Passiflora edulis for mild west coast temps??

[Sean Megason]

Hi, Does anyone have any suggestion of varieties of Passiflora edulis (Passion Fruit) that do well on the west coast? I live in Santa Monica, CA a few miles from the beach so the tempearute is very mild. It never freezes and doesn't break 80 very much. I am currently growing Passiflora edulis 'Frederick'. It makes tasty fruit but it doesn't grow or flower except July-September. The rest of the year it just sits there. I think Frederick must need more heat to grow well (our tomato plants never grow either). I have a Passiflora incarnata that grows vigourously, flowers, and fruits prolifically for the whole year but the fruit are inedible. Is there a P. edulis that grows as well as P. incarnata? Sean

[figaro]

Michael Kartuz is a national expert at passifloras and is often cited in literature. He has a rare plant nursery in Vista, California, just north of San Diego. His website is at Kartuz.com and he is extremely helpful.

[Gardñ]

[e-mail] (Sean Megason) in news: [e-mail]:

might search for high elevatoin tropics passifloras

and check crfg.org

tomato years ago i saw a tomato on coastal OC, near a SW facing stucco wall. i wasn't sure if it was a seedling or if someone had actually planted it. i saw it in october or later (rainy already) or similar cool weather. unfortunately i was at a distance, so i couldn't tell if the plant had ever flowered, but it looked ok.