BIGNONIA 'Contessa Sara' (=Podranea ricasoliana)

It prefers very bright and sunny exposures, but where summer afternoons can be hot, it can also appreciate partial shade. While adapting to any type of soil, it prefers rich, fertile, well-drained and permeable ones. It bears periods of drought, provided they are not very prolonged, and instead takes advantage of periodic constant summer wetting that can improve its general appearance. It does not tolerate the typical salinity of sea winds in coastal regions where it is therefore recommended to plant it in protected corners. It resists winter minimum temperatures, only a few degrees below zero, and therefore, where cold is intense and lasting, give it a sheltered position, mulch the base with straw and dry leaves or guarantee it shelter in a cool and bright environment in winter. Immediately after the end of flowering, it may sometimes be necessary to shorten the various stems in a generous way, allowing a more regular and compact vegetative restart and increasing the subsequent flowering. It can give excellent results on terraces and balconies, if in large vases or containers. In the open ground, it is the ideal essence to cover quickly pergolas and gazebos, to cover metal nets, walls or fences, or to give color to anonymous bushes and trees, on which it should be left free to climb. In any case, its showy amazing flowering that immediately speaks of tropical dream countries will not escape even the most distracted visitor of our garden.