“A Great Find”, a copyrighted post, was written for my WordPress blog called Always Growing by Jan in Covington, Louisiana
Two summers ago, I noticed a vine with pale pink flowers blooming at a house across the street from my mother’s house. It had pale pink trumpet shaped flowers with a darker pink throat spilling over the fence by the hundreds. It was so pretty, and I fell for that vine immediately. Of course, no one knew the name of this particular vine. The neighbor just bought it years before and, I guess, never paid attention to the name. I just don’t understand people having plants and not knowing at least a common name, but that is a story for another day. Back to this lovely vine. I began searching the Internet and my garden books. This is very hard when you don’t have any kind of name to start with, but eventually, after a while, I found it. It was Pandorea jasminoids or pink bower vine or Pandora vine.
Now that I had a name, I began to search for this. Whenever I went to any place that sold plants, I looked for it. Every time I found it at a reputable online nursery, it was sold out. I was still determined to find one. This spring, it has started blooming at the neighbor’s house prettier than ever. Well, someone must be looking out for me because Sunday while dear hubby was dragging me around to Wal-mart, Home Depot, PetSmart, and Lowes, I found a Pandora vine.
While hubby was off in another area of Lowes, I wandered around the plant area. Suddenly, my eyes caught sight of familiar pink flowers nestled between a row of white jasmine and plumbago. I caught my breath, I could hardly believe it, there was my long sought for vine at Lowes! Not some exotic nursery, not even an unusual plant nursery, just plain old Lowes. I quickly grabbed one container and checked the label which, of course, only had “Pandora Vine” on it, no botanical name for an accurate identification. Without a second thought, I selected the best looking plant and went to the check out. I didn’t even know how much it was nor did I care. This long searched for vine was only $4.67 for a gallon size plant. Again, I was shocked for the second time. On-line they were $12 to $15 for a 2 inch pot, and you still had shipping to pay for.
Like I stated before, someone was looking out for me. I found my pink flowered vine, and it was cheap, too. See, it doesn’t take much to make me happy.
Pink bower vine is supposed to be hardy to zone 9, but I think I can get it to survive here since we are barely in zone 8. I’ll have to get a trellis for it before I can plant it. I was probably so excited to find this plant that I forgot all about getting a trellis for it when I bought it. Looks like that will be a job for this weekend.
Always Growing 
Helen - patientgardener said,
April 28, 2009 at 5:18 am
What a find. A similar thing has happened to me before where I found a plant I had been craving at Woolworths – now Woolworths is no more and I do miss it.
Janet said,
April 28, 2009 at 5:35 am
What a find!! Very pretty flower.
donna said,
April 28, 2009 at 6:23 am
A round of applause for plain old Lowes. Pandora Vine is very pretty. Hope you find just the perfect trellis for her.
Randy said,
April 28, 2009 at 8:30 am
Oh congrats on your happy find! I hope I have your luck with a yellow butterfly vine! Enjoy your new plant in good health!
donna said,
April 28, 2009 at 11:52 am
Me, again. Forgot to say earlier that I read in our newspaper last Sunday about plantation and swamp tours in the New Orleans area. Mentions places like Laura Plantation and Oak Alley both in Vacherie and Jean Lafitte Swamp in Marrero. Regarding the swamp tour, it says, “the waterways are lined with green walls of willows, tupelo gum trees and the knoby-kneed, moss-draped cypresses.” Reading the article made me think of Always Growing. Anywhere near you?
Jan said,
April 28, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Helen, it is sad to lose the old, familiar stores. I, too, have found some great plants at very good prices at stores you wouldn’t think would have an out of the ordinary plant.
Janet, wait until you see the vine next year when it will be bigger and covered with flowers. It is quite lovely.
Donna, yes, I am thankful to plain old Lowes. I hope they get more plants like this instead of the same old bedding plants everyone seems to carry.
As to your second comment, yes, those places are near me. The plantations are about forty miles from here, and Marrero only about thirty miles south of us. There are swamp tours closer in Slidell which is only about twenty miles away. The swamp tours are really interesting, and the plantations are lovely. Both give a glimpse into another world which is so different from our everyday life.
Hey, Randy. Thanks, I hope you find your plant, too. How’s your back?
Melody said,
April 28, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I live in Zone 8 – North Florida – and the vine is hardy here. I’m not sure if it dies back and returns or if it is just deciduous. Several houses in the area have it growing on their fence and it is a beautiful plant. Enjoy yours:)
Jan said,
April 28, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Thanks for the info, Melody. It is good to know that it will make it through the winter.
Jean said,
April 28, 2009 at 11:07 pm
That is indeed a pretty vine. I guess it wouldn’t survive readily up here but I’m sure you’ll have good luck with it. Speaking of luck, you really scored on that one!
andré said,
April 29, 2009 at 3:49 am
It’s beautiful- what a great find! Apparently, it can be found in stores here too..! 🙂
Jan said,
April 29, 2009 at 5:26 am
Jean, I don’t know if it would be root hardy for you or not since I don’t have any experience with this, but in my research I found that it seems most people grow this as a container plant and bring it inside during the winter. This is a plant I would consider doing this for since it is so lovely and seems to be a fast grower.
Andre, it is always a special treat to find something one has been searching for. I guess you would have to grow this as a container plant or and annual since it is a tender vine.