IN THE GARDEN: Simply divine

Vines provide an important vertical dimension to the landscape. They can be used along the wall of a house or a garage, on a porch or a deck railing, or on a structure like a trellis. No garden should be without them.

Late summer or early fall is the flowering time for an old-fashioned annual vine called Mina lobata. This plant belongs to the morning glory or Convolvulaceae plant family and so has many of the characteristics of the well-known morning glory, which means it is easy to grow.

The Mina lobata vine was introduced into this country around 1890. Eventually it became common and appeared in most seed catalogs.

Today the seed for this vine is available from any seed company, including Thompson and Morgan, which featured a beautiful picture of it in its catalog.

The vine grows from 10 to 12 feet, but it is the stunning flowers that make this vine a winner. The late 19th-century American garden magazine Garden and Forest said of this plant in 1891, “The flower-buds are a bright rich crimson, changing from orange to pale yellow as they open, and as the flowers appear at all stages at the same time produce a charming and unusual effect.”

Mina lobata, also known as lobata, is a twining climber native to Mexico and Central America. Its common name is Spanish Flag or Firecracker Vine because of its tubular-shaped flower. Each spike has up to 12, 1-inch flowers that begin as a rusty red color changing to orange then to yellow and finally maturing to white.

All colors appear on the plant at the same time, making a spectacular show. The 5-inch leaves are dark green and shaped like that of a sweet potato plant. This plant prefers full sun and moist, well-drained soil. Without full sun, it will not put out its full show of flowers. If you are patient and the plant has the right spot, you will be rewarded with an amazing display of color.

For our zone, Mina lobata is an annual. It may reseed just like other members of the morning glory family. At the Burpee experimental farm in Doylestown, Pa., one of the gardens has a 6-foot trellis marking the end of each long row of plants, mostly flowers. There are more than 10 trellises and each is covered with hundreds of flowers from the Mina lobata vine when in full bloom in late August and into September. The plant drops its seeds,so the trellises are covered each year.

If you are looking for a colorful vine for late summer and early fall, the Mina lobata vine may be just the one. You can start it from seed in the garden in the spring, and in the early fall you are rewarded with beautiful, unusual flowers. Some garden centers may sell small plants in spring.

Thomas Mickey is a master gardener from Quincy and a professor at Bridgewater State College. You may reach him at features@ledger.com, Attn: In the Garden.