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| PASSION FLOWER |
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Passion Flower
Common Name: Passion Flower, Passion Vine, Maypop
Botanical Name: Passiflora incarnata
Family: Passifloraceae
Type and Use: Perennial vine with edible fruit and leaves and flowers for use as sleepy-time tea.
Location: Sun to partial shade
Planting Dates: Spring and fall, but container-grown plants can be planted any time.
Planting Method: Transplants are available in 1- and 5- gallon containers
Seed Emergence: Don’t know. We’ve never grown it from seed.
Harvest Time: Year-round from containers. Spring and fall are the best times.
Height: High climbing
Spread: Wide spreading
Final Spacing: 5-8 feet
Growth Habits: Beautiful, although aggressively spreading vine with deeply cut foliage and colorful and intricately detailed flowers. Several different flower colors are available. Climbs by tendrils. Blooms all summer.
Culture: Easy to grow in any well-drained healthy soil. Passionvine dies to the ground and returns in the spring, although there are many tropical choices as well.
Troubles and Solutions: Most common pest is the Gulf fritilary butterfly larva. These butterflies are beautiful, so let them have some of the foliage. Hand pick if they become too plentiful. They’re slow and easy to catch.
Harvest and Storage: Harvest the foliage and flowers any time to use in teas. The fruit should be harvested after it matures. The color of ripe fruit ranges from yellow to red. Be careful, the fruit of some varieties tastes pretty bad.
Notes: As with all the plants, don’t eat unless you grow them with organic techniques. For more information, read Passion Flowers by John Vanderplank.
Varieties: Over 100 available.
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