Cynanchum ascyrifolium

We first encountered the little known Cynanchum ascyrifolium on our 1996 expedition to Yunnan, China, where it grew in gravelly, rocky soils with meconopsis. Years later in our home rock garden, it performed far better than we ever dreamed possible, becoming one of our favorite spring flowering perennials. The 2' tall x 3' wide clumper is composed of swirling stalks, each clothed in 5" long x 1" wide, light green, fuzzy-backed leaves. In late spring, the clumps are smothered in very attractive clusters of pure white flowers resembling its more famous Apocynaceae cousin, the bridal bouquet favorite, stephanotis. Cynanchum ascyrifolium has proven incredibly heat and drought tolerant and has never set a single seed in our climate...an absolute must for the sun garden.