Passiflora (Passionflower, Passionfruit) Thread

[RandyS]

Here are some pictures of Passiflora antioquiensis. I have not bloomed the plant myself, but I have a ton of seedlings right now. I will post some sort of giveaway for a couple seedlings when they get a little larger.

This is a photo from Bill Harberts in Orange County, CA, who is the source of my seeds. I don't know if it's clear, but the flowers are large (5 inches) and the peduncles can be up to 2 feet long. This one really has a reputation as being a cool grower:



Bill got his seeds from Dave Hermeyer in San Francisco. Here's Dave's plant on Saturday--it has been the source of most P. antioquiensis available in the U.S., and it will soon be a source for many more. There were a large number of fruits (I counted either 40 or 60, each with a couple hundred seeds), many buds, but no flowers open over the weekend.



There's a bud, for example, next to the third green fruit, looking from the middle right of the photo. The peduncle is long and the bud is small.

And here's Dave's plant (same plant) in bloom several years ago (definitely worth clicking on!):

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/137454/

He has several more photos of his plant on Dave's Garden.

The fruit is considered by many to be among the tastiest Passiflora fruits.

 

[RandyS]

P. antioquiensis is one that really demands a cool climate. The ideal location for growing it is in Coastal California (Sunset zones 15-17, 24, and cooler summer areas of 22, 23). It can bloom in a 1 gallon pot, I'm told, but a 5 gallon is better. So other than those locations, the most likely possibilities would be a cool greenhouse, or perhaps a greenhouse + outdoors in places with cool summers (the cooler summer areas of the Pacific Northwest) or the far Northern States with AHS heat zone of 3 or less (and some areas of heat zone 4). Or, it would be cool if someone could bloom it indoors in some sort of controlled environment. Of course there are people on this forum who have that. The vines can be wrapped up to make a relatively compact plant. Outside, at least, it seems to prefer some to lots of shade. The more heat the more shade.

Here's a link to the AHS heat zone map:

https://www.hostasdirect.com/images/contentimages/AHS Heat Map.jpg

 

[SubRosa]

P. caerulea. Traded my sanguinolenta (after taking cuttings!) with my boss' wife for this one. I think I have a spot where this one will winter over in the ground.

 

[SubRosa]

P. foetida:

Since the first bloom I've been trying to put my finger on what the fragrance reminded me of. Something very old. Kind of sweet in a chemical way, but by no means sweet. A hard scent to describe. Unless you know what edible wax lips and moustaches smell like.

 

[Stranger]

Since the first bloom I've been trying to put my finger on what the fragrance reminded me of. Something very old. Kind of sweet in a chemical way, but by no means sweet. A hard scent to describe. Unless you know what edible wax lips and moustaches smell like.

Would you consider the specific epithet to be accurate?

 

[RandyS]

I had mentioned elsewhere on Terraforums that people were looking for Passiflora 'Sunburst', which has become strangely unavailable. I just wanted to mention that a member of this forum has apparently found it, so it may be available again at some point. It's a great plant. Small flowers, interesting leaves. No edible fruit. A photo not mangled not mangled by Photobucket.

One cool feature is that the leaves show butterfly egg mimicry: fake "eggs" are on the leaves to discourage butterflies from laying more. There are a three spots visible on the leaf in the upper left, although this is not a good picture to show that.