I could maybe have done a better job with the glaze. It has three different glazes on it and is sort of streaky and blotchy. I wish I'd just done one glaze instead of mixing them, but it should be OK from a functional, if not aesthetic standpoint. The very kind and encouraging kiln lady told me that she thought it looked like petrified wood, so I've decided to take that as a compliment!

I'm going to try to put the pot into place tomorrow, and attach the trellis to the wall with masonry nails. If I have enough time, I may even put the soil in and the plants, but that may have to wait for another day.

As for the plants, the skinnier seeds in the Burpee packet turned out to be Cypress vines--at least as far as I could tell from the leaves. The packet had said "Cardinal Climber/Cypress Vine" and had a picture of Cardinal Climbers on the front, but the cotyledons were skinnier than Cardinal Climber, and the regular leaves were much finer. I also have Cardinal Climbers from Botanical Interests, and they have much broader lobes on the leaves. I guess the folks at Burpee just aren't very good botanists.

I'm planning to put 2 Cardinal Climbers and 1 Cypress vine in the pot and see what happens. I'll try to figure out how to post pictures when I get it set up.

To rjm710, I somehow missed your post from before. Thanks for the link to the pictures of both! It helped clear some things up for me.

In addition to the leaves, I was fascinated to see that the flowers are different, also. Cypress Vine has more distinct indentations between the 5 petals, whereas Cardinal climber doesn't. Put another way, Cypress vine flowers are more star-shaped, whereas Cardinal Climbers look more like pentagons, and are more similar in shape to Morning Glories. This is consistent with your info about one of Cardinal Climber's parents being a morning glory. Interesting.

Since I'll be trying both in a single pot, I won't have to worry so much about which one does better, or which is more attractive to the hummers. Of course, the way things are going for me now, the little rascals are only going for the feeder. I may have to take the feeder away for a day or two to encourage use of flowers, but am afraid that doing so might drive them away. A tricky situation. I'll have to give it some thought.