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Solanum wendlandii (Costa Rican Nightshade) - A semi-evergreen large vigorous vine from tropical central America that can grow to 10 to 15 feet tall and wide. It has large 4 to 8 inch long ovate thick leaves, often with hooked thorns along the midrib on the leaf underside and large terminal panicles of 1 1/2 to 2 inch wide deep purple flowers that fade to lavender, then white over their long blooming period. It flowers abundantly during the warmer months of the year from spring into fall with enough heat but sometimes has a scattered bloom even in later winter in mild years.
Plant in full to partial sun with average to abundant water. Stays evergreen in warm tropical gardens but is deciduous for most California gardeners where can be stem hardy to 20° F or a bit lower. A good plant in the garden but also grows well and blooms early in containers. Solanum wendlandii comes from Southern Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatamala and northwestern South America. The name for the genus comes from the Latin name used by Pliny for a nightshade. The specific epithet honors Dr. Dr. Hermann Wendland (1825-1903), the director of the Royal Gardens at Herrenhausen, Hannover who first sent the original plants to Kew where it was described by Joseph Hooker in 1887. It is also commonly called Giant Potato Creeper, Giant Potato Vine, Blue Potato vine, Giant Potato creeper, Paradise flower and Divorce Vine, this last name possibly because of the thorns on the leaves.
We received our first propagation stock plant of this beautiful vine in 2003 from Mike Craib who was then working for Suncrest Nurseries in Watsonville but who later became an outside salesman for us. We grew and sold it from 2007 on until selling it out as we closed the nursery down in 2025.
Information displayed on this page about Solanum wendlandii is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will 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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