Look what I found this afternoon. My Passion Flower has already started to bloom. This is Passiflora incarnata or Maypop. This vine is about 25 feet long covering a corner of our chain link fence. It blooms almost all season. In my area it is almost evergreen. It is also the larval food for Gulf Fritillary butterflies. In a few weeks we should have caterpillars having an feast. As soon as they show up, I will post a picture.
According to Wikipedia, Passion flower is native to all areas of the world, excluding Europe and Antarctica. There are nine species native to the U.S. The structure of the flower requires a large bee or humming bird for pollination. We will see humming birds, bumble bees, and caterpillars all over this all summer. It is a happening place.
I am a pretty happy gardener right now.
What a pretty vine. I wonder if it would grow in Maine?
ReplyDeletegardenpath,
ReplyDeleteI looked it up and it is hardy to zone 5. I show Maine as zones 2 to 4. Does not look like a good match. Sorry.
I love the way they smell. :)
ReplyDeleteMine has big fat buds, but no blooms. My crossvine and coral honeysuckle are jamming though.
Guess what i saw today? A hummingbird flying back and forth over the birdbath, and dipping in on the fly!! I'd never seen that before! Have you? Too cool!
Hope you're feeling better.
Vonne, hummers are already here!!!! Yeah. You are close enough to me that they've got to be near here too. Hopefully we won't have an aggressive one this year. I may cover up the rest of that fence with cross vine and coral honeysuckle. Pretty vine, my friend Nancy has them around our greenhouse.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to have one of those. I saw one at Pam's garden in Austin.~~Dee
ReplyDeletewhat an interesting looking flower.
ReplyDeleteArlene,
East Bremerton flowers
Yay!! You know I love me some Passion Flower! -Jen :)
ReplyDeleteHi Dee, Get one, give it something big to climb on and get back. This thing is awsome.
ReplyDeletetheysaywordscanbleed, thanks for stopping by.
Hi Jen, Great minds think alike.
Hey Deb, the crossvine looks beautiful on a fence because it likes to grow laterally (sp?), but the coral honeysuckle likes to go up, up, up!! So I moved mine from the fence and planted it on the Chicken yard enclosure and now it's up and over the top and heading for the roof of the chicken house!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck not having an aggressive hummer. We have ruby-throat and black-chins, so the battle rages, all summer. I bet you've got hummers already! Ours arrived on hub's b-day -March 21st. He gets hummer's every year for his b-day. All I get for mine is 100 degree temps. bleh.
vonne, what a cool birthday present. Born just after Christmas and new years my birthday is sort of an after thought.
ReplyDeleteDebbie ... this is the one vine that absolutely knocks our socks off .. we had it in Holland when we lived there .. but we can't grow it here as a perennial .. so now you are the caretaker ? of the vine we love ! LOL
ReplyDeleteJoy
Joy, I will gladly be care taker of this vine we love.
ReplyDeleteNo kidding, that is awesome! Will you save some seeds for me? :)
ReplyDelete