Are you really looking for a conversation plant for your garden? Well, do I have one for you! Botanically it’s called Aristolochia littoralis, with a common name of calico flower. It is a twining vine that will grow in zones 22-24.

They have very unusually shaped flowers in rather sober colors from mauve, purple, white, greens to almost black. It blooms in summertime. The flower’s texture is very velvety and is borne on thin wiry stems hanging like pendants from the stem. The flowers can be huge, from 10 inches long and eight inches wide.

The buds take a little while to form and get up to size, but then overnight the flowers begin to unfold and low and behold you’ll have a flower that you won’t believe. The flowers last for just a few days, so be sure to call your plant-loving friends over to the garden for horticultural viewing and preview… and bring cameras.

This species hails from the jungles of Brazil, but there is also one native species from northern California called Dutchman’s pipe, which grows where it’s damp and shady on the forest floor. As a matter of fact, I saw a few calico vine plants available in the nursery at Hank’s Hardware in Fallbrook the other day, which is really a rare find.