About
Akebia quinata is a semi-evergreen vine that can reach heights of approximately 10 meters. It features rounded, dark green foliage with a blue-green underside, consisting of five leaflets that may take on a purplish hue during the winter months. In early spring, it produces fragrant, reddish-purple flowers arranged in racemes measuring around 12 centimeters long. These blooms may later give way to elongated, sausage-shaped fruits that can grow up to 10 centimeters in length.
About the genus
Akebia are robust, semi-evergreen climbing shrubs that twine as they grow. They feature either palmate or trifoliate leaves and produce racemes of cup-shaped flowers, with the female flowers being purplish and larger than the smaller male ones. If cross-pollinated with a different clone, they will bear large, sausage-shaped fruits.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Moist but well-drained
- Aspect
- South-facing, North-facing, West-facing, East-facing
- Exposure
- Exposed, Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H6
Plant details
- Plant type
- Climber Wall Shrub
- Habit
- Climbing
- Foliage
- Semi evergreen
- Height
- 8-12 metres
- Spread
- wider than 8 metres
- Time to full height
- 5-10 years
- Suggested uses
- Cottage and informal garden
- Native to
- China, Korea, Japan
- Fragrance
- Flower
Care notes
- Cultivation
- A climber that thrives with any good garden soil in sun or part shade. Fruit - needs long hot summers to fruit well and two plants of the same species to ensure cross pollination
- Pruning
- Pruning group 11 after flowering
- Propagation
- Propagate by seed, softwood cuttings or layering
- Pest resistance
- Generally pest-free
- Disease resistance
- May be susceptible to honey fungus (rarely)