The warm temperatures and the garden springing into life, has made it just impossible to stay away from the nursery. Out of the 3 Passiflora I planted last year, two did amazingly well over the winter, and are ready to burst into bloom. The third, a red variety, Ruby Glow, died back pretty much to the ground, but the main portion seems green and a small leaf is starting to form so I think it will come back. I just love the Passiflora flowers, so when I saw this one yesterday, I just couldn't resist. I know it is a bit early to be planting but I am keeping my fingers crossed that the worst of the cold is over. It was labeled Passiflora x alatocaerulea and the flowers are a light lavender, almost pink color. The petals are wide spaced, so that the light green part that holds the bud- (can you tell I don't know the proper names here)- shows in between them, making the bloom appear lavender/pink and green. They are just lovely! After a little research I discovered the alatocaerulea is actually a cross between two of my other vines, the Ruby Glow, which didn't do so well, and the Caerulea which did really well. I wasn't aware the scientific name for Ruby Glow is alato. So now I have a whole family in the yard.
My neighbor gave me this wonderful heart shaped plant stand, so I planted the Passiflora in the ground and started weaving it around the heart. I think it is just perfect for it.
The vine looks so healthy- with several buds just waiting to open.
One thing that really attracts me to the passion vine, are the little squiggly whips (another scientific term) that it uses to attach itself to things. They form the most delightful little squiggles and there is always something interesting to look at, even when the vine is not flowering. And mine haven't really gotten to the fruiting stage. That will be a whole nother experience!
Heres to Spring and Passiflora vines and many many flowers!
To see pictures of my other Passiflora vines
click here.
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9 comments:
Oh, how nice!
I've decided I'm going to spring for a full grown plant this year. I've had no luck trying to grow it from seed and really want this plant in my garden. I'm thinking of going with P. edulis.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Very pretty!
Oh so pretty! On my next trip to the nursery, I'm going to look for a P alatocaerulea plant for my empty trellis. I tried growing passion flowers from seed and they didn't work.
They are beauties, aren't they? I only have one, the Texas native Passiflora incarnata, but it's quite enough as it tends to rampage... Do you know the story of the name? It refers to the passion of Christ... The monks and priests used the flowers of this plant help convert the Native Americans to Christianity. With mixed success, but that's neither here nor there...
I wish I saw your blog before I planted my Carolina Jessamine. It is perfect on the heart trellis!! I am green with envy!!!!
You have some really beautiful pictures here.
Those are such astonishing flowers, almost too beautiful to be real (almost!)
Hi Dee!
Finally took some time to browse through your blog and I must say I love, love, love your pics!
Also, I am digging this passiflora and I think I am going to hunt for a plant here in Fl...I love the tendrils too...but they are always a challenge to capture in all their beauty with my cheapo camera...maybe one day I'll get lucky and get it righ!
Later!
Love that vine, but when I went vine shopping this weekend, the nurseryman told me it won't do well here in the Phoenix area with the exposure I planned. I ended up with a Lilac Vine and a couple of Cat's Claw. Not that I like Cat's Claw--it's just that I didn't want to have to have a lot of trellis' for the other vines I was considering. The Lilac Vine is nice enough, but it has such small flowers they are hard to see unless one is up close. At least it stays green all year.
Aiyana
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