Blue Passion flower (Passiflora Caerulea)

[Durgan]

https://xrl.us/rxyt


This plant was kept in a pot over winter in the furnace room. It was placed in the ground in about 24 May 2006, and only had a few six inch shoots. It now is about eight feet high and eight feet across the top of the reinforced concrete wire trellis.

It had a few fruiting bodies, and I removed one to determine if it tasted as insipid as last year. I was suprised to see it had seeds. Always before the fruiting body was minus seeds. I removed them, and will attempt to grow this this winter. The seeds appear robust.

The plant flowered most of the summer and usually had 5 to 15 flowers daily.This was the largest plant I have grown in Zone 5. It apparently does better in the ground than in a large pot. The vegetation is a dark green and most attractive, even without the flowers.

On the right of the trellis is a pink Mandavilla, which always had flowers all season. There is also a white Mandavilla near the passion flower vine, but not as tall as the pink one. The Delphinium is in second bloom this season.

This year I covered the roots with straw and coverd with a tarp, with the hope that it will survive the winter in Zone 5. This is the largest growth I have ever had in the five years that I have grown the plant. One doesn't see the plant very often in my area, and the complexity of the flower is a great conversational piece.
Durgan.