Vlad,
I've not grown passiflora incarnata.....better known as MayPop yet. I collected about 50 seeds this fall from one of the pods that grew from my very prolific plant this year. The flowers were glorious and the fruitpods were something else. I never did try to eat them. I left my plant in the pot it grew in last year and I'm hoping it will overwinter nicely to reward me again this year with flowers and pods. I'm also going to plant some seeds in jiffy pots and see if they will grow ..and if they do...I will have some for the spring swap. You are welcome to some of them if i can get them to grow.

Bonnie

Vlad, maypop is apparently extremely invasive er um vigorous (though mine, from Peggy, which was planted in part shade, wasn't vigorous at all to begin with, and then succumbed entirely after I transplanted it and Mr. Alfie unknowingly weed-whacked it). But at least it's a native. Houttuynia, on the other hand, is apparently extremely invasive without the virtue of being a native. If I were you, my opinion would be that I already have enough perilla to worry about without adding houttuynia too.

As for the fruit of Passiflora incarnata: I don't know; what I really want -- heck, want? no, need! -- is a heated greenhouse, so that I can grow Passiflora edulis :-).

I made the mistake of planting a tiny sprig of maypop on a trellis in my front perennial garden. Took me 3 years to get rid of the damn thing after it spread its underground roots everywhere. Now I just grow it in a huge tub on the deck.

Larry

I grow both, but you already know I live at the edge of the envelope, Vlad!

Maypop is not just vigorous, but *inventive* in its depradations. I have seen it send tendrils 30 feet under a driveway to come up looking for lebensraum. PLANT THIS ONE IN A POT -- without a drainhole in contact with the ground! The fruit's texture is a bit off-putting (like ping-pong-balls filled with drupes of sweet-smelling snot with black seeds in -- pardon the intense image, but it's TRUE!) -- so I didn't eat it out of hand after the first try, but it made nice tea/sherbet/juice -- it's the characteristic scent behind Hawaiian Punch. The blossoms are lovely and alien-looking too, but unscented; I planted mine with a Sweet Autumn CLematis to have the contrast in flower forms and the scent of the latter. At least til the Maypop smothered the SAC.

Houttuynia I've heard pronounced like "petunia" but with Hot for the first syllable, if that helps. My variegates throw solid-color sports regularly, which I just pull out. They all have the same semicitrus sharp odor; I use it dried in sachets for my linen drawer with Sweet Annie and Perilla among other herbs, but have not been tempted to nibble the stuff. Its sap is a jelly that can stain things orange.

This I can give you lots of! I mow mine about twice a year, and it makes a nice groundcover for moist shade. I don't find it hard to pull up, and my skin likes it LOTS better than euphorbia.

Lynn

Wow! I'm glad I read this thread. I've been thinking of getting a passionflower 'Incense' plant from Select Seeds. It's supposed to be scented and hardy to zone 7. I was planning on putting it in a big pot and now I'll make sure I do.

(Vlad, the fact that Lynn's maypop smothered Lynn's sweet autumn clematis, of all things, ought to tell you something.)

Yup, tubs are the best place for this passion-flower lulu of a plant,which is where mine is..but I still like the blossoms. The butterflies and bumble bees sure love it too. I put an underplanting of something in the pot with it and just keep prunning the tendrils down to a manageable length.

Bonnie

I posted a similar question about P. incarnata and P. Incense on the Virginia forum and got the same warnings about invasiveness, "inventiveness," vigor, etc....I'm growing the first from seed; the second will be a plant from Select Seeds. I'm very glad I asked the question! Any and all passiflora will definitely be going into pots, not the ground! I have enough of a battle on my hands trying to keep overeager shoots from my neighbor's planted-long-ago wisteria vine from taking over half of my yard...

You might do a search of gardenweb to read the horror stories about Houttuynia chameleon. That's definitely one to grow in a pot unless you plan to use it as an ineradicable ground cover.

G'Day!
- i KNEW i could count on y'all for good info on this! Bundles of thanks!

- The place where i was thinking of planting passionflower would be fine for a sunken planter. (i'd use a raised planter, but for the price of one that is sturdy enough for raised use and good looking, i could go on a nursery binge and plant up a dozen more square meters of garden!)
- Think a sunken sturdy plastic garbage barrel would do the trick? Deep enough to punch out the bottom for drainage without the roots escaping? Or just nail-punch a few wee holes?

" P. incarnata and P. Incense " What's the difference? No, seriously, i an utterly ignorant about these guys.

"As for the fruit of Passiflora incarnata: I don't know; what I really want -- heck, want? no, need! -- is a heated greenhouse, so that I can grow Passiflora edulis :-)."
- OK Alphie, i'll supply the land, y'all come down and help me build it. Now all we need is the matterials - and more handiman skills than i have; i may be all thumbs, but at least some of them are green!

- Re "May Pop," i've also heard this name used for May Apple, which looks a bit like a hand-leafed Jack-in-the-Pulpet; guess one must double-check when using common names!

- Actually, what i really wanted was kiwi. But, i would need between half dozen and two dozen vines, which is a bit too rich for my budget. P. also sounds as if it would bear fruit a couple of years sooner. (Does kiwi propogate from root or tip cuttings?)

- How deep are the roots of Houttuynia? Think it would do OK in a half-sunken, bottomless platic bushel basket, the same as i use to "corral" mints?
- If you had such a tub to plant up, do you think Houttuynia would "earn its keep" - or would you plant something else? If so, what? Any alternative ginger-flavored plants? (i really like ginger, so i was attracted to the idea of a ginger-flavored hardy herb plant. i have one wee naitive ginger, but it isn't spreading, so i'd be afraid to harvest any.)

- i will give Edible Landscaping credit for mentioning that Passiona Flower is a rampent spreader; they didn't mention that about Houttuynia.

(Now i just have to get my butt out there and dig a few cubic meters of gravel / sand / clay out of the way and get those tubs sunk, in anticipation of planting 'em up with herbs in the spring!)

- Happy gardening,
-vlad

Vlad, "Incense" is a hybrid of p incarnata and p. cincinnata (and one of my favorite vines). It's beautiful, hardy, fragrant and almost as invasive as P. incarnata. I also grow P. caerulea, which unfortunately isn't fragrant (at least to my nose).

From what I understand, none of these varieties have particularly tasty fruit.

The link below includes photos of all three.

P.S. if you are interested in some suckers of P. caerulea, I can probably scrounge some up for the spring swap.

Here is a link that might be useful: Passion Flowers at Brushwood Nursery

Cecilia...Glad you pointed Vlad in the direction of Brushwood for more info. I was going to send him to Select Seeds' website, but they're sold out of "Incense" and so have taken down the photo. "Incense" has a dark purple flower that I could NOT resist!

BTW, I grew my original caerulea and incarnata plants from seed that I received from the GW seed exchange forum.

Vlad, I believe kiwi can be propagated by grafting. I've read that cuttings are difficult. I have a couple of kiwi I got from wallyworld and I love the way they look. I haven't had fruit yet but maybe this year. Maybe I'll try my hand at grafting them this year.

I did not know how invasive passion vine was when I planted mine on an old stump in the middle of my perennial bed. Big mistake!! I had to dig out several plants last summer to get it out of my bed. It kept popping up several feet from the mother plant. I intend to plant it on a support where I can mow around it this spring.

I just came across this in an old OG mag.

"Rooting softwood cuttings is really the easiest way to propagate kiwi. Softwood cuttings can be taken from the young shoots when they are 4-5" long. Snap off the shoots at their junction w/the old wood or take 6-8" cuttings from the current seasons growth in late spring or summer. Root the cuttings in containers, misting beds or cold frames. Place in rooting medium of equal parts wet sand and perlite. To prevent drying out, seal the containers with plastic wrap.

Hardwood cuttings from winter pruning will often root if stuck right in the ground."

So I'll try rooting some in the spring. I would have done this last year but I DID read somewhere that it isn't easy.

(Vlad I owe you an email)

G'Day!

- Containers it is, for both Passion Flower and Houttuynia! e- me if you want to trade Passiona Flower or Houttuynia divisions for anything on my Haves list; see y'all at the MAG Spring Swap, or by post.

- i am getting the impression that the flavor of Passion Flower is blah, so it should just be considered ornimental. Still, how could i resist a blossom like that?

- Thanks for the links! Happy gardening,
-vlad

Vlad - consider a P. edulis, which is what is more commonly commercially grown for passion fruit. I have 2 inside for winter (they are tropicals) and am hoping at least one will bloom this coming year (provided I make sure it gets the sun it needs this summer).

Vlad:

There is actually a ginger that is reputedly semi-edible AND hardy in my garden, Zingiber mioga. It used to be variegated, but reverted to its plain green form. It gets interesting, if small and inconspicuous, flowers in the fall. I would be glad to share a division with you this spring.

See the write-up at Plant Delights:

http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/02725.html

Happy gardening & best wishes for an early spring,

Dan

Vlad, I've just read this thread going through pretty much the same process myself. I found a lot of useful info over in the passiflora forum where the serious passiflora diehearts live. I also vacillate between kiwi/passionfruit/grapes/climbing berries. My parents have a beautiful kiwi plant in CA that doesn't produce. No matter what they do (they baby the thing, hand pollinate it, protect it from everything) it won't produce fruit, just foliage. My mom is ready to chop the thing down to replace it with something else. That made me give kiwi some second thoughts. In NZ and Australia, kiwi is much more a native plant.
In regards to passionfruit, I understand there are quite number of different edible passionfruit varieties. I've heard you can order them from a place in FL and get the seeds that way) I've never tasted maypop from the US before, but from all the descriptions I've read, it doesn't sound like it can compare to the more delectable tropical forms. I've only eaten Australian passionfruit. I have just spent a year in Australia, and since then, I've been on a quest for passionfruit for my eldest son, blueberries/( perhaps serviceberries?) for my youngest son, and I think I'll have to quell my daughter with something other than mangoes and guavas (maybe strawberries?). It's hard to live in the Mid-Atlantic and love tropical fruits. It's been disappointing buying good looking but tasteless fruit in the stores. I'm learning that's it's probably better to grow your own or learn to eat native fruits. I'm a slow newbie at all of this:)

I appreciate the concept of edibles (but have never grown anything but herbs/veggies) and love the seductive beauty of the passionflower and anything that is fragrant too. Given that I have a so little space for planting, I am always trying to find plants that multi-task (interesting, hardy, edible and fragrant). Low maintenance is also high on my criteria list. How low maintenance would containing passioflora be, I wonder? I don't know if I can deal with a bathtub. What other container options are you considering?

Good luck!

Does anyone know how to get rid of Chinese Lanterns? Please, Please, I'm desparate!!

I just keep pulling up what I see every spring. It's taken a few years but I only had three Chinese Lantens pop up this year, so far anyway. Just don't allow the fruit to ripen or you'll never get rid of them. Good luck.
Karyn