Has anybody managed to get cobaea scandens to flower?

[N0m0rerain]

If so how?

My mum and I grew Cobaea Scandens from seed a few years ago and hers flowered amazingly, absolutely covered in flowers, whereas mine only had a few flowers. Hers was planted in a part of her garden that gets full sun all day, mine was planted where it got full sun until about 2pm. She is a very diligent waterer…I’m not so much. Hers was in the ground, mine was in a pot.

When did you germinate the seeds?

I've grown it a few times and last year mine was very late to flower so I think I shall sow the seed a bit earlier this year. Last year I think it was April so I am going for mid March this year. It was so dry last year that it only got going once we had some decent rain, and by then it was all a bit late!

I did, I didn't get anything like the Sarah Raven-esque bounteousness though. It wasn't hard but underwhelming and I haven't bothered since.

I think you need to start the earlier than this ideally.

Sarah Raven says start early as it takes ages to get going. Think January!

I did last year, I started seeds in a propagator on 23 February and spotted the first flowers on 11 October. They were beautiful but died with the first frosts in November. This year I sowed them on 5 January, I currently have around 5 good seedlings that are growing well. I will plant them out in early April (I’m in the south and my garden is warm). They will go on a wall that gets a lot of sun, and I’ve got an irrigation system (soaker hoses) so they also get water daily. They don’t need staking, they have tendrils and will grab on whatever they can find (currently trying to climb on my sweet pea seedlings).

So yes, they are slow to flower. My advice would be to pair them with some spring flowering climbers like clematis (perennial) or ipomoea (annual). They are very pretty though, they look good in my tropical garden but would also work in a more traditional cottage setting.

This is interesting re early sowing. Think I might be too late this year. How far south are you?

I’m in London, zone 9B (US hardiness)

I’m SW, maybe I could just get by.

Sorry…I never came back to this thread. We started the seeds in February.

Yes I usually do them every year specifically because they flower late so it’s a bit of new colour from August. I climb up a south facing wall but in basic soil. They flower abundantly and constantly till the frost. We are in Cornwall though. I usually sow in Feb

Added some morning glory which flowered bunch sooner

So pretty, how early in Feb?

This was in September

Really they are a perennial and do best if you can keep them going from year to year. I'm in the SW too, but we are in a frost hollow so they just don't survive the winter. If you have to start again every year they never get big enough to put on a glorious display.

You really do have to start them off early. This one was sown 22 Jan. I keep them indoors, fed and potted on till I plant them out in April. That way they grow like stink, but still dont flower till mid summer. Last flowers here were in late November.

Yes, unlike other climbers, they have to grow at least 2m or more before they even start thinking about flowering.