Lophospermum scandens Album - Climbing Gloxinia

Lophospermum scandens Album, also known as White Lofos, is a beautiful herbaceous vine with rambling stems, perfect for quickly covering supports where it twines. Both lightweight and exuberant, it displays from summer to autumn, until frost, flowers resembling foxgloves in long white tubes, which bloom on narrow heart-shaped foliage, strongly toothed, medium green with greyish undertones. Like clematis, its petioles grasp the supporting structure. The aboveground parts disappear completely in cool climates, and their roots require winter protection. It will thrive in well-drained, cool-to-dry soil, in the gentle sun or in partial shade. Growing it in large containers, where it excels, allows for cultivation anywhere. In cold regions, it is grown annually.

Lophospermum scandens is a plant native to the central zone of southern Mexico and belongs to the Plantaginaceae family. It is often confused with Asarina scandens, although slightly different. In nature, it usually grows on soils of volcanic origin, in oak forests, scrub vegetation, cliffs and canyon walls, and rocky outcrops, including recent lava flows, but always in dry habitats.

'Alba' is a white-flowered form of this wild plant. It is a perennial herbaceous vine with fibrous roots, forming an interlacing of long ramified stems becoming woody at the base until developing a caudex, that is, a swollen structure at the base of the stems, serving as a reserve organ for the plant. This plant will spread 3 m (10ft) in all directions in our climates but much more in its original habitat where the cold does not cut it back. The stems are adorned with heart-shaped and narrow leaves, measuring 3 to 11 cm (1 to 4in) long and 1.6 to 2 cm (1in) wide, ending in a tapered point. They are attached to the stem by a petiole capable of twisting to coil around the support. The leaf margin is strongly toothed and stems and leaves are slightly pubescent, of a medium green colour with a hint of grey.

Flowering occurs from June to July and from October to November until frost. The solitary flowers are tubular and campanulate, resembling those of foxgloves or trumpet vines. They measure from 4 to 5 cm (2in) in length and are formed by five fused petals in a flared white tube, revealing a throat equipped with protruding stamens and a cone-shaped stigma. The flowering is followed by the formation of an ovoid capsule filled with brown seeds.

Lophospermum scandens is often used on patios, planted in a large pot, to cover a pergola or trellis. In the ground, it is a superb plant when allowed to cascade down slopes and rockeries or invade small trees, and it will generously spill over walls with long-lasting cascades of flowers. At planting, place it near support where it can cling as soon as the vegetation starts; it will then find its way towards the light. It is also a good plant for hanging baskets, although its growth will be more limited there.

Note: Attention, our young plug plants are professional products reserved for experienced gardeners: upon receipt, transplant and store them under shelter (veranda, greenhouse, cold frame...) at a temperature above 14°C (57.2°F) for a few weeks before being planted outdoors once the risk of frost has passed.