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Sollya parviflora (Vining Bluebell) - This delicate evergreen twining vine from Australia grows to 6-8 feet tall with narrow dark green leaves and dark blue flowers. The intensely dark blue flowers, appearing in summer, hang down and away from the foliage.
Plant in part sun to light shade and water infrequently to occasionally. We know it to be hardy to at least around 20 degrees F as the plant in our nursery garden, with some overhead protection from a tree, sustained temperatures down to 18 ° F during freeze of 1990 with little damage. Although lost during a garden reconstruction project, this beautiful specimen covered a 6 foot tall by 8-foot-wide trellis in our main garden; everyone who saw it asked about this plant. It is a great plant for its small size, texture and intense dark blue flowers.
We received Sollya parviflora from the University of California Santa Cruz arboretum in 1985, however there was always a certain amount of confusion over the true identity of the plant. There are considered to be two valid species in the genus, Sollya heterophylla and Sollya drummondii, and this latter name is the valid species name of which Sollya parviflora is a synonym. Rodger Elliot, horticulturist and noted author of many books on Australian plants, upon seeing the plant in our garden told us that the plant we are growing as Sollya parviflora is actually a fine textured form of Sollya heterophylla. In Gwen Elliot's Australian Plants Identified she supports this by noting that "A slender form of Sollya heterophylla with narrow leaves and bright deep blue flowers has previously been sold, incorrectly, as Sollya parviflora". She further noted that Sollya drummondii (S. parviflora) "is not known to be in cultivation".
Whatever the plant is - it certainly is a winner and we grew and sold it as Sollya parviflora for many years.
The information displayed on this page about Sollya parviflora is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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