Chocolate Vine

Akebia quinata, Chocolate Vine

Evergreen in warm sunny places, this shrubby, twining climber has unusually shaped, purple flowers with a vanilla scent, early in the year. In ideal conditions, these make decorative seed pods.

Features

• Semi-Evergreen
• Purple flowers Mar-May.
• Vanilla scented.
• Decorative seed pods.
• Looks best in sheltered sunny locations, but shade-tolerant.
• To over 8 x 8m

Growing Akebia Vines

Any well drained, improved garden soil with decent sun situation will do if you want a good show of flowers and seed pods. The vines themselves are shade-tolerant. Their flowers look best with protection from spring frosts. Established plants dislike having their roots disturbed.

Prune to tidy up after the flowers fade. On mature vines, you can cut out stems at the base to make way for new ones.

Did You Know? 

This East Asian native is a traditional basket weaving material.