What Passion Flowers to Buy?

I thought I would like to replace my 3 Bog Standard Passiflora caerulea with something more "interesting" as I've got bored with them ...

... but I've got carried away and need some help to choose.

This is where I got carried away!
http://www.passifloratuin.com/en/view-all-products-in-shop/Page-1.html

Actinic - min temp 0 to -5 ° C.


Corry Rooymans - Wow! Needs a bit of heat over winter I think


Blue Stripper - min -8° C - possibly stronger colour than Blue Desire below, and thus better choice? (and hardier)


Elisabeth - Flowers 12 cm - min temp ??


Emily - Flowers 15 cm - min temp ??


Incarnata Alba - Frost hardy


Incense - flowers 10 cm, Min. temp: -8° C


Inspiration - Min. temp. 0°C-ish


Lunametista - flowers 12 cm, frost hardy


Panda - flowers 10 cm, 1°C-ish




I think these will require too much warmth, so I will have to pass:

Alata - minimum temperature of 10° C (50° F) - that might be a challenge


Denaisneane - min 10° C, flowers 12 cm


Blue Desire - min temp 7°C. - Not sure if I want this ??


Edulis - min 7° - 12° C - very popular


Pergrandis - min temp 12°C


Quadrangularis - min temp 15° C


Triloba - flowers 12 cm, min temp 7° C


Trialata - min temp 14° C :(


Okay ... which of the first lot, that don't need much/any winter heat, would you choose ... economic order qty is 5, after that 9 or 10 ... so I've either got to have all 10 of the first block, or whittle it down to 5.

 

Missed one:

Cary - flowers 10cm, min temp 7° C

 

Kristen I love the delicate blue of 'Emily', that would be my choice, but I've got a passion (excuse the pun) for blue flowers anyway. I find most of the others a bit OTT colour wise.

 

Oh heck they're all gorgeous, I love 'Emily' too but also quite like 'Elisabeth' very unusual colouring.
I have this one growing in my sunroom as its not hardy, its called 'Crimson Tears'

 

Darn it! I thought that was the point? !!

 

A great selection Kristen, there are so many available these days.
Trouble I find is most take up quite a lot of space.

I remember growing "incense" some years ago, it was not rampant, so only flowered sparsely.
Another incarnata appears to be herbaceous, dying right back to the root in winter, I found with our less than hot summers it was too slow to recover outside.

Finding the right kind of growth habit is probably as important as finding a flower type you like.

 

Sorry Kristen, don't let me put you off, it's each to their own!

 

My other half grew P.antioquensis last year................


It grew very well in a 3litre pot, and against my better advice she left it out all winter. I now have egg on my face as it is putting out new shoots!

 

How cold did it get longk? Great flower.
Am I right in thinking that is one of the tacsonias that like cool growing conditions.

I had a plant once but could only get it to bud up too late in the season.
I remember having similar problems with manicata.

 

Yes it is one of the Tasconias Pete.
According to Maurizio Vecchia it's hardy to +5°c, but I think that it may have good genes. By that I mean that the mother plant at Hill House was growing in the unheated poly-tunnel. The only protection that the pot was from being in a huddle, the stem was fully exposed. The new shoots are both low down and a long way along the stem (it grew 7metres in that wee pot last year from July).
Yes, it was quite a late bloomer starting mid September, but carried on to the first frost at which point it went limp and shed ALL growth.
Needs to be able to grow along something overhead to show off the pendulous blooms to their best effect.

 

Sorry Pete - I had minus twelve this end of town, so probably minus tennish that end. Bit of a micro-climate in her courtyard, but it still froze hard.

 

I was hoping he didn't grow that one, so I wouldn't have to add it to my list ... but he does!


http://www.passifloratuin.com/passiflora/crimson-tears.html

And?

As it happens I had already ordered that one (from a different supplier) ...

I had got carried away and assumed they would all be well behaved, flower profusely, and love it here! But the realitiy check is good, and important, thanks.

So what you are saying is that I should buy them all because I like their flowers, so they will provide pleasure on that front, and amongst them I will find some that suit and get on well here?

So, in fact, buying them all is just a case of "couldn't afford not to have them?" - which is how I normally justify impulse purchases to my wife ... and myself!

All joking apart, I was planning to have these in the conservatory - I could take cuttings and see how they get on outside, but what I really wanted was something showy for conservatory.

Am I right to be leaving the varieties that need heat off my list? My conservatory is unheated, but frost free. I'd have to take cuttings for the Winter so they took up little room in the house, would they make a full sized flowering plant in a single season? My decision is easier if I just buy the 10 hardy-ish ones and see, from those, which ones work in practice.

 

My personal thoughts are that you need to start the season with a decent sized plant.
An overwintered cutting is not going to do its best until the following summer. although it will probably flower.

Its also a set back to many if you cut them hard back in autumn so as to accomidate them through the winter, but some seem to to come back faster than others.

If you are not heating your conservatory Kristen, I'd stick with the hardy ones, but at the same time try one or two less hardy ones to see how they do.

The temperatures they give regarding hardiness can vary either way.

 

Aggggggggghhhhhhhhh there you go again! I was all set with Group A and now I'm dithering over "Shall I have a go at some tender ones too" ... Oh well ... "Couldn't afford not to have it"

 

Just go for it! The worst that can happen is that they give you a miserly few (but spectacular) blooms and then die over the winter. Then again they may surprise you!