Thought I'd "hop" in here. This is a plant I've been growing from seed for several years. Last year I potted up the plants in the terra cotta plastic bowls--about 15" in diameter, and they did well. I put the pots in a protected place over the winter, and they are back. They have little tubers that look a lot like the asclepias tuberosa tubers. You could probably dig the tubers and store them. I lost my first crop as I let the tubers freeze. Putting them in a bag of peat and storing them over the winter would probably work well if you don't have a garage or greenhouse, and you are in zone 8 or colder. HTH, Sandy

Yesterday on a trip to the blackland prairie my perception of Aristolochia fimbriata as a small pipevine was shattered by the sight of plants that could simply not be described as a small vine. A proper description would have been lush, vibrant, and certainly no less than a medium sized Aristolochia, but these babies were more impressive in mere foliar mass than all of my pipevines except A. gigantea. The leaves were huge, their spread was wide and dense, and the amount of foliage before my eyes coming from a single plant was in excess of all of my pipevines excluding A. gigantea. Greater than that of the A. tomentosa, A. californica, A. serpentaria, A. elegans, and the A. fimbriata growing upon my grounds. The gardener who over saw these spectacular specimens had free range chickens roaming about whom de caterpillared the host plants. This could be the reason that these plants attained such great size along with the fertilization by manure. My plants have always been eaten to the ground by pipevine or goldrim swallowtails several times a year. Also these received a good bit more sun than all of mine. Well, I am going to plant some A. fimbriata in a very sunny spot up at the woods property.

They can be very slow to germinate. I wouldn't expect to see them any sooner then 3 week and it will probably take longer. I've had seeds pop up a year after planting. I have so many aristolochias and passies that have popped up in other plants that are potted in recycled soil. Elegans and grandiflora do well in a baggie. I think it was Linda in SC (ibartoo) who gave me that idea. I put moist soil in a baggie along with some seeds, seal it up and wait. I've had very good results with a number of heat loving plants. The fimbriata can take cool temps but I don't allow it to freeze. I do let the aristolochias go dormant over the winter once they've formed a tuber. Usually the second season of growth. I just love saying Hairy Balls. lol It's much catchier then Gomphocarpus physocarpus. It's a type of milkweed. MW vine is milkweed vine. There's quite a few different MW vines but most are impossible to find. I have nipple fruit too but no Peter's Peppers. lol Hairy Balls is really a very pretty and the blooms look exactly like a hoya. They are both asclepias. The foliage isn't the least bit similar. Karyn

My experience with this plant is that it grows fairly rapidly, so I don't see why you couldn't grow it as an annual. The major things that keeps it from growing are the caterpillars. The Pipevines and Polydamas will go through the leaves like a lawn mower. Treat the plants well and they should produce for you.