Pandorea pandorana 'Golden Showers' (Yellow Wonga Wonga Vine) - A vigorous evergreen twining vine with dark green divided leaves that are bronze tinged when first emerging. The yellow flowers with reddish-brown markings looking like small foxgloves are held on pendulous sprays over a long period from early spring (This selection blooms longer than the species).
Plant in full to part day sun and irrigate occasionally to infrequently. It is cold hardy to 25° F. A great vine for covering chain link fences or on a trellis.
This plant came to us from the UCSC arboretum and it was an original selection made by the Australian National Botanic Gardens from a naturally occurring plant of Pandorea pandorana growing near Kempsey in New South Wales in 1967. The cultivar name 'Golden Showers' refers to the gold and reddish-brown pendulous inflorescences. The name for the genus is from Pandora of Greek mythology, who was the first mortal woman sent to earth by the gods - the name is derived from the Greek words 'Pan' meaning "all" and 'doran' meaning 'gift'. The French botanist Edouard Spach first used the name to describe the genus in 1840 reportedly because the fruit, a capsule with numerous brown winged seeds, somehow reminded him of Pandora’s Box. The specific epithet is also a reference to the same.
We have grown this great vine since 2002 and at one time had a large plant that was covering the corner of one of our nursery office buildings where it seemed to never be out of flower. We also grow the smaller but similar Pandorea doratoxylon, which we originally dubbed Pandorea pandorana 'Delicado' as well as the larger flowering white Pandorea jasminoides 'Alba' and the pink flowering Pandorea jasminoides.
This information about Pandorea pandorana 'Golden Showers' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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