As part of my September Bloomday post I included this exciting (to me) shot of my Passiflora lutea vine with buds! Tiny, little, buds I's been waiting three years to see...
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After a rather exhaustive internet search back in early 2015 I discovered a company called Mail Order Natives in Florida that could ship me a Passiflora lutea. A plant that is native to the eastern and south-central United States (from Pennsylvania west to Kansas, and south to Florida and Texas), and is hardy to USDA Zone 5, and only one nursery had it available. I ordered two...
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The plants arrived healthy and happy in mid April and were planted out soon there after.
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This shot, taken summer 2017, shows one of them happily climbing the trunk of my Trachycarpus. The other one ended up in a different part of the garden, in deeper shade, and while it's still alive it's never been as vigorous (moving it is on my to-do list). Still, no flower buds on either one until this year.
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Funny thing, back when I first wrote about tracking down and purchasing the P. lutea a fellow blogger in Virginia commented: "I could have given you all of the P. lutea that you want, but I spent a good part of Saturday weeding the garden, and no lie, I must have pulled 40-50 of the SOBs. P. lutea is one of my worst weeds, and I try to be diligent in pulling them before they have a chance to flower and drop their very fertile seeds. I guess one man's trash is another woman's treasure."
So, as you've probably guessed those buds have started to open...
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But my gosh those flowers are tiny! I seriously laughed out loud said "that's it!?" when I first saw them. To give you a little perspective my thumbnail measures 1/2" across...
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And I thought my P. 'Sunburst' blooms were small! But they measured 2" across — past tense because I looked up the measurement in a previous blog post — the darn thing hasn't bloomed yet this year.
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In case you're curious the other two passionflowers I've been sharing here and (repeatedly) on Instagram are much larger, Passiflora 'Amethyst Jewel' measures 3.5" and the P. 'Snow Queen is 4.5". That said I still love the hardiness and ease of P. lutea, and the flowers — while tiny — are terribly cool. Now I wonder if it will fruit and set seed before frost...
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Weather Diary, Oct 3: Hi 67, Low 44/ Precip 0
All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
After a rather exhaustive internet search back in early 2015 I discovered a company called Mail Order Natives in Florida that could ship me a Passiflora lutea. A plant that is native to the eastern and south-central United States (from Pennsylvania west to Kansas, and south to Florida and Texas), and is hardy to USDA Zone 5, and only one nursery had it available. I ordered two...
The plants arrived healthy and happy in mid April and were planted out soon there after.
This shot, taken summer 2017, shows one of them happily climbing the trunk of my Trachycarpus. The other one ended up in a different part of the garden, in deeper shade, and while it's still alive it's never been as vigorous (moving it is on my to-do list). Still, no flower buds on either one until this year.
Funny thing, back when I first wrote about tracking down and purchasing the P. lutea a fellow blogger in Virginia commented: "I could have given you all of the P. lutea that you want, but I spent a good part of Saturday weeding the garden, and no lie, I must have pulled 40-50 of the SOBs. P. lutea is one of my worst weeds, and I try to be diligent in pulling them before they have a chance to flower and drop their very fertile seeds. I guess one man's trash is another woman's treasure."
So, as you've probably guessed those buds have started to open...
But my gosh those flowers are tiny! I seriously laughed out loud said "that's it!?" when I first saw them. To give you a little perspective my thumbnail measures 1/2" across...
And I thought my P. 'Sunburst' blooms were small! But they measured 2" across — past tense because I looked up the measurement in a previous blog post — the darn thing hasn't bloomed yet this year.
In case you're curious the other two passionflowers I've been sharing here and (repeatedly) on Instagram are much larger, Passiflora 'Amethyst Jewel' measures 3.5" and the P. 'Snow Queen is 4.5". That said I still love the hardiness and ease of P. lutea, and the flowers — while tiny — are terribly cool. Now I wonder if it will fruit and set seed before frost...
Weather Diary, Oct 3: Hi 67, Low 44/ Precip 0
All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.