Awesome Garden Surprise

I was admiring the lovely arbor of morning glories while tending to my vegetable beds when suddenly my eyes focused on a wonderful surprise. A few years ago, I had planted a Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia gigantea) on the same arbor, figuring that such a vigorous tropical climber could compete with the morning glory vine. Unfortunately, it has been a struggle for the Dutchman's Pipe to maintain an equal footing with the morning glory, but by early June I noticed there were many heart-shaped leaves interspersed with its more vigorous neighbor. So I sprayed the foliage with a mixture of water and powdered kelp (from Nature's Solution) and today, its unique flower made a grand appearance. From the side, you can see why its common name is Dutchman's Pipe and when it opens its giant bud, the flower will be 6-10 inches long and almost as wide with an ivory veination pattern against a deep burgundy background. Once open, it will emit a strong scent to attract pollinating insects. When it does, I will take another photo to share on the GardenLife blog.