The passion vines are tropical gems at home in warmer climates, but also to be enjoyed the year-round ‘in the North where the winter temperature reaches 20° degrees Fahrenheit below zero and even lower. We propagate a succession of plants.
Plants Grow in Greenhouse Gardens
The new plants grew through the winter indoors in window or greenhouse gardens and moved to outdoor gardens when winter was over.
It was not widely grown for many years after the early Spanish missionaries found this vine in the New World. Its versatility was unknown until interested botanists shared plants and published the information in helpful flower magazines.
Many of the early travelers were avid botanists, and they saw in the various parts of the flower suggestions of religious symbolism, which led to both the common and the scientific name of passiflora.
Now the vine is popular because it is so easily grown, and when once seen, the flower is unforgettable.
Passiflora Propagation
Cuttings and seeds propagate this vine. I like to take cuttings in August or as soon as some part of the vine is semi-mature and firm. Pieces that are too tender will not root.
Small pieces will root, but cuttings 4″ to 8″ inches long produce larger plants sooner. Remove the lower leaves from the cutting that would be submerged if rooted in bottles or glasses of water.
Use sand or mica. During summer, a piece can be inserted into the soil in a shaded and sheltered spot and kept moist, which will usually root.
When Spring is Late, The Cuttings of Vine May Not be Mature
If, as last year, the spring is late and the vines get a late start outdoors, cuttings may not be mature until September. When too woody, the stems become hollow, and rooting is questionable or delayed.
If cuttings are allowed to remain in the rooting medium until the roots are about four inches long, stronger plants will result.
Passiflora Seeds Should Be Planted Earlier
When available plant passiflora seeds earlier. Germination will vary from a few weeks to several months. It is not unusual to get only one or two seedlings from a whole packet of passiflora seeds or none at all.
I have had seeds from the Ozarks, from native-grown vines, germinating in ten days and blooming in a window in December when six months old. This is exceptional. Seeds from Hawaii germinated in 14 days.
They are now young seedlings, so I cannot report how soon they will bloom. However, it is interesting to note that in Hawaii, they grow these vines for their fruit and report that it is easier to preserve the fragrance than the flavor.
Although seedlings of some varieties bloom the first year, others must be two or three years old. Cuttings from blooming age plants will bloom the first year, and some even will bloom while still in the water in the window.
Passion Vines: Heavy Feeders
Passion vines are heavy feeders and need rich soil with extra feeding about every three weeks to induce them to do their best blooming. Plant them outdoors as soon as nights are frost-free in the spring.
Shelter them if the sun is too hot until the roots take over, providing the plant with needed moisture. A sunny location brings an abundance of bloom.
Use a trellis for the sturdy tendrils to cling to. Prune the vine to encourage branching.
They may be grown in large pots outdoors during the summer but must be protected if the heat is excessive. Therefore, frequent watering will be necessary.
Naturally, no pot is the normal habitat for any plant, but we can succeed well when we meet the plant’s requirements as well as possible. For example, open soil where passiflora roots may meander freely will give more vigorous growth and flowers.
Varieties to Grow
Currently, I am growing 17 different named passifloras and several others that arrived unlabeled, like some from Hawaii, Panama, and Africa.
Most of our summer is too cool to promote tropical growth. Still, more than half of the varieties have bloomed. Unfortunately, some never bloom until late fall.
Passiflora Edulis: Edible Fruit
In my collection, Passiflora edulis sets the most fruit. The fruit is edible, though there is little pulp because seeds occupy most of the interior.
An Australian friend writes that most homes there grow this variety for its fruit. It is commonly called purple granadilla because the fruit is thickly purple-dotted when ripe.
The 2 ½” inches flowers are white with a blue-violet ring around the center stalk, and the fringe is crimped or waved. Foliage is three-lobed and large, with wavy edges. The largest lobe measures eight inches. It is a sturdy and thrifty climber.
Passiflora Byronoides: Slender Growth
Passiflora byronoides have more slender growth, and the foliage is only slightly three-to-five-lobed and more rounded than pointed.
The flowers are the same color as Passiflora edulis but smaller. Each flower produces a green one-inch fruit that turns purple-black when ripe.
The orange-colored seeds germinate well. The seedling of this dainty and interesting vine will bloom the first year.
Passiflora Violacea
Passiflora violacea has exquisite 3 ½” inches flowers that suggest “lavender and old lace.” Its rich violet-lavender filaments have curled tips, eliminating any stiff appearance.
The petals and sepals are flushed lavender. The three sepals are tipped with small radish seed-sized green balls in place of the spine of some other varieties.
Flowers are fragrant, and foliage is three-lobed and pointed. This vine has been hardy in Minnesota for many years, growing near the house foundation.
Passiflora Trifasciata
Passiflora trifasciata is known for its variegated foliage, three-lobed to one-third of the leaf, with irregular rose-pink bands along the midrib, shading to silver and other hues, depending on the light in which it grows.
This foliage is more colorful if growing in less sun than the all-green varieties. Undersides of the leaves are wine-red.
I kept a cutting in water for about a year with beautiful pink foliage. Finally, the 1 ¾” inches flowers are white with petals recurved, and they come as twins.
Passiflora Cinnebarina
Passiflora cinnebarina has 5″ inches pebbly three-lobed rounded foliage, bears red, five-petaled star-shaped blooms with a small yellow crown. The fruits are green and aromatic.
A catalog states that this is not a vigorous grower, but here it is husky, and almost every leaf node has a bud or bloom. Poor soil is indicated for this one but mine is in the same rich soil, well manured, like all the others.
This native of Australia is so different to be interesting, even though the flowers are not as showy as many others.
Passiflora Incarnata
Passiflora incarnata has three-lobed foliage, which is pointed, and the center lobe is 6″ by 2″ inches. There may be various forms of this because one cyclopedia indicates a white flower with a purple band much like Passiflora edulis and 2″ inches across.
The plant a nursery sent me labeled incarnata has a generous 2″ inch flower, lavender and pink with a white band around the center.
Some are said to shade pink-violet. This is considered a wild passion flower in the South, also called Maypop.
Passiflora Coriacea
Passiflora coriacea is indeed different. Its foliage suggests a bat in flight. Therefore, it has been dubbed the “bat-leaf” passiflora. The lovely leaves are mottled with off-white.
The 1 ½” inches twin flowers are a pleasing golden yellow and have 5 petals but no sepals. Cuttings root well, often blooming while rooting in water.
Passiflora Caerulea
Passiflora caerulea is now so well known that it does not need detailed narration. This generous bloomer has 3 ½” inches of fragrant blue blooms and is loved by everyone familiar with it.
Here it continues to bloom after 29-degree temperature. Its five-lobed leaves are slender, shiny, and leathery in appearance.
Passiflora Alata-Caerulea
Passiflora alata-caerulea, which we call Passiflora Pfordtii, is a hybrid between the pink Passiflora alata and the blue Passiflora caerulea it has showy 4 ½” inches fragrant blooms with pink petals and a sturdy purple fringe.
This vine has three-lobed foliage, more rounded than pointed, and it is not as vigorous a grower as some other varieties. As a result, the blooms are few but large.
This one has that familiar low fencelike fringe around the standard that most varieties have, and most of these are maroon-colored.
Passiflora Coccinea
Passiflora coccinea has oval, coarsely toothed leaves, and the flowers are scarlet-red. They have a petal formation and not a fringe. The central column is red and golden yellow.
Dr. Ira S. Nelson, a professor of horticulture at Southwestern Louisiana Institute, Lafayette, Louisiana, reintroduced this spectacular variety. He writes that this is the showiest of all the material he collected in Bolivia in 1954.
The 2″ inches fruit is pulpy and tart with an exotic flavor and pleasing aroma. I received a small plant from Louisiana last summer. It is well-branched and sturdy, but it has not bloomed yet.
However, I have a dried bloom sent to me a year ago. Nelson reports that his vine has bloomed in late August each year since it began blooming.
Passiflora Flowers: Openness for Sunny and Cloudy Days
Passiflora flowers remain open one day on sunny days and longer on cloudy days. As a result, new ones keep opening regularly.
Here in Minnesota, we cut freshly opened blooms and float them in a dish of water placed in the refrigerator, and some varieties remain perfect in color and form for a whole month.
Passiflora hardiness varies. They may be cut back and potted, but my experience is that rooted cuttings produce more vigorous vines.
To ensure this exotic vine continues, we never fail to root cuttings for future growth.
44659 by Florence Knock