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Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides and close up of bloom. Wikimedia
Recommended for your garden in the south of Spain: Mexican flame vine
Gardening

Recommended for your garden in the south of Spain: Mexican flame vine

The stunning orange or red flowers form in small clusters and are scented, attracting butterflies as well as other insects

Denise Bush

Malaga

Friday, 13 December 2024, 14:54

A member of the Asteraceae family (daisy), the Mexican flame vine is a herbaceous , evergreen vine or liana native to Mexico and South America.

Its botanical name is Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides, the genus name because it resembles another tropical member of the daisy family and the specific epithet means looking like a goose foot from the Greek chen - goose and pous -foot, a description of the leaf shape. It is also known by the synonym Senecio confusus, from the Latin for old man and confusus meaning uncertainty, probably due to its grey, bristly seedheads and trailing habit.

The stunning orange or red flowers appear from late spring and will continue until the colder weather arrives. They form in small clusters and are scented, attracting Monarch butterflies as well as other insects.

The velvety, arrow-shaped leaves stay on the vine all year except in colder inland areas where this plant can be grown in a pot and given shelter during the winter or, alternatively, grown as an annual.

The Mexican flame vine is easy to propagate from seed or cuttings.

It is drought resistant once established but for optimum flowering, needs regular watering during the hottest months. It will also benefit from some shade during the height of the summer.

In ideal conditions (loamy soil, warm winters, humid summers and year-round moisture) it can become invasive and will blanket anything it can reach including other shrubs and trees and even power lines. However, in southern Spain it is unlikely to be quite so vigorous, reaching around 5 metres tall by about 2.5 metres wide.

Stray seedlings are easy to remove and it can be cut back hard, resprouting in spring but handling can cause a skin reaction so protective gloves etc should be worn.

Besides being used as a climbing plant, it can also be used in hanging baskets and is a useful ground cover.

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surinenglish Recommended for your garden in the south of Spain: Mexican flame vine