Other Names:  Silver Dollar Vine

Description:

An evergreen, climbing succulent vine with cylindrical gray stems that branch from the base; nearly round, gray green leaves appear alternately on the stems; small flowers are inconspicuous; great for trellises or hanging baskets

Ornamental Features

Penny Plant's attractive succulent round leaves emerge light green in spring, turning grayish green in color the rest of the year on a plant with a spreading habit of growth. It features subtle chartreuse star-shaped flowers along the stems from late winter to early spring. The gray stems can be quite attractive.

Landscape Attributes

Penny Plant is an open herbaceous evergreen perennial with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and can be pruned at anytime. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Penny Plant is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Penny Plant will grow to be about 12 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. As a climbing vine, it should either be planted near a fence, trellis or other landscape structure where it can be trained to grow upwards on it, or allowed to trail off a retaining wall or slope. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by cuttings.

Penny Plant is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.