Hello All.
I just had to share a picture of my first Passiflora 'Purple Haze' flower after a two year wait. It's very fragrant, but the scent is not particularly pleasant. A real day brightener when it's 15F outside here in Minnesota!
Erick
My First Purple Haze!
Congrats Erick!:-)
Are you growing under lights?
Wow, its beautiful!
Beautiful, Erick. Congratulations!
Great bloom!
Erick, how are you growing it? I've always loved passionflower but thought that since it can't grow in my zone, I can't grow it. I didn't know you could grow it indoors?
-Mara
Congrats on the flower. It's a pretty one.
Thank you all for the nice comments. It's fun to share growing triumphs with all the kind and talented people on this website. I've learned so much from all of you over the past year!
I am indeed growing these under lights. Last fall, I treated myself to a 400W metal halide growing system and have it set up in a spare bedroom. I've had a lot of fun growing all kinds of things under it. It helps me get through these long Minnesota winters. I'm also planning to utilize it for starting plants from seed this spring, e.g. daturas, aristolochias, bedding plants, etc.
Mara, growing Passifloras in Minnesota is a bit of a challenge, but it definitely can be done. For example, under lights and on my south-facing sun porch, both P. Lady Margaret and P. citrina bloom nearly year-round. I'm hoping I can do the same for P. coccinea and P. subpeltata next. My P. mollissima seeds just sprouted, and I have P. edulis (thank you Calalily!) and P. incarnata to plant next. My ultimate goal is to have blooming Passifloras in my yard during the summer months and manage them indoors the remainder of the year. We'll see if I am successful. I am determined to grow them one way or another!
Joseph, all the best to you in germinating your Passifloras. I've had moderate luck doing so in the past and just try to learn from my mistakes. Patience is key with germinating these vines, I believe, as some take months to sprout.
Thank you all again.
Erick
Erick, your flower is lovely. The fragrance of the flowers may change with the next year's blooms. I grew this Passiflora amethystina hybrid from seed -- Purple Haze is also a P. amethystina hybrid -- and it was much more fragrant the second year than the first year. The second year, the flowers smelled like daisies.
Thank you Clare. I was rather surprised at just how unpleasantly pungent the Purple Haze flower was. However, a few hours later is had virtually no scent at all. It's nice to know that it may be more lovely smelling next year!
Your P. amethystina flower is gorgeous!
Erick
Hi ErickMN
I have grown Passiflora vines for the past two summers. This fall, I decided to dig one up as an experiment. Potted it and whacked it back to about 6". It is doing very well in my living room and has been bug free all winter. No blooms ~ guess it didn't like the whack!
I am no Passiflora expert, but when we bought Passiflora edulis for my father's house, the people at the Nursery told us repeatedly not to disturb the roots, not even by loosening the soil around their roots.
Sorry to hear about your seed problems Joseph. Erick is right about some of them taking months though, so do't give up too soon.
So far I've germinated P. platyloba, loefgrenii, nitida, subrotunda, and tricuspis. I have seeds planted of P. kermesina, a variant of P. loefgrenii (the 'Iporanga' form) and three unidentified species, none of which have sprouted yet, and it'll be a month on the 14th.
Joseph, I have transplanted many rootbound passifloras, and some do sulk a little bit but usually bounce right back. Some passifloras didn't notice at all.
I have transplanted baby-Passifloras (grown from seeds) without different results, only to come to the conclusion that the best method is probably to germinate each Passiflora seed in an individual small pot.
This season (remember we are right in summer down here) I sowed two types: Passiflora inciense seeds and Passiflora mollissima. The three P.i. platils I obtained tolerated picking and being transplanted into individual pots without any trouble. The Passiflora molissima seemed to be a bit more delicate and I lost one or two plantils (out of 9 that germinated).
Maybe the older the plant, the more delicate it becomes as far as roots are concerned. I would also think that they are specially delicate if planted in the garden (in the soil) and are later on removed to be potted or planted somewhere else. A plant that has always grown in a pot and is only 'up-sized' to a bigger pot should not suffer any damage if properly done.
BTW, I always heard you can only grow Passifloras from seeds if they are very fresh. Yeahhh. The P. inciense seeds were very fresh (from Onalee - thanks!), but the P. mollissima seeds (from Babalu) had been stored for 3 years and 90% of the seeds germinated (and within a few weeks)!