Petrea Volubilis (Sandpaper vine) Growing Conditions and Caring Tips.
I am extremely excited about this article as I am going to introduce an exotic plant specie named Petrea Volubilis Plant. It is commonly known as Sandpaper Vine. Besides, It has got several other names like Queen’s wreath, Purple wreath, and Nilmani.
In case, you’ve been through my previous article How to start your own terrace garden step by step (a complete guide), you have seen a long list of plants in there. However, I intentionally didn’t mention this vine there because I was preparing to write on this one individually.
This tropical plant belongs to the family of VERBENACEAE and its real name is Petrea Volubilis. This vine is a perennial plant that yields violet, whitish purple, or sometimes even blue colored flowers which resemble the shape of a star. Although the flowers are not fragrant, yet if added to your garden, this vine will definitely enhance the beauty of your garden.
You can expect your vine to bloom in the early summer season and it will keep on rewarding you with flowers until the arrival of the winters. However, the plant becomes completely dormant in winters but that won’t cause any internal harm to the plant. In fact, during winters, you’ll hardly notice any growth in the vine but that’s all for a short span of time. The vine will grow back wonderfully as the spring season arrives.
There are a few exciting fun facts related to this plant:
First, the leaves of this plant produce a rough, crinkly sound when scratched. Also, the upper surface of the leaves is rough, dry, and coarse; This is the reason why this vine is named as sandpaper vine.
Second, the hanging violet flowers of this plant resemble the Japanese Wisteria Vine, so some people even consider it to be a cousin of Wisteria.
Here are the growing conditions of this plant:
Sunlight
Like any other flowering vine, the Petrea Volubilis vine requires full sunlight to bloom clusters of flowers. However, the plant can bear semi-shaded sunlight too, but you must not keep the plant in full shade. Overall, your vine will grow well if it receives direct sunlight from 5–6 hours.
Watering
The plant needs water only when its soil becomes dry and hard. In fact, it can bear the drought conditions to some extent, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll not water it for several days. In peak summers, you must water it once every day.
Compost Requirements
Compost or manure is one of the favorite diets of this vine. In summers, you must add compost like dried leaves or kitchen waste to the soil of this plant and this should be done once a month. You can skip this in winters because then, the plant is in its resting stage.
Pest Attacks
This vine is highly pest resistant and you will barely need to make use of any pesticide or insecticide. Seems like the rough surface of the leaves do not fascinate the pests. However, honey bees, bumblebees, and butterflies love the flowers of this vine and so they’ll often visit your garden in summers.
Although this vine is not too expensive but having an access to it can be a trouble sometimes. However, I suggest you buy it instantly if you find it in your nearby plant stores and you can thank me later.
