Ceropegia Woodii, Rosary Vine

Day 302: My first experience with Ceropegia woodii was at age ten when my mother and I moved into a beautiful old farmhouse. The sellers were an elderly Scandinavian couple who felt compelled to downsize, so they left many things behind when they moved out. Among them was a Ceropegia with wiry trailing stems 8-10 feet long, stems which bore peculiar woody grey "knobs" of varying sizes at many of the axils. I later learned that these nodules were the plant's means of propagating itself. Each one was capable of producing roots to start a new plant. It wasn't until sometime later that we noticed the equally intriguing flowers. No more than 3/4" in length, they were inconspicuous against the grey-green mottled leaves. The prior owner claimed that she'd had the plant for over fifty years.

After I left home, "Knob" moved from place to place with my mother, and then when as a young wife, I returned to the Pacific Northwest to set up housekeeping, I asked her for a start. In its turn, that "Knob" gave me many more knobs for a succession of plants, but my lackadaisical maintenance led to the expiration of the last generation during one hot summer several years ago. Recently, I obtained a replacement which I again failed to notice was in bloom until the expended flowers began falling to the floor. Hopefully, I'll see little grey knobs developing soon.