Climbing black eyed susan

Hi all,

My girlfriend and i bought a climbing black eyed susan last summer. It was about half a meter tall when we first got it and shot up to about 2 meters tall.

During the autumn/winter all the leaves died leaving twigs on the trellis.

We had a garden clear up last weekend and was unsure on what to do with this plant. Do we cut back all of last years twigs to the soil, leaving space for the new shoots to come through, or do the twigs revive?

many thanks in advance (that rhymes!)

 

Bad news- these are tender as far as i know so neither the stems or roots will have survived the frost in the winter. Worth hanging on to just in case, they would resprout from the roots in May if still alive. You can cut the dead stalks off because they will not regrow. Also I think these are annuals so only live one year in any case.

Better news- you may find some seed heads on the dead stalks so could grow your own. If not, seeds are cheap and you can resow on the windowsill in May to get as many replacements as you want.

 

I grow black eyed Susan every year, and I always get new seedlings sprouting up although they are very slow. If you can find any old pods on the dry stems I would remove them and start them early in the warmth.

 

Hi Craig
is this the plant you mean , Black eyed Susan Thunbergia ? A few other plants are called black eyed susans.
They are fairly easy to grow from seed , and is a one of my favourite small climbers . I think 2 metres is about the max they will grow in the UK.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THUNBERGI...arden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN&hash=item5ae8339481

 

I grew them for the first time last year, when they went up to 6 feet. I have a feeling that they are actually tender perennials, so I have overwintered mine (they were in a pot) frost free under glass. I will be interested to see if they come back.

But as others have said they are very easy from seed, and sometimes tender perennials actually do better grown from seed than if you keep them alive for a second year. I found this with Petunias. They are also tender perennials, but never very good in the second year for me.

 

Thats the one Harry! little yellow and orange flowers climbing my fence

so just to clarify (sorry i'm learning all the terms)

If the plant does happen to come back, it will be through new shoots in the ground? ie. i can cut the old stuff away (down to the soil)?
If it doesnt come back, there could possibly be seeds lying in the ground and i may get a few shoots anyway? Or, if there are any dry pods on the plant, remove the seeds and try and grow them?

 

Hi Craig
I did not know that Thunbergia would self seed in our climate , but I have been known to be wrong before I would buy some seeds off Ebay and sow them inside on a windowsill in late March . I don't plant them outside until late June , they do like it warmish . You can get a mix set of seeds in yellow , orange and cream . Leave the salmon shades as they can be a bit tricky.

 

Righto Harry,

I'll start searching eBay

I'll fill my back garden wall with them

 

This is lovely!! Thanks for the link Harry I shall definitely order some!!

Val

 

Oh that's pretty! Some thing I might try at some point

 

Lovely plant I picked some seeds in the autumn should these be ok ..... or should I use the overwintered seeds off the plant in the garden??

 

Caveman never had much luck saving Thunbergia seeds , I got very poor germination when I tried . If you have collected seeds I'd try both. The photo is Thunbergia yellow cream and salmon in a planter with red verbena . I reckon 4 ft is the best I can get with them . If they can get sun all day maybe 6 feet ?