Grow and Care for Purple Bell Vine

Grow purple bell vine in full sun, in moist soil that drains, and on a trellis the leaf stalks can twine. Purple bell vine is Rhodochiton. Shops also say purple bells. It is not a Campanula bellflower.

Give it full sun, moist soil that drains, and a trellis the leaf stalks can twine

purple bell vine is Rhodochiton atrosanguineus, a plantain-family climber whose leaf stalks twist around string or mesh. Give it full sun and soil that stays moist but drains, because shade cuts bloom and wet feet rot the roots. [1] A little afternoon shade in a hot summer keeps the leaves from scorching. Compost at planting is enough food until growth is strong; then a balanced liquid feed once a month is plenty. The vine does not grab with tendrils. The leaf stalks wrap a thin support, so string, netting, or a light trellis works better than a smooth thick post. [2] Keep watering even in a container. About an inch a week is a starting point, then more when heat dries the mix. Do not water with softened or salty water. [3]

Treat it as an annual, or bring a pot in before nights hit the low 40s

Most U.S. gardeners grow purple bell vine as a summer annual and let frost end it. If you started it in a pot, bring that pot into a bright, cool room before nights drop into the low 40s, and water less once growth slows. [4] It is a tender perennial only where winter stays frost-free outdoors. Keep the mix just moist in winter, not soggy. It is not a houseplant for a dim windowsill.

Grow it in a hanging basket, or in a pot with a hole

A hanging basket shows the dangling bells, and a patio pot next to a string trellis lets you move the plant when nights turn cold. The mix still has to stay moist and drain.

1. Use a pot with a drainage hole and a mix that holds moisture but does not stay soggy.
2. Water more often than in the ground, because a basket dries out faster in sun and wind.
3. Hang it so the stems can trail, or stand the pot next to strings if you want it to climb.
4. Do not try to keep it as a year-round houseplant in low light.

Root a cutting in spring if you already have a vine

Seed is the usual start — see Growing Purple Bell Vine from Seed. A cutting in spring copies a vine you already have, which helps if you want the same plant next year without waiting on a tray.

1. Cut a non-flowering shoot with several leaves, just below a node, and strip the lower leaves.
2. Tuck the bare nodes into moist mix that drains, or into a half-sand, half-perlite mix, and keep the pot warm and barely moist until the cutting resists a gentle tug.
3. Pot it up, give it a stick, and grow it on like a young plant until frost is gone.

Not a purple bellflower — and not chocolate cosmos

Purple bellflower is Campanula, an upright bed plant that does not climb — see How to Grow Bellflowers. Chocolate cosmos is Cosmos atrosanguineus, a tuberous daisy with chocolate-scented blooms, not a vine — see How to Grow Chocolate Cosmos. Heart-shaped leaves can look like morning glory; that plant is Ipomoea, a twining annual with funnel flowers — see How to Grow Morning Glory. Cup and saucer vine is Cobaea, a tendril climber with a green calyx — see How to Grow Cup and Saucer Vine. Chocolate vine is Akebia, a five-leaflet woody climber — see How to Grow Chocolate Vine. Packet tags that say Lophospermum atrosanguineum are this same plant, not creeping gloxinia.

If the vine sprawls on the ground, add string or a light trellis the leaf stalks can wrap. If nights will drop into the low 40s and you are not treating it as an annual, move the pot inside.