How to Grow and Care for Lipstick Vines

How to Grow and Care for Lipstick Vines Aeschynanthus spp.

While I admire the deft brushstrokes and outlet for personal expression involved in applying makeup, I myself don’t have the knack – and I’m too wary to put on the stuff.

But I’ve finally found a lipstick I can appreciate: plants in the Aeschynanthus genus that earned the common name “lipstick vine” thanks to their flowers, which look like lipstick emerging from a tiny tube as the buds open up.

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To me, their most special attribute is that they will produce these clusters of red or red-orange flowers indoors.

These showy plants originated in southern Asia, where the epiphytic vines drape from tree branches in damp forests.

When you grow Aeschynanthus species at home, it’s necessary to replicate the soil and growing conditions of their native range as closely as possible.

These evergreen perennials may be cultivated outdoors year-round only in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 to 11.

In this guide, I’ll share tips to grow and care for lipstick vine as an indoor plant, though you may choose to bring it outdoors for the warm months.

Here’s everything I’ll cover:

There are 150 known species in the Aeschynanthus genus and all of them are epiphytes. These belong to the Gesneriaceae family, which also includes African violets.

Species from this genus were first classified by botanist William Jack and so named a year after his death, in 1823.

The genus name is a combination of the Greek word “aischne,” which translates to “shame” in English, and “anthos,” or flower.

Though the number of different shades and styles available from these plants