Lapageria rosea
Chilean bellflower, Chile bells, Copihue
- Height × spread
- 4m × 3m
- Position
- Part shade
- Hardiness
- Mild winter to -5C (RHS H3)
- Flowers
- Summer, Autumn
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This is a lovely, tender, twining plant, the national flower of Chile. The elegant leaves are leathery, glossy and smooth, oval with long pointed tips. The rosy-red, pendulous flowers form deep columns of trumpets, followed by yellow-green edible fruits. The flowers appear during summer and autumn.
- Flower colour
- Red
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Fruit colour
- Yellow
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Fan
- Height
- 4m
- Spread
- 3m
- Season of interest
- Summer, Autumn
- Flowers in
- Summer, Autumn
- Evergreen
- Evergreen
- Garden style
- Conservatory
- Sun or shade
- Likes part shade, likes light shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Gravelly soil, Loam (normal), Poor soil, Sandy soil
- Soil pH
- Acid (ericaceous), Neutral
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil
- Hardiness
- Mild winter to -5C (RHS H3)
- Borders & containers
- Borders and containers
- Use for
- Wall cover
- Walls
- East facing
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with sequestrol
If plants are acid loving and grown in soil with little acidity, or in a container, or are watered with limey tap water an annual feed with sequestrol (iron chelate) is highly beneficial. Follow guidelines on the packet. Will also 'blue-up' hydrangeas.
For hydrangeas that have good blue flowers in acid soil, this product can be used with alkaline soil to turn the flowers blue. This is most effective when the soil is neutral or just slightkly alkaline.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Spring - early · Planting
Prune minimally
This plant doesn't really need much pruning, just remove any dead or damaged wood.
Winter
Winter · Planting
Apply a protective mulch
Protect with a mulch so that the plant does not become too wet in winter.
A mulch is a covering that can: protect the soil surface from rain, heat and cold; deter weeds; provide nutrients. Organic indicates that material has vegetative origin e.g. manure, compost. Synthetics i.e. plastics, or stones are often called mulches.
Winter · Planting
Divide plant to maintain size every 5 years
Rhizomes can be divided, or clumps separated, discarding any weak or diseased parts and replanting the remainder. The rhizome sits below the soil.
Planting & general
Outdoors
Water with rain water
This plant needs rain water or soft water (the minerals in alkaline or "hard" water are harmful). This is especially important for plants in pots.
Compost · Planting
Ericaceous compost
This plant requires acidic (ericaceous) soil. Where the soil is not acidic, or when planting in pots, use an ericaceous compost.