About
Akebia trifoliata is a vigorous climbing plant featuring leaves made up of three oval, subtly lobed leaflets that may exhibit a bronze hue in their juvenile stage. The plant produces deep purple flowers arranged in short racemes, which are succeeded by light purple fruits.
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
- North-facing, West-facing, East-facing, South-facing
- Exposure
- Exposed, Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H6
Plant details
- Plant type
- Climber Wall Shrub
- Habit
- Climbing
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 8-12 metres
- Spread
- 4-8 metres
- Time to full height
- 5-10 years
- Native to
- China, Japan
Care notes
- Cultivation
- A climber that thrives with any good garden soil and aspect, but resents root disturbance
- 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)