Happy Dance!
May. 11th, 2008 06:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mdehnersWhile this won't mean much to many reading. I noticed this AM that my Akebia vines have fruit forming!!!!! This is a big deal for me because for the last 3 yrs they've Bllomed but not produced any fruit so I literally took in into my own hands and hand-pollinated both 15 foot vines. There's at least a dozen banana-like bunches in them. Not bad for a 1st attempt at "Beeing";>!
BTW, the Akebia(or better known as Chocolate Vine) is an Evergreen vine Hardy to at least DC that produces Sweet Chocolate-scented bell-shaped blossoms in Spring. Most folks however don't know that they produce fruit. It's a lot like a Passionfruit. A rind filled with sweet, seed-filled jelly. One of the reasons most folks don't know it, though the plant itself is generally available at most garden centers is that most folks plant a singe or maybe a couple of the same cultivar. To strike they need a different cultivar's Pollen. I have the Blush and the Deep Purple kinds. The fruit is also pretty, a bight sky Blue when ripe.
The shoots are supposed to be edible in ASian countries but I haven't tryed them yet, since my whole point has been to get them big enough for fruit production....
Cheers,
Pat
BTW, the Akebia(or better known as Chocolate Vine) is an Evergreen vine Hardy to at least DC that produces Sweet Chocolate-scented bell-shaped blossoms in Spring. Most folks however don't know that they produce fruit. It's a lot like a Passionfruit. A rind filled with sweet, seed-filled jelly. One of the reasons most folks don't know it, though the plant itself is generally available at most garden centers is that most folks plant a singe or maybe a couple of the same cultivar. To strike they need a different cultivar's Pollen. I have the Blush and the Deep Purple kinds. The fruit is also pretty, a bight sky Blue when ripe.
The shoots are supposed to be edible in ASian countries but I haven't tryed them yet, since my whole point has been to get them big enough for fruit production....
Cheers,
Pat
