I often find myself saying that the lack of pink or red flowers among the flora of the Illawarra escarpment and coastal plain is more than made up for by the wealth of these colours among the foliage. And I have a little 'mental list' of species that I reel off when making this point.

But one species that was not on the list really amazed me this weekend: Anchor Vine or Palmeria scandens. This unobtrusive rainforest vine has just the sweetest cheerful pinkish-red new growth, and you can see it right now if you head up to almost anywhere in the escarpment where rainforest is still present.

The picture below was taken at the Illawarra Rhododendron and Rainforest Gardens in Mount Pleasant, where a bunch of us are planning some rainforest walks for next month, but it's present right through the region, and occurs naturally as far south as Bateman's Bay. The photo doesn't really do justice to the vibrant colours of the leaves. 

Anchor Vine wasn't on my 'red leaves' mental list. It also wasn't on any of my other mental lists, except for one… the mental list of plants that nobody talks about or comments on or bothers with. Poor old Anchor Vine, it seems to be neglected in almost every context, whether it's landscaping, gardening, bush regeneration, or biodiversity. Perhaps I'm missing the memo, but from what I can see Anchor Vine just doesn't have any fans. So: it's time to change that! 

Did you know that Anchor Vine is present in coastal rainforest throughout eastern Australia, and also occurs in New Guinea? Did you know that, while it's technically a vine, it spends much of its life looking to all intents and purposes like a shrub? Did you know that it has separate male and female flowers? And did you know that Anchor Vine would make a really cool understorey plant in escarpment gardens?

Keep it pruned and those lovely red new leaves will keep on appearing. Let it grow up a tree or two, and see the lovely fruit appear among the canopy on your garden. All you need to do is find a nursery that stocks it, and that's definitely a challenge!  

Who else wants to take on the challenge of acquiring and growing an Anchor Vine? I know I do. Even though our garden is officially Full. I am looking forward to hearing people's Anchor Vine gardening stories in a year or 10.