How to Grow Black-Eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia Alata)

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen, and in this segment we're going to learn all about the Black Eyed Susan vine, or Thunbergia Alata. Now, the Black Eyed Susan vine is not a Black Eyed Susan in any way. It is not a Rudbeckia Hirta, it's not related to Echinacea. It's a totally different plant. It grows on a vine, so it's not like a daisy; it's a very different plant. The Black Eyed Susan vine, or the Thunbergia Alata was named after the Swedish botanist, Dr. Carl Peter Thunberg, who collected it in Africa and Japan. Now, it's native to Africa, and to the tropical areas, so the northern part of Africa, so it does really well in warm climates. It does not want to go below fifty degrees, so you want to dig it up, or don't start it in the seeds in the ground till after it's fifty degrees outside. So, the Thunbergia likes really filtered sunlight. They don't want full, hot sun. They grow best in part shade, but really a hot shade, so under a patio, or along the fence or the house where the afternoon sun is just a little bit shaded, because if they get that hot afternoon sun sometimes they get sunburned. So, they are jungle plant. They like to grow in the jungle. They like a little bit of a canopy on top of em', but yet they really want it warm, and very moist and humid. So, they're a little bit of a challenge if you live in a cold climate, but if you start em' indoors by seed early and get em' going, and then put em' outside when it's over fifty degrees at night continuously then they will grow into this gorgeous vine with little Black Eyed Susan flowers all over it. They'll bloom through the fall till' ever, till' it freezes again. And then, just cut em' back and either try to save em' inside, but most of the times they're a annual and they'll die back, and then you just start em' by seed again in the spring. They're a beautiful plant."