Hardenbergia violacea
Flowering now in the garden is the lovely Purple Coral Pea or Native Sarsaparilla, a member of the legume family, named in honour of Franziska Countess von Hardenberg in 1837 by George Bentham, an English botanist.
There
are three species of this small genus in Australia, growing in areas from Queensland to Tasmania.
Hardenbergia violacea is a vigorous evergreen, climbing or
sometimes trailing vine that has lance shaped leaves and pendant racemes of
purple flowers from late winter until early summer.
It likes a sunny or semi shaded position. It
flowers better in full sun and needs well drained soil and preferably
a frost free site, although it will tolerate some frost. Like many evergreen
climbers, it has a tendency to run up a wall or fence and ball at the top and
be leggy below. For compact growth and an even fence coverage prune
regularly after flowering.
Probably the most widely grown variety in
Australia is Hardenbergia violacea 'Happy Wanderer'. There is
also a pale pink form called Hardenbergia ‘Rosea’ which is just
exquisite with its soft pink colour.
Hardenbergia Rosea
A pure white form too is available named Hardenbergia ‘Alba’.
Recent breeding has actually
developed an upright shrubby form named Hardenbergia 'Purple
Clusters' which grows to about a metre by a metre and has a mass of purple
flowers from Winter to Spring.
