Cultivation
In tropical regions, laurel clock vine can be cultivated outdoors and is often grown on a trellis as a screen or over a pergola. This vigorous climber requires hard pruning each year to contain it. A slightly acidic soil is required, which should be fertile and freely draining.
In temperate climates, laurel clock vine should be grown in a heated glasshouse because it is frost-tender. When cultivated in this way, it enjoys a long and prolific flowering period (Kew’s glasshouse specimens flower from March to November). Although still a vigorous climber in a glasshouse environment, its maximum size is significantly less than when it grows in the wild.
Thunbergia laurifolia (laurel clock vine) at Kew
One year’s growth of Thunbergia laurifolia in Kew’s Princess of Wales Conservatory.
It can be propagated by seed or by using stem or root cuttings.