Passionflower

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Passionflower  
There are a few blooms this week on Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) "Waterloo Blue". I'm always amazed by the architecture of the blooms. The vine has become quite vigorous over the years and shares an arbor with Sweet Autumn Clematis and a "Rev d'Or" rose. Unfortunately the blooms have never been profuse with lack of sunshine being the probably culprit. It also has a tendency to scamper over other plants. However, it is easy to pull out.


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

Lisa at Greenbow said…
I have always admired the passion vine. I don't think I can grow it here. I have a clematis that looks very similar when it blooms but it is one of those short ones that I often overlook. Maybe with all this global warming I should try the Passionflower. When I see pictures like yours it makes me want to try.
August 20, 2013 at 1:36 PM
sanda said…
I too like the Passionflower. Mine is growing abundantly this year. So many blooms. The funny little green fruit it makes -- we picked them when we were kids; called them apricots. They tasted awful!
August 20, 2013 at 4:27 PM
David Oliver said…
When I was a kid and we picked cotton by hand and sometimes we would find something that looked very similar to this in the cotton field. The flowers were gone when cotton picking time came around but the vines often had produced some kind of fruit. Usually only one to two pods, for lack of a better description. And the fruit was, well, not something you would serve guests or even take to house. But it was sweet and gooey and fun to eat when the last thing you wanted to be doing was picking cotton and stuffing it in a sack.

When I saw this, I looked it up on wiki. According to that site there's about 500 species of these flowering plants. So I'm wondering if this one produces fruit and if so, have you ever heard of anyone eating it except for bored little barefoot boys picking cotton?
August 21, 2013 at 7:11 AM
Phillip Oliver said…
David, I don't recall seeing any fruits on mine but I will keep a look out.
August 21, 2013 at 1:29 PM
Kathryn said…
Nature never ceases to amaze. How she came up with something so interesting as that flower (I haven't seen them before) is beyond me.
August 22, 2013 at 5:35 AM
Casa Mariposa said…
Passion vines showed up in my South Carolina garden. Those flowers look like space aliens to me. :o)
August 22, 2013 at 7:52 PM
Anonymous said…
Phillip, I've never grown that variety of passionflower, but I have some that grow along my deck. They were not profuse this year because the morning glories beat them out, but last year, Gulf Fritillaries frolicked all over it. It was like music in motion. I love the color of your passionflowers, and they are such a food for Fritillary caterpillars. Have a beautiful weekend.~~Dee
August 24, 2013 at 5:57 AM
RobinL said…
Wow, those blooms are amazing. I did grow them here a few years ago, and enjoyed a few of those gorgeous flowers. But for the next two years there wasn't a single bloom. I gave up, tried to tear it out, but it has other ideas. It keeps trying to sneak back into my garden! I just wish it would bloom.
August 25, 2013 at 7:05 PM
ZielonaMila said…
Fantastic flower, great colors :) Regards
August 28, 2013 at 12:23 AM
Mary said…
Phillip my passion flowers have large green oval seed pods about the size of a large egg. The seeds inside are gooey.
August 30, 2013 at 8:41 PM
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