Ipomoea lobata
Spanish Flag
Common names: Star Glory, Cardinal Climber
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 5 °C
- Flowering
- Jul–Oct
- Spacing
- 30 cm, rows 40 cm
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Michael Wolf · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Ipomoea lobata, known as Spanish Flag, is native to Mexico and Central America. In temperate gardens it grows as an annual climbing plant that twines up to 2 to 4 m by autumn on stakes, strings, or trellises. The leaves are three-lobed. From July until the first frost, one-sided flower clusters appear, carrying many narrow tubular flowers. With age, the flowers change from deep red through orange and yellow to cream white. Several colors therefore appear side by side on one cluster, resembling the stripes of a flag. The plant needs warmth and sun and often does not begin to flower until midsummer. In gardens and large containers, it covers obelisks, pergolas, fences, and balcony railings.
Care instructions
Plant Spanish Flag only after the Ice Saints, in mid-May, in a full-sun, warm, and wind-sheltered spot. It prefers heat and is sensitive to cold, wind, and waterlogging. Guide the shoots onto a climbing support from the start: tensioned wires, a trellis, strings, or a bamboo cane obelisk are suitable, as it cannot find hold on smooth surfaces. Water evenly, daily in containers on hot days, and never let the soil dry out completely. Fertilize sparingly to encourage more flowers and less foliage. Common mistakes include planting young plants out too early, placing the plant in shade, and applying too much nitrogen. Cold, wet soil causes growth to stall, so be patient until the weather warms.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMar–Apr
FloweringJul–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 15 °C, ideally 22 °C
- Days to sprout
- 7 to 14 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 1 cm
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, loamy
Spanish flag grows in loose, humus-rich, well-drained soil that warms up quickly in early summer. A neutral to slightly acidic soil suits it. Soil that is too rich or heavily fertilised produces lots of foliage and few flowers, so mix in only a little mature compost when planting. In a container, use ordinary potting compost with some sand and make sure there are drainage holes so water can run off. It tolerates waterlogging and cold, wet soil poorly.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Jun–Aug
In the bed, the compost from planting is enough; from July you can water once with diluted nettle feed. In a container, add a liquid fertiliser for flowering plants to the water every two weeks from June. Go sparingly, because too much nitrogen makes the shoots grow lushly, and the flowers are slow to come.
Overwintering
Spanish flag is frost-tender and dies with the first night frosts, so in Central Europe it is grown as an annual. In autumn, clear away the dried-up shoots together with the support. Do not rely on self-seeding; it is safer to sow afresh in spring. If you want to collect seed, leave a few capsules on the plant to turn brown and dry before the frost comes, and keep them cool and dry until spring.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You raise Spanish flag from seed under cover. Soak the hard seeds in lukewarm water overnight before sowing; this speeds up germination. In March and April, sow them singly in pots of seed compost, cover them with about 1 cm of compost and stand them in a bright, warm place at 20 to 25 °C. They come up after one to three weeks. Support the seedlings early with a cane so they do not tangle together. Plant out after the Ice Saints in mid-May. You can save seed from ripe, brown capsules.
For your garden
Grow Spanish Flag yourself
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