P. gritensis and P. luzmarina: plants for cool shade

10 years ago

Perhaps it would be useful to make a list of all Passifloras that do well in shade (or require shade).

I was at a friend's garden yesterday in San Francisco (Mission Dolores neighborhood). Passiflora gritensis was in bloom:

I managed to get a cutting of that. It will not be my first try at growing that species...

I was unaware that P. luzmarina also loves/requires shade. Photo of a cutting with buds and flowers. Flowers are smaller than most Tacsonias.

This final one probably requires some sun, but for me sends vines into deep shade to bloom. Passiflora 'Mission Dolores' (P. parritae x P. antioquiensis). It thrives in the SF climate and probably tolerates more sun up there:

Since this is an old plant, I thought some might find a look at the base to be interesting:

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Comments (3)

mark4321_gw
Original Author
10 years ago
I'll add Passiflora loefgrenii to the list. Not strictly a cool grower, and I've never grown it in full shade. However, I've heard that in warmer climates such as Florida it grows best in shade.

My first flower of the year opened today. I don't want to totally hijack the other thread, so I'll post it here.
morningloree
10 years ago
Beautiful bloom, we had a horrible storm yesterday and my bloom fell off, I'm happy to see yours! Some of my plants looked like they had hail damage although there was no report of it. Lots of large tree branches down. I still have some immature blooms still left, maybe I still have a chance for some to Flower. I do have my P. loefgrenii in part shade with the option to climb and get more sun. I'm convinced there is not a shady spot cool enough here for 'Mission Dolores.'
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mark4321_gw
Original Author
10 years ago
Sorry to hear about your bud! P. loefgrenii is a really strong bloomer once it gets started. If you already have buds I'm sure it will bloom. I expect it will take a break for summer--it does here, although I'm not exactly sure for how long.

'Mission Dolores' dying is no surprise given its behavior in California and elsewhere. Is there anything from 2500 m in the Andes that can make it in Florida? I've heard the most adaptable plant to come out of that location/elevation is the potato, which I understand can be grown in Florida, as a cool season crop. However, other plants that grow with the Tacsonias, such as cool growing Masdevallia and Dracula Orchids from similar elevations, are also impossible.

I consider our climate borderline too hot for most Tacsonias. They do SO much better in SF or on the coast. Our temperatures average 75/55 in summer (at least the last 2). In other words, our summer highs are about the same as your summer lows. Highs in more optimal areas average about 10 degrees cooler than us.

I'll give a link to the temperatures which killed big, established, blooming plants of P. antioquiensis and P. 'Mission Dolores'. P. parritae survived, as did a plant of P. antioquiensis next door growing in heavy shade. These are plants of SocalBill, who has posted pictures here. The weather station is not exactly where he lives, but it should be close enough.

This was not a dry period, with average humidity in the 70s or 80s, peaking around 100% at night. Dew points were high, mostly upper 60s, low 70s. Bill thinks the hot days combined with warm nights did them in.

I think grafting is the way to go to try to improve heat tolerance. The people I know offhand who are trying it now are two graduate students at UF. One of these has posted on this site as ethane. He has a nice tutorial on grafting and I believe he or the other UF student are happy to provide any advice. Another person trying grafting is the wife of "eristal" the PSI president (she's also the PSI treasurer).

Here is a link that might be useful: Extended heat wave, 2012, Southern CA