The Last Week of February

I'm always glad when February is over - to me, it is the last month of winter. Even though March can still be cold and (heaven forbid) snowy, it holds the promise of spring. Let's all hope we have spring this year. If you remember, last year it rained for six weeks starting in May!

Plant of the week:

Tetrastigma

(Chestnut Vine)

In the Genus of about 90 species of evergreen and deciduous tendril climbers Tetrastigma is found in tropical woodland from Indonesia and Malaysia to north Australia. It is the giant of the vines group. Each leaf measures more than 1ft. across when mature - the 3-5 leaflets which make up each leaf are glossy and saw-edged.

They are diamond shaped, toothed, shiny, dark green above and yellowish brown and hairy beneath.

Because Tetrastigma grows below the canopy in the tropical rainforest, it requires bright, indirect light and humidity.

We have three of these wonderful hanging vines which we enjoy in our screen porch each summer. Because they are tropical (zone 11), they must be wintered indoors. We grow ours in 12" hanging baskets which are easily brought in and wintered in our indoor planter. They require nothing special to thrive. Water with dilute fertilizer during the summer months and water sparingly throughout the winter.