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Turquoise Puya

Lapageria rosea

The lovely Lapageria rosea, the Chilean Bellflower, has long been prized by gardeners for its beauty.  This is a rare offering of seeds of an extremely hard-to-find picotee form called 'Collinge'.  The petals are edged in bright red around the bottom - almost like they were dipped in paint!  I don't think this variety is available elsewhere on the internet.

Lapageria rosea

The 'Collinge' form (also called 'Dr. Bullock') is crisp white tipped with a light red mottled pattern on the lower half, which intensifies to bright red along the bottom edge.  The blooms are slightly smaller than average, however they more than make up for it with their terrific pattern.  The seeds offered here were from a self-pollinated plant, but keep in mind they may show some variety and might not look identical to the parent plant.  The good news is you may get some new & unique patterns even more striking than this one!

A more common red form called 'Mission Lace'

Lapageria comes from the cool mountains of Chile, and grows best between 35 and 85 degrees F.  It can tolerate several degrees of frost if given overhead protection.  It may not thrive in very warm or dry areas.  It can be grown indoors, provided that the air isn't too dry (over 40% humidity is recommended).  It should be given something to twine itself around, like a trellis or wires.  This variety is a fairly heavy bloomer, with flowers appearing throughout much of the year.

 

Since it comes from the forests, it prefers tree-filtered sun.  Shade it from prolonged direct sun, unless it's early morning sun.  It prefers moist, slightly acidic soil that's well-draining and low in lime.  If your tap water is high in minerals, it's best to use rainwater or bottled water.  Lapageria is slow-growing the first year, so careful not to overfeed it.  If you can provide the right conditions, it is an easy and long-lived vine.

Check availability

 

Detailed growing tips about this plant

 

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Turquoise Puya

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