Tropicals & Tender Perennials: First Bloom of Passiflora 'Sherry", 1 by atisch

atisch wrote:
I thought I'd bring the saga of this Passiflora up to date.

I'm beginning to better understand why this gorgeous flower is so rarely grown or even reported. Despite taking great care to assist 'Sherry' through the winter--bringing the pot inside whenever the overnight temperature was expected to drop into the 30s--the plant almost bit the dust in the Spring. It kept dying back to the older growth and finally started new shoots from below the soil line in early June. Thus it ended up with just about a month's gain on it's initial growth last year. Today it flowered for the first time this year. The plant is now about the same size it was when it started blooming last year, just one week later.

I can only conclude that this plant is not hardy at all, unlike the claims for this plant. It's too bad as this is such an outstanding beauty. Hopefully, I'll get enough growth this year to root a couple of cuttings. If I'm successful, I compare them in different winter and spring conditions.

My Passiflora "Lady Margaret', which was supposed to be of comparable hardiness, survived the winter, and even grew during it, is totally thriving and is about 10 feet high now. Unfortunately, 'Lady Margaret' is a smaller and much less showy a flower than 'Sherry'.

The picture is of today's first 2011 blooms.

Allan