Passion thrillers!
With intricate blooms and showy fruits, these lovely climbers are sensational all summer
Back in March, my food shopping habits changed as a result of the chaos experienced during the early days of lockdown. Rather than endure the long queues and empty shelves at my favourite supermarket, I tried another where the experience was more civilised.
My switch to a different store brought an unexpected benefit — I discovered a trolley full of climbing plants close to the entrance. On board was a lone white passion flower in a small pot. I snapped up the 1ft-tall specimen immediately for the bargain price of €2.
I was thrilled with my acquisition. Passiflora caerulea ‘Constance Eliott’ is a desirable variety that has long been on my hit list thanks to its sweetly scented, large white flowers that are carried all summer long. As I write, the vigorous beauty is close to reaching the top of an 8ft pergola.
For my money, passion flowers are the most spectacular of all summer-flowering climbers, with their intricate blooms that are produced non-stop from late June to September against a foil of dark green foliage. As a bonus, flowers are followed by equally showy, pendulous fruit.
Most species originate from South America, where they can be found in a range of habitats, from humid jungles to mountain slopes. Plants are capable of reaching more than 30ft, depending on the variety, and have flowers in shades of white, yellow, blue, red, purple and orange.
The one you’re most likely to see over here is blue passion flower (Passiflora caerulea), a vigorous thing that can scramble to 30ft or more. Its 4in-wide white flowers with a central boss of purple, white and blue filaments are a common sight on walls, fences and garden structures. Despite coming from the Amazon rainforest, blue passion flower can take a cold snap down to minus 10C. It’s definitely the toughest member of the family, but there are others that are hardy to around minus 8C, including P. caerulea ‘Clear Sky’, P. ‘Amethyst’ and Passiflora x violacea ‘Victoria’.
Some passion flowers are frosttender but are worth growing as patio plants that are moved indoors over winter. P. alata is a stunner, with huge leaves and scented red flowers with wavy pink and white filaments. Mine flowers in late autumn, filling the living room with a delicious, spicy perfume.
In some parts of the world, passion flowers are cultivated for their fruit. Purple passion fruit come from P. edulis, a species native to Brazil, while Passiflora ligularis provides orange-skinned granadillas, a delicacy in Colombia. The orange fruit of blue passion flowers are edible but nothing special. In Irish gardens, the plants like a sunny, sheltered spot and will romp away in a south- or westfacing position.
They’re not fussy about the ground’s acidity or alkalinity, and are happy in soil that’s moist and free-draining. However, avoid heavy clay soil as roots will rot if they are cold and wet over winter.
Passion flowers are self-clinging climbers that ascend structures with long tendrils that develop from leaf joints, and coil tightly around anything they touch. From my experience, they do this most effectively when set against wire or mesh that’s been fitted to trellis, fences or vertical structures.
In order for my white passion flower to reach the rafters of a pergola, I’ve fitted two vertical wires to each face of a support post — these are held in place at the top, middle and bottom by stainless steel vine eyes. Although the climber does most of the hard work itself, it’s necessary to tie in the odd wayward shoot with twine.
Keep these hungry climbers satisfied by digging plenty of compost into the ground when planting and feeding every couple of weeks during the growing season with an allpurpose plant food.
They don’t require very much pruning — in summer, trim back unwanted shoots to ensure plants remain within bounds.
They can be found in humid rainforests and mountain slopes