Advice on which type of Passion Flower to go for?

[orangejayd]

Hi

I'm going to be buying a Passion vine and need to know which type to go for that would survive cold weather.

It'll be kept in the wheelhouse of a boat which is un-insulated, so it will be protected from the wind but the tempreture will be pretty much the same as outdoors, which is pretty chilly most of the time. I'm guessing during Summer it'd have almost a greenhouse affect for the plant, if we manage to have any Summer that is.

Anyone know of any good types of vines that are pretty hardcore through cold weather but still have the colourful scented flowers too?

Thanks in advance!

[Higgs Boson]

However, my one experience with passion flower was that it got away on me, so don't know whether it would run rampant in a boat wheelhouse, or whether cold weather (part of year) would keep it under control.

[Billy]

It's a tropical plant, so it will probably die.

[Jeff Layman]

The only passion flower with a degree of frost resistance in the UK is Passiflora caerulea (Blue Passion Flower). Some of its hybrids show a similar degree of frost resistance.

But all top growth will be cut back to ground level in a severe frost. Usually, in milder parts, growth will restart in spring, as the parts of the plant below ground are protected to some extent from being frozen. And P. caerulea roots can go fairly deep and spread widely. However, in your case the roots would also freeze as they would be in a pot, and the plant would die.

If you have a frost-free place (kitchen window?) you could take some cuttings, as Passiflora roots easily. New plants can be grown quickly once the weather warms up (if it warms up...) to replace any that have died.

But have you considered just how fast Passiflora grows once it gets going? You'll need a machete to get onto your boat after couple of weeks. :-)

[Dan Espen]

I don't think it's that bad. I'm in Central NJ.

We had a Passion Flower vine in a basket near the pool. The first season some of the vines grew to about 8 feet but at no point did it cover the fence it was on, these were just 2 or 3 shoots.

We bought the basket inside for the winter and hung it in the window. It struggled though the first winter and repeated it's performance the next year.

Oh, I should mentioned, it flowered nicely both years.

The second year inside killed it, I don't think I watered it enough.

Right now I'm trying a different vine. It's made it though the winter and I'm hoping we'll see flowers.

Anyway, I believe you need to protect these vines from cold temperature, they're not that easy to overwinter, and they probably won't take over unless you have a greenhouse or something.

[Jeff Layman]

Would that be zone 6b? In the UK just about the coldest zone (Scottish mountains) is equivalent to 7a - most are around 8a/b.

What Passion Flower were you growing? If it was Passiflora incarnata (Maypops), the odd thing is that is pretty hardy over in the USA, but it is basically never seen here in the UK outside a greenhouse. It just doesn't like our winters - too warm and damp maybe? Passiflora caerulea, on the other hand, although supposedly less hardy than P. incarnata, survives most winters here. In the warmer areas of the south and west, it can be a rampant vine. Once established, and given support, it can cover the walls of a house quite easily. But I don't think that it is particularly long-lived, even in good conditions - if you get 10 years from it you've done very well.

[Dan Espen]

Not sure what it was. Here's a picture:

[Billy]

[Dan Espen]

Yeah, I know Passion Flower, but I checked this AM, there appear to be 500 species of Passion Flower.

The one I had looks a lot like Incarnata (one of the most common).

I first saw a passion flower growing wild in Georgia (USA). It's a truly amazing flower. I intend to get another one next time I see one.

[Jeff Layman]

The picture you've linked to above is not P. incarnata. It looks a bit like Passiflora 'Lady Margareth'

There are dozens of passion flower photos at that site. You might find yours amongst them - start at

[Dan Espen]

This is motivating me to get another one.

[Jeff Layman]

Logees have it

fantastic stuff available there. Pity they don't export to Europe. :-(

[Higgs Boson]

Does anybody know how this flower got its name? No fair looking it up first.

HB

[David Hare-Scott]

You can find things hardcore in the most unexpected places. When our cumquat tree started to produce a few years ago we made marmalade which is very good but you can only eat so much marmalade. So my wife started browsing for other recipes and happened to google "cumquat jam". She has not lived a sheltered life but told me she found some extraordinary material (having nothing to do with cooking little citrus fruit) of people doing things that she had never imagined was possible.

David

[Nelly W]

It's a Christ-thing.

[Nelly W]

I once got a P. incarnata to survive two winters in Michigan, 6b.