"Chocolate Vine" (Akebia quinata)

I can see why you you wanted one its a beauty..........

Ooooh you so lucky, this is beautiful David.

yours beat mine! i ordered one last week sometime i think it was, - where did you get yours from? - looks lovely BTW

now on favourites!~that looks gorgeous!

I've had this vine for several years.
Grows quite vigorously once it gets going.
Covers a tall obelisk in my back garden.

I don't think mine is in flower yet, David. It seems a bit early. I'll try to find mine from last year - and check the date.

Just checked - I took a photo of the flowers on April 20th last year.

How's yours coming on, TT? Any buds or flowers yet?

This climber flowers in late spring.
I'll check mine for buds tomorrow.
Some sites describe this as evergreen, but I find mine loses leaves in cold winters.
Do you find the same, Spritz ?

No, it has amazed me by keeping its leaves!

This is lovely, Lincslass, Panther, and Arlene. I discovered it first here on GOY in other members' pics, and had to find one, especially with that name! :-)

Angie, I saw that you sent me a comment re this plant, and that you have ordered one, but didn't have time to reply b4 this arrived. I got this from Crocus, via the GOY shops section. It was £11.95, to be honest, so a bit more expensive than yours from Parkers, but it is almost 3 ft high, and was amazed to open the box and see the flowers. Hope yours arrives soon. :-)

Tt and Spritz, the label on mine says "semi-evergreen" so I suppose it depends on what kind of winters we have. Have also read online that it doesn't really have a chocolate fragrance at all, and I can't smell much (but then, I don't have a great sense of smell anyway). Spritz, your pic of this is in my faves from last year when researching chocolate plants, so I know it was April, lol!

I am just so pleased to have one here! :-)

That was exactly why I'm surprised that mine has its leaves, David! I've lost so many other plants that why this one has escaped intact I do NOT know! Its flowers do have a slight smell of chocolate - get E and J to try a sniff!

Spritz ~
Where is your Chocolate Vine planted ?
In a sheltered position?

Very pretty vine!

No, Tt - it's growing through the Berberis by the wooden bridge. Not tucked away at all! Faces east really, I think, and north. I had a look yesterday and it's growing like mad! No buds as yet, though.

How is yours? Any buds? You said it's on an obelisk - is that exposed?

Yes, Spritz, my Akebia is on an obelisk in the back garden which gets lots of sunshine most of the day, but is also exposed to winds on all sides ! I checked this morning and it is smothered in buds. The new foliage is growing fast. It hung on to its old leaves for most of the winter and lost them around the time of the snows in February. So it seems even if it does lose its leaves, the new ones grow very quickly, so it doesn't stay 'bare' for very long. Maybe your Berberis gives a little protection to the Akebia ? Do you have a photo of yours on GoY ? I'll try to put a picture of my Chocolate Vine on soon.

Mine is also smothered in buds and new growth - also, it has been sending out long, long shoots from the main plant right across the bed into the next one! I think that these may have to be cut off as they are getting in the way.

Yes, I posted a photo last April.

Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but have just sourced a creamy white-flowering Akebia quinata here in the UK. What is it called? A. qiunata "White Chocolate", of course! Can't wait for this to arrive!

David ~ that's a really good find.
Well done :o)
Spritz ~ I'll hunt for your photo....

Many Thanks Tt! Now, type "chocolate vine" into the google custom search box above, and click on page 2 of the listings. At the very top, you'll find Spritz' 2 pics of this plant, buds from march last year, and full blooms from April (also many more pics and info to be found this way). :-)

How interesting, David. I didn't know about that! No, I am not going to be tempted by it. No, no, no!!!

Are you sure, Spritz? Heehee! :-)

Brilliant!! I love those and have 2 of them, they grow very fast and supposed to be semi-evergreen, when I lived in London it was, here in Peterborough it is not.

Does the flower colour vary on these vines ?
I looked at the photo taken by Spritz last April and her vine's flowers seem paler.

Don't know for sure, Tt, but many flowering plants appear in various shades. Or, it could just be the light or exposure. Wish my "White Chocolate" would arrive, heehee!

Michaella, do you mean the marroon flowering variety? That's interesting, about the leaf retention. Will have to wait and see what happens with mine.