Which Passion Flower To Choose?

14 years ago

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and I'm trying to decide on a passion flower to grow in a hanging basket as a houseplant (summer outdoors). I've narrowed it down to Purple Haze, Alato-caerulea, Blue Bouquet, caerulea Clear Sky and mooreana. Which of these would be best for a houseplant? The basket will be in a southern or eastern window where the sun is the strongest.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Comments (4)

eristal
14 years ago
Well. since no one else is posting a response, I guess I will send a short one. Beware, my advice is not always wanted... I tend to not hold back.

Personally, I don't like any of your choices for an indoor/outdoor hanging basket Passie. The main problem is the way they grow. The habits of the ones you have chosen are not particularly good for a hanging basket for starters. Here is my list in order of worst to best from your list:

P. x bellotti (alata-caerulea) - P. alata is a stiff stemmed plant. This is the worst choice.

P. 'Purple Haze', P. 'Blue Bouquet', and P. caerulea Clear Sky are all very large plants. If happy, they will take over, and every one of them can grow to 30 feet or more. If unhappy, you won't likely get any flowers. Also, the leaves of all three are quite large, making them unsuitable for hanging basket culture. Also, when indoors, they will likely lose a ton of leaves, which can be quite a mess.

P mooreana - The best choice of the lot, but still in the Stipulata supersection, which all of the above are as well, (except for the Laurifolia supersection 1/2 P. alata.) Smaller leaves is a benefit, and overall smaller vine also makes this the best choice.

My thoughts for better options: Go with a Decaloba subgenus Passiflora. They are generally much better subjects for hanging basket culture. My favorites choices would be: P. 'Manta', P. collinvauxii, and P. trifasciata. All three are easy to grow, bloom at a small size, and look great in hanging. P. 'Manta' can have large leaves, but the leaves are so gorgeous, it's worth it.

Anyway, that's my $0.02! Hope I didn't offend...

Eric
moonwolf_gw
Original Author
14 years ago
Eric,

No offense taken! A local nursery was selling Lavender Lady in a hanging basket last summer. It was pricey but it was beautiful! I may try it this year if I decide to.
Thanks for your help!

Brad AKA Moonwolf
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passifreak
14 years ago
I would recommend you some Passionflowers from the Decaloba section, like P. karwinskii! She is in my opinion the best plant for a hanging basket.

I'm sorry for my bad english I'm from germany.

passifreak
kiwinut
14 years ago
Get yourself a P. 'Guglielmo Betto'. It is the most free-flowering passiflora I know of. I have one flowering right now indoors in a 10-oz. plastic cup! It would be great for a hanging basket, as it is quite compact with short internodes and produces one or two blooms at every node.

Here is a link that might be useful: Guglielmo Betto at Grassy Knoll