Chocolate Vine

The garden is now moving into its next phase and one corner of the house is smothered with a rampant growth of tangled Wisteria and Chocolate Vine Akebia quinata. The larger maroon-chocolate flowers are female, each of the seven stigmas crowned with sticky globules of nectar, while the clusters of smaller, paler flowers have a cluster of pinkish anthers that have not yet opened. Although it's a beautiful species, it needs to be treated with some caution. In some parts of the world it's already a serious invasive species, and this may become the case in the UK as winters become warmer. Ours is safely confined in a corner surrounded by the patio.