I am a passiflora virgin! and I would really appreciate guidance. I would like to cover an expanse of wooden fence (6' x 30' or more) with some season-long bloomers in lavender, purple, white and/or combinations of those colors in one bloom. I love Lavender Lady, Incense, Amethyst, Violacea, White Wedding, incarnata, caerulea, alatocaerulea, Constance Elliot, etc., etc.
I just don't know which would be appropriate in the hands of a novice in zone 8 Alabama. I have plenty of experience with brugmansia, elephant ears, gingers, etc., but these will be my first passion vines, and I would love to start with well informed selections that will bloom well this summer and, hopefully, survive our winters and continue for years to come.
The summer heat here might be an issue. We had three weeks of days above 100 degrees last August, but most of the summer is in the 80s and 90s. I can certainly adjust sprinklers to give them the water they need (lots?).
The fence gets bright, dappled light until late afternoon, when the sun peeks under the trees to give them an hour and a half or so of sunset light.
The soil is heavy white clay and sand, but I can add whatever amendments are needed -- I'm guessing peat, ground bark, compost and composted manure..... should I also fertilize, and with what?
And, finally, what is a good source for acquiring these vines?
I would be grateful to be able to benefit from the wisdom of your collective experience.
Need good heavy-blooming lavs, purples & whites for z8 AL
SilkKnoll,
I am by far the least experienced person who will answer your questions, but I do have a few good resources.
www.logees.com is an AWESOME site to order plants from. They seem a bit expensive, but are healthy thriving plants.
www.georgiavines.com has some nice plants too and is always happy to answer questions. She has a very nice variety and is currently offering free shipping on some items (seeds for sure).
I found that my PFVs from last year really enjoyed all the water I would give them. I never kept the soil soggy, but I never let it dry out either. The bed they were/are in is amended with peat moss, compost and perlite. I find that perlite really helps with drainage and keeping the soil from getting compacted.
I had some nasty orange caterpillars that appeared late in the season and decided to eat most of my leaves, but it wasn't worth fighting them since it was getting cool anyway. Other than that I never had a second of trouble with diseases or insects.
Now if you are really adventurous, you can try to grow some from seed. I understand you are trying to cover a fence rather quickly, so this may not be the most efficient plan for you, but there is nothing like growing one of your "babies" from seed and looking at the beautiful blooms. I am currently growing some of the Banana Passion Flowers (picture below). I may not see blooms this year, but it is fun to see them grow up (kind of like kids I guess : )
This message was edited Mar 22, 2008 6:41 AM
