The Otherworldly Passiflora (Passion Flower)
By Tyson Curtis
Passion flowers are exotic and aggressively detailed, with a flamboyant artistry that seems almost cosmic, like they come from another planet. Scroll down to read about our favorite Passiflora varieties, along with some fascinating plant history and care tips. These plants are often available at Flora Grubb Gardens, our San Francisco nursery, in limited quantities.
Here are some of our favorite varieties of passion vine plants and why we love them.
P. edulis, (30℉) 15-20 ft. One of the hardiest Passiflora, semi-deciduous with frost. The most desired edible passionfruit is grown for its tangy purple egg-like fruit that can set in the first year. Be sure to wait until the fruits fall from the vine and pick them up within a day or two. They will continue to sweeten as their skin wrinkles. Don’t worry, you’ll still get that dramatic flower! P. edulis has lavender fading to white-tipped petals with mesmerizing ultra-delicate-looking corona filaments. The flowers are also fragrant. We most commonly see the cultivars ‘Fredrick’ (pictured here) and ‘Possum Purple.’
P. vitifolia, 15ft-20ft. We’re often stopped by customers spotting the bright red flowers on the massive vine wall surrounding our Flora Grubb Gardens sign. Visitors are generally surprised to learn that those crimson flowers are held by coppery grape-like leaves (thus the specific epithet vitifolia). This vine is vigorous without being aggressive and deciduous, so plant it somewhere you’re hoping to get some winter sun. The 3.5-inch unscented flowers attract butterflies.
P. ‘Purple Tiger,’ (32℉) 10-15 ft. Many guests have admired the unusual ‘Purple Tiger’ growing at the entrance to our gardens. Passiflora flowers are always out of this world, but ‘Purple Tiger’ takes it even further! The royal purple flowers are oversized (one flower will fill your whole hand) with a twirled corona of Beetlejuice stripes that looks like you’ve just gone warp speed! A big heavy-looking vine with round waxy leaves that is less aggressive than most Passiflora and needs some help getting attached to its support. It’s tolerant down to 32℉, but also loves warmth. This vine is very sought after and rarely available.
P. ‘Quasar,’ (25℉) 10-15 ft. Almost pure white flowers of medium size. This passion flower is incredibly classy, and easy to incorporate into many gardens where other Passiflora would be too distracting. After much debate we’ve confirmed that this selection of P. edulis has inedible fruit. These hollow yellow-orange fruits develop later in the season.
P. caerulea and P. ‘Blue Horizon’ (pictured here), (18℉) 20-30 ft. Cream green flower petals cup a DOUBLE corolla of deep purple, white and indigo that looks like an ultraviolet supernova. A durable and aggressive vine with abundant sweetly fragrant flowers. Flower base produces edible nectar and vine produces edible orange fruit, though mostly hollow without much flesh to them. Will root wherever it touches the ground.
P. ‘Witchcraft,’ (23℉) 15-20 ft. Aptly named, this pure dark purple flower is spellbinding! Witchcraft’s unusual reflexed petals open up the flower, giving it a unique posture. Unlike other Passiflora, which are generally multicolored, this one is purple on purple on purple! 3-inch flowers.
P. sanguinolenta, (28℉) 5-10 ft. This unusual Passiflora has bi-lobed “bat wing” leaves. The overall plant, including leaves and flowers, is small in stature, making it a great candidate for smaller gardens, fences, and railings. While the coral pink star-shaped flowers aren’t as dramatic as many of the hybrids, they are beautiful in their own unique way. This vine is purported to flower better in shade than other passifloras. Sanguinolenta is one of the best passion flowers for pots. Another great small Passiflora for similar uses is P. citrina, with its lemon yellow flowers, though it is rarely available.
P. 'Raspberries and Cream,’ (28℉) 15-20 ft. Medium-sized 3-inch flowers have raspberry pink petals with a bristling creamy white corolla. While some passionfruit flowers can be a bit overwhelming, this one’s classy and well-balanced. The soft light green leaves play nicely with the green anthers.
P. ‘Coral Glow’ (pictured above) and ‘Coral Seas,’ (26℉) 20-30 ft. Both have warm hot pink flowers with soft petals and an insignificant purple corolla. Petals often reflex, giving them an energetic stance. Flowers are on the large size (4-inch) and pendant. Leaves are shiny green and growth is fast. ‘Coral Sea’ will do better in areas with cool summers, while ‘Coral Glow’ is reported to perform better than many passiflora, including ‘Coral Sea,’ in hot inland gardens.
And a few more (not pictured) . . .
P. ‘Blue Velvet,’ (10℉) 15 ft. Deeply saturated flowers should really be called ‘Purple Velvet,’ with an intricate corolla that alternates purple to white repeatedly before wiggling into a thick halo reminiscent of a shag carpet. This dark background sets off the minty anther, stigma and ovary nicely. Being from the eastern United States, this is an incredibly cold-tolerant Passiflora, but it will die back to the ground with extreme cold.
P. ‘Donna Brigham,’ (28℉) 20-30 ft. This saturated hot pink flower is all about the overly large petals, with only a small lavender corolla. The flower is elongated more than many passiflora, giving it a nodding habit. This is great for where you want to train it up high because you’re looking directly into the flowers from below. Tri-lobed green leaves have an unusual bubbled texture.
P. mollissima (Banana Passionfruit), (25℉) 30-60 ft. Attracts hummingbirds. Pendant-shaped salmon pink flowers dangle elegantly from this large and aggressive vine, later producing yellow oblong fruit that is edible. Full-grown P. mollissima can cover an entire tree or house, and are said to produce up to three hundred fruit per year! Orange flesh is tasty, though not as esteemed as the purple fruit of P. edulis. This passionfruit produces as soon as its second year and is often used for juicing. We often see the selection ‘Ava.’
P. manicata, (25℉) 20-30 ft. Deeply red-orange flowers explode behind a tight vivid purple corolla. The fireworks finish with prominent, highly held yellow anthers. Attracts pollinators and hummingbirds. Makes edible fruit, but of poor quality. We will often see P. manicata ‘Linda Escobar.’
P. ‘Scarlet Flame,’ (31℉) Likely 15-20 ft. The leaves of this Passiflora are tri-lobed and large, up to 6 inches long. Truly scarlet, from the recurved petals, to the bristling corolla and anthers. A hybrid of vitifolia and coccinea.
P. Incarnata ‘Maypop,’ (0℉) 10 — 15 FT. Being from the southeastern United States, this is the hardiest Passiflora, but it will die back to the ground with extreme cold. An ornate flower with varying patterns of lavender and white, this passion fruit also has a nectar-filled base to the flower that you can enjoy. It’s also fun to pop the hollow fruit, giving it the common name ‘Maypop’. Better choice than most for a pot. This flower is endemic to the Cherokee Nation and widely used in their traditional medicine.
HISTORY
Like myself, the Spanish missionaries who ventured to the Americas in the late 16th century had a sense that these flowers might be otherworldly; they named the flower for the Passion of Christ and believed that its parts symbolized features of that story. To them the corona represented the halo; the five stamens were the five wounds; and the ten petals symbolized the ten apostles. Thus the Latin passi (to suffer) was added to flora (flower) to create the genus Passiflora. But long before that, native cultures revered passionfruit, the leaves of which were brewed for their calming effects, to reduce anxiety and as a sleep aid. Modern medicine continues to investigate passiflora, and there are studies that suggest it helps with anxiety as effectively as prescription drugs. Beyond medicinal usage, many passion flowers produce edible fruit or hold delicious nectar, so the plant is often commonly called passionfruit as well.
GROWING TIPS AND PLANT CARE
While each passion flower is unique, showing incredible variation between species, here are some generalizations about the genus Passiflora. These fanciful flowers attract pollinators, including bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. This is good because fruiting varieties are self fertile. If you find you aren’t seeing pollinators, or getting fruit on an edible variety, hand-pollinating the flowers each morning will help. They appreciate water while establishing, which will give you robust growth during their spring and summer growth period, but the vines are surprisingly drought-tolerant after a few years. To look their best they’ll need infrequent deep summer irrigation. While these vines like a warm tropical or subtropical climate, most will tolerate surprisingly cold winters, losing their leaves or dying back to the ground with extreme weather and then returning in spring.
Passion flowers like as much sun as they can get, but you’ll find they grow well in part shade or even full bright shade, though they will be thinner and with fewer flowers. These vines are known for aggressive growth and it’s important to situate them in a spot where they can spread out. Covering entire fences, sheds and even houses is a superpower of many of the larger Passiflora. Don’t like that chain link fence? Wait, where’s that chain link fence? Their tendrils will grab onto just about anything, pulling their way upward. They are very hard to train down, and as such it’s better to train them along the base of a building or fence first and then let them climb up from there.
Passion flower vines are under-utilized as a groundcover, where they will quickly cover a bank and retain soil from erosion (though once established they are difficult to remove). Prune heavily in winter and spring to give the vine time to recover and flower, and thin excess new growth to keep the plant tidy during the growing season. This yearly pruning also helps fruit set (with edible varieties), as the new growth holds the flowers and fruit. Since Passiflora are aggressive growers, they rarely need fertilizer and respond well to just a topdressing of compost in early spring. In fact, many growers report poor yield or hollow fruit if they over-fertilize (especially with too much nitrogen). Passionfruit are tolerant of a wide range of soils, including sandy, rocky and heavy clay soils. One thing they aren’t very tolerant of is pots, especially small ones. Large Passiflora tend to escape from pottery or become rootbound after a couple years. However there are exceptions. Smaller passiflora, such as P. sanguinolenta, do well in medium-to-large pots.
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