The Flamevine or Orange Trumpet Vine, Pyrostegia venusta, is native to Brazil Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, but is now widely cultivated as a decorative or garden plant, hence you can see it all over Nerja.

It is an evergreen climber and can grow up to 5 metres in height or 25 metres in length and its forked tendrils allow it to cling to any rough surface, even a brick wall.

It thrives in sandy soil, hence so many are to be found along the coastal areas. It likes full sun or partial shade and although it can survive in temperatures as low as 0° C, it is certainly not keen on such low numbers.

It doesn’t require much water and can even tolerate drought conditions. It does, however, grow at a rate of knots and needs to be pruned each year after it has flowered in order to stop it strangling other plants or just plain getting totally out of control. Walls, fences, trellises…the Flamevine will climb over almost anything. They do tend to bloom all year round but the optimum time to see them in their full glory is January or February.