Ipomoea lobata, Firecracker Vine is a fast growing climber that very quickly reaches an impressive height when grown from seed, rapidly becoming a large vine. The spectacular flowers appear in summer and it continues flowering right through to the late autumn when the autumn chill finally stops its growth. The flowers are tubular and ranked to one side, the flowers at the bottom of the inflorescence are yellow while those at the top are reddish-orange. They open from the bottom, the filaments and anthers appearing on the yellow flowers, the yellow colour working its way up as slowly the red flowers turn yellow and then open.

The growth is so rapid and the inflorescences so beautiful and prolific it is hard not to be horticulturally gob-smacked by this plant. Make sure you have a supporting structure in place for it to grow up for although it is not a heavy vine the sheer mass of tangled vines will be impossible to extricate to another position.

The vine dies back in late autumn as the night-time temperatures do their worst. It will produce plenty of seed for you to grow it again the following year.