The Charisma Bower Vine, otherwise known as the Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ or Boston Ivy ‘Veitchii’, Japanese Creeper ‘Veitchii’, Japanese Ivy ‘Veitchii’, Cottage Ivy ‘Veitchii’, Boston Creeper ‘Veitchii’, Grape Ivy ‘Veitchii’, Woodbine ‘Veitchii’, is a rather well known climber plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its average maintenance and fast growth, this climber will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its variegated colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
This is why all the topics you need to know in order to achieve this will be covered in this Charisma Bower Vine Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Charisma Bower Vine can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Charisma Bower Vine grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
- Light: Keep your Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Charisma Bower Vine in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Charisma Bower Vine this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Charisma Bower Vine belongs to the Vitaceae family, the genus Parthenocissus and the species Tricuspidata, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ (pan-do-REE-a jas-min-OH-i-deez).
As with other Parthenocissus’s, the Charisma Bower Vine is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Charisma Bower Vine is a plant native to the China and Japan.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Charisma Bower Vine. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 8 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 4a, 4b, 5b, 5a, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Charisma Bower Vine is a relatively fast grower, which makes things tricky for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Charisma Bower Vine? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ can grow up to 30′ – 50′ (9m – 15m) in 30′ – 50′ (9m – 15m) and 5′ – 10′ (150cm – 3m) in 5′ – 10′ (150cm – 3m).
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful trailing shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
Water
In terms of watering, the Charisma Bower Vine is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Charisma Bower Vine in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, moist, and occasionally dry properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Charisma Bower Vine then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Charisma Bower Vine needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Charisma Bower Vine prefers to have soil with good drainage, moist, and occasionally dry properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Charisma Bower Vine requires soil with clay, high organic matter, sand, and shallow rocky, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Charisma Bower Vine requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this climber will do well as long as you keep it in shade, or partial sun to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Charisma Bower Vine will be present year round in your garden.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), and during the fall.
Flowers
You can expect your Charisma Bower Vine to flower around the spring and in the summer months from April to June (spring), and from July to September (summer).
In particular, this climber is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Charisma Bower Vine produces some beautiful pink, or gold/yellow and white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Charisma Bower Vine have a beautiful variegated color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a compound (pinnately, bipinnately, palmately) arrangement with a alternate organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ to be around (> 6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Charisma Bower Vine is well known for being able to attract birds, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for rocky soil, dry soil, clay soil, drought and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ will be fine.
Garden
Does your Charisma Bower Vine have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Pandorea Jasminoides ‘Charisma’ owners agree that this climber will look great in most tropical gardens of all types.
In particular, the Charisma Bower Vine’s best location within your garden is in wall-side borders, ground covers, pergolas, arbors, trellises, banks and slopes, and in walls and fences, others use it for landscaping in a espalier, privacy screen, container, mass planting, or a urban garden.
Companion Plants
Charisma Bower Vine’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Passiflora, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Hibiscus will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Charisma Bower Vine, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
