Cobaea scandens Climbing White Seeds

Cobaea scandens Alba, also known as Climbing Cobaea, is a vigorous climbing plant with a slightly retro charm. This spectacular variety displays delicious white bell-shaped flowers that become cream-coloured from summer to autumn, nestled in lush and deep green foliage. It clings to its support with long, branched tendrils like those of peas. A frost-tender perennial, it is grown as an annual, in well-exposed, rich, moist but well-drained soil. It will quickly and beautifully cover any support you provide and can also be grown in a pot.

Originally from tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, especially central Mexico, Cobaea scandens is a fast-growing herbaceous perennial vine belonging to the Polemoniaceae family, which is grown as an annual. It reaches a height of 3 m (9.8 ft) and a width of about 1 m (3.3 ft) in a single growing season. It bears dense, dark green, evergreen foliage on its slender stems. The leaves are compound, consisting of 3 pairs of 10 cm (3.9 in) long leaflets with veins. The terminal leaflet is transformed into a forked tendril that allows the plant to cling. Flowering starts in August, rarely earlier, and continues into autumn until the first frost. Bell-shaped flowers, measuring 7 to 8 cm (2.8 to 3.1 in) long, with recurved or retrorse lips, appear in the leaf axils. These flowers are initially white-greenish, then open to white before turning cream-coloured, revealing a cluster of yellow stamens. They are followed by the formation of an ovoid fruit containing seeds.

Climbing Cobaea is ideal for quickly covering a trellis, pergola, fence, or gate. But its old-fashioned charm makes it even more invaluable for covering an old stone wall or well, or cascading down a terraced garden. It excels among the September blooms, as the summer flowers decline and the soft light plays through its bell-shaped flowers. Mix the Alba variety and the classic variety on the same support as their colours harmonise beautifully. Plant blue, pink, and white asters, as well as hardy chrysanthemums, at their base to create a truly romantic tableau.