Outdoors blackeyed Susan vine has few pest problems, but if grown indoors it is readily infested by spider mites and whiteflies.īlack-eyed Susan vine is most often propagated from seed. Fertilize every 2 to 3 weeks when in bloom if grown in containers. Plant near the trellis, fence, or other support structure, 14-16” apart. Seed can be sown directly where the plants are to be grown once soil temperature reaches 60F in the spring, but transplants give better results in the short growing season of the upper Midwest. It tolerates partial shade but flowering may be reduced. Thunbergia alata grows best in rich, moist soil in full sun. The vine will quickly fill narrow vertical spaces with color. In frost-free climates this vine is perennial and will grow very dense. Plants in containers will bloom over winter if kept in a sunny place and night temperatures are above 60 degrees. This vine can be used in a large container with a small trellis, and can be grown as an indoor plant (although it will likely need to be trained and pruned to keep it at a manageable size). White, orange and yellow Thunbergia alata in a large container. Or combine them with bright red cannas and large elephant ears for a tropical look. Use hot-colored flowers such as tall red zinnias, orange marigolds, or bright yellow celosia for a completely different look.Ĭultivars offer different colors than orange. The orange or yellow flowers would contrast nicely with purple or blue flowers, such as salvia or ageratum, or purple-foliaged plants (such as Persian shield or purple heart) planted adjacent to the vine’s trellis. Try combining black-eyed Susan vine with other aggressive vines such as morning glory or purple hyacinth bean. This vine will cascade down walls or from hanging baskets in addition to climbing.Ĭascade from a hanging basket (as well as grow up the hangers). It makes a dramatic focal point when grown on a tall tuteur or other decorative support in a border or bed, will cover a fence, arbor or trellis along a wall for decoration or to create a quick privacy screen, and will Each fruit contains 2 or 4 semicircular, reticulate seeds.īlack-eyed Susan vine will quickly cover small structures.īlack-eyed Susan vine does best when allowed to grow on some sort of support structure instead of just rambling through adjacent plants, although it can be used as a ground cover. The fruit resembles a bird’s head with a round base and a long ‘beak’. Seeds are often produced late in the season.

Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds will visit the flowers.Įach fruit releases a number of reticulate seeds. The species typically has brilliant orange flowers, but there are cultivars in pastels and white as well. Plants bloom from mid-summer to frost, often with the best display in late summer. Pollinated flowers develop a fruit (LC) enclosed in the green bracts (L), which ripens and dries (RC) to a tan color. Showy flowers (RC, from side and R from front) emerge (LC) from hairy bracts (L). The trumpet-shaped corolla opens flat with five overlapping petals surrounding the brownish-maroon center. Each 1½ inch wide flower emerges from a small yellow-green calyx enclosed in 2 large, ridged, hairy, green bracts. Showy flowers in shades of orange and yellow are produced singly in the leaf axils. They are soft and hairy, dull dark green on the upper surface and pale green with prominent veins below, with slightly toothed margins. The opposite, oval to triangular or heart-shaped leaves grow up to 3 inches long on winged petioles. The plant is a rambler, climbing by twining (growing in a spiral up a support) rather than by clinging or producing tendrils as some other vines do. Midwest (and much more in frost free climates). This vine grows by twisting around supports (L) and has heart-shaped, softly hairy leaves (R). This trailing or twining vine grows rapidly from seeds, reaching up to 8 feet in a single season under ideal conditions, but more often only 3 to 5 feet in the

It should be used with caution in frost-free areas as it has become invasive in many warm locations throughout the world. Because it grows and flowers relatively quickly it is often used as an annual ornamental garden plant in cooler areas. This plant, Thunbergia alata, is actually a tender evergreen perennial in the acanthus family (Acanthaceae) native from tropical East Africa to eastern South Africa that is hardy only in zone 9 and 10 (and is completely unrelated to Rudbeckia hirta, an herbaceous annual or short-lived perennial in the daisy family (Compositae) native to north America, also commonly called black-eyed Susan). Thunbergia alata is a fast-growing, free-flowering vine.īlack-eyed Susan vine is commonly grown in the Midwest as a season annual to provide color in a vertical setting.

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