For over 35 years now, I have grown & enjoyed 2 Lapagerias. A red/pink form & a large-flowered, white form called ‘Toqui’ (pronounced “toe key”). As so often happens, they struggled for the first 2 decades because they were not understood.
I had always wanted to grow them better & so begun to seek out more information. Much of what was available was of a very poor standard, often by writers who had only second-hand knowledge.
Eventually I found some excellent information from some very experienced & knowledgeable growers, some of it from many years ago.
I came to understand the region of Chile from where Lapagerias originate. In particular, I found that it was dense rainforest with almost daily, misty rain & good drainage.
I started to use a misting wand to mist my Lapagerias daily during the warmer months.
The result was amazing.
Suddenly they flowered prolifically all year, where previously I had just a few flowers in late summer & autumn. They also put on lush new growth.
Having learnt that there were some very select cultivars in collections overseas, I wanted more.
I attempted to propagate by seed & cuttings. All my first attempts failed. Fortunately, I knew that plant lovers often kill lots of plants before they achieve success.
Much more study followed. Eventually, I realised that good Lapagerias would only happen if I could emulate the conditions where they thrived in nature.
Deep holes were dug & I filled them with very porous, acid media in which to plant. I built a good, strong trellis on which they could climb. 90% shade cloth shades the lower metre of the plants.
Finally, I installed a simple misting system with an automatic controller that misted my plants for 2 minutes, 3 times per day.
I now have hundreds of robust Lapagerias, from small seedlings to semi-mature vines & many of these are now flowering.
My own first cross blooming in February 2024.
Ken Gillanders imported a selection of the best cultivars of Lapagerias from Chile last century. I have been privileged to have access to that collection and most of my plants are derived from there. As they were all grown together on one wall, it is impossible to know exactly from which cultivar they derive. As most of my plants are seed-grown, they are unlikely to be identical to their parents. However, coming from such a diverse group, I can expect some interesting variations in colours, patterns & forms. As Ken has told me, he has never seen a bad Lapageria.
For this reason, I have waited until each plant has flowered before releasing them, meaning that the plants I offer are all well advanced and can readily re-establish in gardens. The one exception to this is some seedlings that I know can only produce fairly standard red/pink flowers, which sell un-flowered at a lesser price. This will mean that I will have a variety of interesting, well advanced Lapagerias, that can be relied upon to flower in their first season.
At this time, most seedlings coming into flower are red/pink colours, albeit with considerable variation in colour & size of flowers. These are around 1.4 to 2 metres tall and, unlike those sold elsewhere, ready to flower in their first season.
My passion is in hybridising & I continue to search for new & different colours and styles. I expect to be able to offer some whites and fancy types from 2026.
The 2025 season has brought forward some very interesting results. Already I am seeing some quite different Lapagerias. So far two outstanding plants are being layered and I would hope to have plants of these available over the next few years. I will also have some plants of named Lapagerias from Ken’s Chilean imports.
The range of colours and styles available globally at this time is somewhat limited and little has changed in recent years. As a keen hybridiser, and having access to some of the best material available, I am now confident that the current range can be expanded with great potential. It would appear that little, if any, effort has been applied to hybridising Lapagerias.
It would appear that all previously available Lapagerias have either been divisions from plants originally imported from Chile, or occasional selections of chance seedlings.
To see what Lapagerias may be available now, click here