"dps" wrote in message
...
We acquired a passion flower vine last year, but the flowers were purple
and white, not red. They lasted up to 5 days.

On the other hand, someone gave us an orchid (variety unknown). It doesn't
bloom often, but the last group of 4 blooms lasted 14 weeks.


An Orchid flower will fade and die quickly once it is pollinated. Each kind
of naturally occurring orchid has a specific creature that takes care of its
fertilization process. (Usually an insect.) Charles Darwin wrote about one
orchid that he came across that there must a moth in the area with a
proboscis longer than any previously discovered, because the flower shape
requires it. Decades later, another scientist finally found the moth that
Darwin had never seen, but knew must exist. Many of our hybrids would never
be able to exist in the wild because the right insect does not exist. I have
20 some different kinds of orchids growing in my yard. The flowers on one of
them fade in just a couple of days unless the plant is brought inside. Some
local creature must be able to carry out at least part of the fertilization
process on it.



Rev "Fragile Warrior" wrote:
I was just mourning the fact that the beautiful red blossoms on my
Passion Flower vine only live a single day same as the Daylilies that I
love so much. But now I'm wondering why? Does anyone know the
biological explanation for why some flowers bloom for days and days and
others only bloom one turning of the sun? Not to mention the kinds of
flowers that only bloom a single night.

I would think a longer blooming cycle enhances the possibility of
fertilization so there must be some good reason why the flower's bloom
cycle is so short. I even understand why tropical flowers bloom at night
(because insects and breezes and animals are more likely to be out at
night in the tropics, right?) but the short bloom cycle has me baffled.

Help, please!
Thx,
Giselle