About
Akebia quinata 'Amethyst Glow' is a semi-evergreen vine that can reach heights of around 10 meters. Its foliage consists of rounded, dark green leaves with a blue-green underside, typically featuring five leaflets that acquire a purple hue during the winter months. In early spring, this plant produces fragrant purple female flowers alongside paler pink male blooms, both arranged in racemes measuring approximately 12 centimeters. Following the flowering period, it may yield elongated, sausage-shaped fruits that can grow up to 10 centimeters long and are purple in color.
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
- East-facing, North-facing, South-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Exposed, Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H6
Plant details
- Plant type
- Climber Wall Shrub
- Habit
- Climbing
- Foliage
- Semi evergreen
- Height
- 4-8 metres
- Spread
- 2.5-4 metres
- Time to full height
- 2-5 years
- Suggested uses
- Cottage and informal garden
- 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 softwood cuttings or layering
- Pest resistance
- Generally pest-free
- Disease resistance
- May be susceptible to honey fungus (rarely)