Lophospermum erubescens

CREEPING GLOXINIA, CLIMBING GLOXINIA, CLIMBING SNAPDRAGON
syn. Asarina erubescens, Maurandya erubescens, Asarina lophantha, Asarina lophospermum, Lophospermum scandens
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Pronounced: lo-fo-SPER-mum er-yoo-BESS-kens

 

Quick Jumps

Growing Guide
Rainy Side Notes

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GROWING GUIDE

Origin:
Garden.
Plant Group:
Vines.
Hardiness:
Sunset zones: Not listed.
USDA zones: 9-11.
Mature size:
Height: 10 feet (3 m).
Flowering period:
Early summer to late autumn.
Flowering attributes:
Tubular, trumpet-shaped, wine-red flowers.
Leaf attributes:
Triangle-shaped, downy, soft gray-green, serrated, evergreen leaves.
Growth habit:
Climber or trailer.
Light:
Full sun.
Soil:
Fertile, sandy, moist, well-drained soil.
Feeding:
In the ground provide a complete organic fertilizer when planting and monthly applications through June. Feed weekly when grown in pots or use a time-release fertilizer.
Propagation Methods:
Root cuttings in summer.
Pests and Diseases:
Nothing notable.

 

Rainy Side Notes

With soft leaves you want to pet and stunning trumpet-shaped red flowers, this tender perennial vine is lovely in pots as well as in the ground. In our Pacific Northwest climate we treat it as an annual, or overwinter in the greenhouse. As a container or hanging basket subject, it is a quick grower and grows quite well in our cooler maritime. In the ground, it will climb by twining around its host.

Planted with four plants from four-inch pots, within a month the basket (photo below left) fills to overflowing with beautiful serrated foliage and a sprinkling of flowers. As summer marches on the plants increase their flower production (photo above right) and become quite showy in the garden.

Related to foxgloves (Digitalis), this plant is another one that suffers an identity crisis. If you look at the list of synonyms at the top of the page—from Asarina to Maurandya—you can see the taxonomists have been busy trying to figure out where it belongs. I hope that it has now found its home in the genus Lophospermum.

Debbie Teashon
Photographed in author's garden.