Growing Guide for Maurandia

Tender climbing perennial plants which are free flowering and suitable for growing in pots in the greenhouse, or for planting out of doors. They are closely related to the Snapdragon (Antirrhinum), to whose family, Scrophulariaceae, they belong.

These plants, which are from Mexico, have slender stems up to 1 ft. in length and climb by means of their leafstalks, which twist around available supports. They have halberd shaped leaves, 2-3 in. wide, and tubular flowers 3 in. in length, which are violet, purple, or rose in color. The name Maurandia commemorates Cartagena Pancratia Maurandy, a student of botany at Cartagena, Spain.

These plants require a minimum winter temperature of 45 degrees, and the most suitable potting compost consists of equal parts of loam and either peat moss or leaf mold, with sand added freely. The plants are grown in pots, the shoots being trained to stakes, or allowed to trail; or they may be trained to wires or a trellis fixed inside the greenhouse. They also are very effective when growing in hanging baskets.

Plants are obtained by sowing seeds or taking cuttings. Seeds arc sown in well drained pots of sandy soil in March. The compost is moistened by immersing the seed pot in water, and, after the surplus water has drained away, the seeds are scattered thinly on the surface and covered very lightly with fine soil, which is damped with a fine spray. A pane of glass is laid on the pot, which is placed in a temperature of 45-55 degrees. When the seedlings appear above the soil, the glass is removed and they are set in a light position. As soon as they are 2 in. in height, they arc potted separately in 3-in. pots, and subsequently are repotted in larger pots; finally, they are transferred to pots 10 or