Giselle,
There's a passion flower native to the south east called Maypop
(passiflora incarnata). It is hardy nearly anywhere in the US, although I
imagine it gets less and less vigorous the further north one gets. It also
has edible egg-shaped fruits, and the flowers are typical interesting
complex passion flowers. You could try that one outdoors, and the other red
one indoors. I have never seen maypops for sale where I'm living now (in the
northwest), and in the Southeast, people just dig up the vines and give them
to friends who want them. Maybe someone from this newsgroup has them on
his/her property and would be willing to send you some seeds from the fruit.
"Rev "Fragile Warrior"" wrote in message
...
"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "Rev \"Fragile Warrior\"
Volfie" wrote:
"Ben" wrote in message
oups.com...
I deadhead. I leave a cutting in a southfacing basement window all
winter. It doesn't grow very much but it survives OK.
Ben
Kingston Ontario
I finally found a good reference to the Passion Flower in a herb book
last
night (I had no idea that's where I should look for it -- duh!) and it
said
it actually grows a fruit. Have you ever tried it? The book said it
was
rather tasty.
The red passion flower is a "patio tropical" that will not set fruit &
should be kept very warm to thrive. They don't need deadheading at least
&
can be practically everblooming.
The yellow egg-sized fruits of Purple Passion Vine (the one most commonly
grown outdoors in gardens) are mostly hollow but do have a big hump of
blood-red pulp & seeds inside. "Pop" the balloon open & you'll know
why they're called Maypops, then suck out the pulp, don't chew because
the
seeds don't add anything positive to the flavor, but give the pulp a good
tongue-mushing. I find it extremely tasty & when the vines are full of
maypops I eat them daily while in the garden. But my sweety finds them
seedy & uninteresting. I have also occasionally used the yellow skins
like
green tomatoes & fried them in olive oil with onions & sweet bell peppers
for a home-made relish.
Also, have you ever tried wintering the vine outside? The book said it
has
to be mulched well to survive but, wow, it doesn't seem to me that such
a
delicate flowering vine could survive to -20F. You're closer to where I
used to live (Niagara Falls) and I would think it *might* survive there
but
here, on a hill in the middle of Indiana, I have my doubts.
Although the subtropical Purple Passionflower thrives outside even in
temperate Zone 8, our winters only rarely & briefly get down to 20
degrees
F. & the vine can stand it. but even this hardy species would die at
temperatures your zone experiences. Your red one is fully tropical would
die outside even in my comparatively mild zone.
-paghat the ratgirl
Great! Thanks for all the info! Will my red one be comfortable at around
70 degress in the winter, do you think? I usually don't keep my cabin
warmer than that.
Giselle (and now I'm going to have to get a purple one so I can try the
maypops
Get your Paghat the Ratgirl T-Shirt he
http://www.paghat.com/giftshop.html
"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to
liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot." -Thomas Jefferson