Passiflora citrina

Hello All.

I can't say enough great things about this Passionflower. Although the flowers are not as large as others in the genus - they are still a respectable 4 cm or so - they are a gorgeous lemon yellow. From my research online, I learned that they are the only yellow hummingbird-pollinated Passiflora in the world. They do great in a bright window. Mine blooms year round on my south facing porch, and I am in Minnesota! They are easy to manage in an 8" pot with a small trellis, are not fussy about water, take well to being cut back regularly and - best of all - are not bothered at all by spider mites. The leaves are attractive too.

I took this picture earlier this evening.

Erick

What a cutie, Erick!

Thank you Liz. I spend so much time fussing over my other Passionflowers, it's nice to have one that doesn't give me any grief and usually has at least one flower for me every day.

I was thrilled to see my first P. murucuja bloom this morning! However, none of the pictures I hurriedly took before work are worth posting, so I'll try again with the coming blooms. What a cool close relative of P. citrina!

Erick


This message was edited Mar 14, 2007 9:10 PM

Wow that is a beautiful bloom!!

edited because I cannot spell!!

This message was edited Mar 14, 2007 8:03 PM

And here is Passiflora murucuja, a Caribbean species with small leaves and somewhat unusual red flowers. The flowers open early in the morning and are closing by the time I get home from work in the evening.

Erick

Wow Erick you sure do have some beauties!!! I am getting my first greenhouse soon. I am sure I will out grow it before long!! I cannot wait to start adding more passion vines to my collection.

Erick --- Very beautiful plants. Don't know much about them but willing to learn. Down here in So Fl they should grow most all year as our low temp is in the forties. I'll be watching your threads as I love your choice of color and plants. Have a westerly facing deck that gets southern unobstructed sun from 11am and on.
PS - Did you raise them from seed or bulb?

Thank you very much Marie. How kind of you!

Thank you Tplant. I am flattered! For the gardening alone, I would love to live where you do! I agree - in your climate, you should be able to grow most Passifloras outdoors year round. The exception might be those that prefer cooler conditions and hate the heat. I strongly encourage you to start building a collection. I find them to be very rewarding.

I grew the P. citrina pictured from a cutting. The original plant came from Logee's years ago. I just picked up the P. murucuja from another Passiflora afficiando a few months ago as a small plant. While I have grown some of my Passifloras from seed, e.g. subpeltata, edulis flavacarpa and 'Panama Red', mollissima, etc., most I have acquired as small plants or cuttings. Despite my best efforts, I've had very limited success growing Passionflowers from seed.

By the way, if you don't have it, I HIGHLY recommend picking up the book "Passiflora: Passionflowers of the World" by Ulmer and MacDougal. It was less then $20, including shipping, from Amazon.com and is full of great information on the genus. Plus, the huge section of pictures will immediatley have you drooling like a baby! I find myself looking at it all the time.

Regards,

Erick

Yeah that book is awesome!! I ordered it right after you mentioned it in another thread. They are the reason for wanting the GH so bad. Although I have some enablers who are trying to convince me I need Hoyas too! ( problem is it is working)

marie, I'm glad you are enjoying the book. Isn't it amazing?! I could look through those pictures for hours. I hope you build a great collection in your new GH!

I wish I had the room to grow Hoyas, and a million other plants!

Erick

Hours is right. My kids are continually asking when I am going to be finished with this book (I tend to be an extremely fast reader)

Both are gorgeous, Erick! Never seen them around here.
:) Donna

I adore Citrina. The blooms are so tiny and special, and when it is not blooming, the leaves are just as much fun!

Mine was in a hanging basket. The vine is delicate, so it does well in a small pot.

Adorable! Thanks for sharing the pics!

Where did you get those two?

Thank you Donna and HSteacher.

Paul, I picked up P. citrina from Logee's a few years ago. I believe they still sell it. I just recently picked up P. murucuja in a trade with another vine enthusiast. I believe it's not uncommon in collections.

Erick

Hi Erick,
I have one of those P. citrina . It is showing signs of life. any requirements that the plant needs. I noticed it seems like being on the dry side as far as watering goes. Now if I can keep the pests off of it.
Rj

Hello Rj.

I have found P. citrina really easy to grow. I tend to keep it a bit on the dry side, but I haven't found it to be fussy about watering at all (although I doubt it would appreicate soggy for long). I fertilize it lightly once in awhile, and that's it. Mine has never had a single spider mite, but I don't know about other pests. I've even found it to be relatively easy to root from cuttings.

Attached is an evening picture (taken with a flash) of the whole plant. All told, I counted more than twenty buds developing.

Good luck with yours. I hope it blooms for you soon.

Erick

Nice picture, and big buds! What is the fertilizer you use?
I was correct then in where I planted it. I had noticed that it was happy on the dryer side, so I put the roots underneath the deck, and it seems to like that. It is really starting to grow now..

That is gorgeous! I might have to order that. I'm in north Texas zone 7, so would I need to bring it inside in the winter?

Amazing what you can do with window lighting, very nice indeed!

Rj, I just use a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer. However, I don't fertilize my P. citrina more than a few times a year.

rosethyme, my P. citrina has never been outdoors, so I have no idea how hardy it is. I doubt, however, that it would tolerate frost at all.

Thank you edric!

Erick

Okay, thanks for the info Erick.

Yes...thankyou...