Hello All.
A kind gardening friend gave me a cutting of this Passionflower last summer. It was easy to root, grows like a weed, and doesn't seem to be bothered by pests. It rewarded me with bloom today.
Even as a serious Passiflora hobbyist, I was blown away. The flowers are HUGE, easily 4" +. Very, very fragrant. Persist for more than a day. I should have grown this one years ago!
Erick
isn't it wonderful. Mine just started blooming too
I'm growing this one for the first time this year too, and it blooms like crazy!! An instant favorite!!
Mark
Erick,
Congrats! From a cutting to blooming in one year is great. Nice picture too.
I have ants all over mine, but I think they are just gathering secretions. I don't see that they are "farming" aphids. Do you have them too, and do you think the ants are doing any harm?
Susan
Mark, I agree with you completely!
Hello Susan. Yes, indeed, this flower is from the cutting you have me last summer. I actually have several plants now and all have buds. I notice ants on many of my Passifloras. From what I understand, they "protect" the vines from other bugs in exchange for the sweet goo they exude. It's fun to watch them hang out on the vines.
Erick
I was told in another forum that this is P. incense but I insisted it is P. incarnata.
Buttoneer,
That does look like an incarnata. The way to tell is by the leaves. Incarnata has 3 lobed leaves, Incense has 5 lobed leaves. Also, the buds look different. Incense buds have leaflets (bracts?) surrounding the buds whereas incarnata does not.
Mark
Thanks, Mark. I put a link to this thread to the other P-flora thread so the people there can see & read the difference. Does the incense get fruits on it?
Like most hybrids, Incense does not readily set fruit. But it does from time to time--people post their success stories with it here and on Garden Web. I have been bud pollinating and regular hand pollinating my Incense with caerulea and incarnata pollen, but no luck so far. The Indigo Dreams hybrid is Incense x caerulea, and I am trying to make my own version of that. And Blue Eyed Susan is Incense x edulis--my edulis plant is still a seedling so that will have to wait for next year.
Mark
Beautiful, Erick. Here is a picture of mine from a few years ago. Bottom of the thread. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/750092/#new
It has always been a favorite, but holding them over isn't easy for me. This year I'm growing Lady Margarette and one that Eclipse brought me. It hasn't bloomed yet, so I have no pictures of it. Lady Margarette is just getting started with a bloom now and then. I toss her at the end of the season.
Ooooh can you toss her my way? LOL. I would love to grow P. incense again. Wonder if it's hardy in zone 6 PA?
Thank you Shirley. Your picture is exactly what I'm hoping for with my Incense later this summer. Gorgeous! Right now I only have a bloom opening every third day or so, but there are lots coming. Is that a few Corkscrew Vine flowers I see in the picture as well? Mine is now two years old and is huge in the garden, so I'm hoping to see some blooms this summer.
I find both Lady Margaret and Incense relatively easy to overwinter indoors in a south-facing window. I treat them like any other tropical, with regular watering and the occasional fertilizing. Lady Margaret blooms nearly every day, even during December and January! The only moderate challenge is spider mites. In my experience, neither are particularly prone to them, but I do see a few during the dryest part of winter. A couple trips to the shower really helps. Another thought is to root cuttings in late summer and then overwinter them in 4" pots. Please make sure to post pictures of your blooms coming!
Buttoneer, I doubt that Incense would be hardy in your zone. I believe it is best treated like a true tropical/sub-tropical.
Erick
Erick, your Passie is G O R G E O U S !!!!
How did you root your cutting, in water and then planted it?
3 years ago I got some seeds from a DGardener that obtained them from her plant (just one fruit and about 6 seeds in total). Although I love them, they reverted to P. incarnata.
Hugs,
Ursula
My P. caerulea is opening this morning, so I am going to try to cross-pollenate with P. incarnata. Pray to the Passiflora gods that it works. ;-)
Erick, to echo Ursula, please tell us about how you got them to root. I had a plant back in Phoenix that I snipped a few sprigs off of a week or so ago. I've stuck them in water and am watching anxiously for roots- they've wilted on me twice, once when I took them out of their high-humidity baggie and once when I took them outside ... I'll be so disappointed if they don't make it!
P.S. I was amazed at how vigorous this vine is growing in Phoenix, despite *very* little water. Amazing.
Good luck Buttoneer! Hopefully you will end up with viable seed and interesting flowers.
Ursula, how nice to see you again! I hope you are well and enjoying your winter season. To answer your question, and that that of Pagancat...
I have never heard of, or tried, rooting Passiflora cuttings in water. However, I seriously doubt that would work. They will die within a few days for sure.
I suggest rooting cuttings, which is relatively easy to do with many Passifloras (and tons of other plants). Start with a light, easy-draining soil. I always buy a basic "seed starter" mix of some sort. You don't want something that will pack down, as the new roots need some fresh air to develop. If nothing else, use a basic potting mix and add some vermiculite, perlite, spaghnum, whatever to lighten it up. Your cutting should be from a growing end (not in middle the vine) with two or three leaves. Make a clean cut with, say, a razor blade, and dip the cut end in rooting hormone, if you have it. It's not required, but it helps, and it's cheap to buy. Plant the cutting a small pot and gently firm down the soil around it. Give it a thorough, but gentle watering.
Here, in my opinion, is the critical part: The cutting must enjoy 100% humidity for the first week or two if it has any hope to survive. It has no roots whatsoever, and therefore no way to absorb water. In the open air, the little bit of water in its leaves will evaporate quickly and the cutting is doomed. So cover the cutting with plastic or glass, e.g. plastic wrap, an inverted baggie, an inverted glass jar, a small aquarium, whatever. Just make sure the cover you use doesn't touch the cutting - you don't want to move the cutting at all in the first few weeks as it develops new roots. You just want to keep the humidity as high as possible for it so it can focus on getting some roots. Make a funky tent of some sort.
Place this little setup in a bright location, but not direct sun (of course). Keep it moist, but not soggy. It cannot dry out totally even once during the first few weeks. Important: Once or twice a day, remove the plastic/glass for a bit (up to an hour) and let the cuttings enjoy some fresh air. If you don't do this part, you quickly end up with a mold garden.
After a few weeks at most, you will see new growth. Once the cutting seems established, move it into a pot and treat it like any other tropical.
Good luck, and be sure to post pictures of your progress!
Erick
Hi Erick!
No, my bones do not enjoy winter. 1 1/2 month and spring will be here - knowing that and watching pictures like the one of your gorgeous Passi, carry me through winter.
Thanks a lot for the explanation. Now all I need is a friend to smuggle a cutting or two in the mail for me when it's autumn in the Northern Hemisphere ........ We have very few varieties of Passiflora down here and no hydrids that I know of.
Big hug,
Ursula
Okay, it's all coming clear to me now. I hope I'm not too late! Thanks SO much for the clear explanation, Erick!
My Passie incarnata literally "took off" this year. I am 5"1" tall. Here is a pix of me standing beside it. Do you think it will hurt the siding on the house?
Here's a better pix so you can see how tall the house is.
