Clerodendrum (Glory-Bower)

Temperature:
60-70 F

A warm-greenhouse vine that flowers freely when confined to a hanging basket or a pot. Large loose clusters of brilliant scarlet, red, or white blossoms appear when plant is only 18 inches high.

Seeds or cuttings are started in January in a mixture of sand and peat, then potted in a mixture of loam, leafmold, and sand. Apply liquid fertilizer regularly and keep soil evenly moist, for almost continuous flowering starting in April. Shade during summer. After flowering, reduce water and reduce temperature to 55 F. Keep on dry side until growth cycle begins again in January; then increase water and fertilizer to force blooms for spring.

Clerodendrum foliage is coarse and emits an unpleasant odor when disturbed or touched, but probably you will never notice this undesirable characteristic. The attractive flowers are usually delightfully fragrant.

Recommended:

C. Bungei, heady fragrance similar to that of nicotiana; C. fragrans pleniflorum (cashmere-bouquet); and C. Thomsoniae (bleeding-heart-vine).