2019 Plant of the Year, Winner

Proposed by: a member of Chestnut Hill Garden Club, Zone I

Aristolochia macrophylla, also known as Isotrema macrophyllum, is a deciduous native vine that can be used to create a lush living wall, a sheltering green roof, a thick ground cover, or an attractive privacy fence and it has been used in American gardens since the eigtheenth century.  Large, heart-shaped, densely overlapping leaves 6 to 12 inches long can quickly cover an arbor or trellis with attractive, glossy, deep green foliage and create a canopy impenetrable to the rays of the sun or moderate rain.  The common name derives from the plant's exotic pale yellow flowers that resemble a “Dutchman’s pipe." The flowers bloom in May and June among a swathe of large, fuzzy, heart-shaped, dark green leaves.  Aristolochia macrophylla is the host plant for the Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies which lay their eggs in small clusters on young leaves or stems. When the eggs hatch, the leaves become an important food source for the growing caterpillars.  The unusual shape of the pipe blossom serves as a type of 'fly-trap,' attracting small insects that are temporarily held and released to carry pollen to the next flower.  Aristolochia macrophylla​ thrives in USDA zones 4 to 8, in sun to part shade, and in average to moist soil.  It is deer resistant and pollution tolerant, and it has no serious insect or disease problems.  It is a workhorse vine with an exotic look that would highlight a small or large native garden in the twenty-first century. Garden photograph: Jamie Purinton | Blossom photograph: Mark A. Garland, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database