You might want to try Strybing during one of their sales. There's a few people that post here in your area that should be able to give you more info on local nurseries.

Unfortunately, you will rarely see a P. edulis at Strybing, though they always have some fun Passiflora, and there are other fruiting species you may want to consider. I was at Yamagami's in Sunnyvale today, and I think they usually carry some choices, but they told me it was too early in the year for them to carry Passiflora. I thought that was odd, but what can I say?

mark4321 would be one of the best people to ask. Hopefully he will see this post soon.

Eristal,

What other varieties do you recommend? i was looking at Edulis because it is supposed to be self-fertile. I have room for one more passionfruit so if there is a variety that can use Edulis as a pollinator I would be interested. Funny that Yamagami's said it's too early. I've seen Frederick at Lowe's, Home Depot, and Summer Winds. It's above 50 every night but I don't really know much about passiflora. I also saw a variety called "Maracuya" I believe at Summer Winds but I passed on it because I had never heard about it.....

If you only have room for one more, you should probably hold out for the edulis. However, not all of them are self-fertile, so be sure to do a little research.

I wanted to disagree with the nice lady at Yamagami's, but what good would that have done? I kept my mouth shut.

A Passiflora called Maracuya is unfortunate. It is a generic name used for Passion Fruit in some countries. Without help to identify it, there is no way to know what they are selling.

Perhaps your best option is to buy online!

I think that Liliko'i is the Hawaiian name for Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa. There are some very reliable online nurseries and Ebay sellers if you aren't able to find what you are looking for locally.

karyn,

any online retailers you can recommend that you bought passiflora from? you mentioned ebay....I never consider that. Mostly seeds there but some plants....this strikes my interest but I'm confused from the generic description if this is a purple or yellow fruit....

Here is a link that might be useful: E Bay Passionfruit

Passiflorista is an excellent seller and I've bought from him many times. I think what he's saying is that this is a cross between a yellow and purple fruited variety. He mentions that he doesn't know if it's self fertile but that shouldn't matter as you have another edulis that you can use for cross pollination. I just use a small paint brush to transfer pollen.

For whatever reason Yamagami's (in Cupertino, but not far from Sunnyvale)seems to carry a lot of P. edulis fairly late (August or September). Perhaps that's when it's easiest to get plants with flowers, buds, and fruit from the wholesalers. You should check with them and see when they will have NG and Black Knight, and make sure they special order them if they don't plan on selling them. I remember them selling both of those varieties in 1 gallon pots, as well as a couple others such as Red Rover and Frederick. Maybe Frederick was 5 gallons (?). A 5 gallon plant will probably run $40 or $50, a 1 gallon $20, so this can make a difference, particularly if you want more than one variety. Sometimes they have big sales in September where one can get 60% off. Nancy Garrison is a regular speaker there, so it makes sense that they carry that variety.

It's worth getting on Yamagami's mailing list if you plan on buying things there.

I've never seen Frosty anywhere. If you are trying to track down a variety possibly someone who posts on the Cloudforest Cafe would have something. I think there are more CRFG (California Rare Fruit Growers) members who post there.

I have not seen that much in the way of P. edulis elsewhere in the South Bay. Frederick and I think an unnamed variety at Roger Reynold's in Menlo Park. That's about it. Even fruit is hard to find for sale--I've just seen it at Cosentino's (now gone) and the Milk Pail (Mountain View).

Here is a link that might be useful: Yamagami's contact form

Thanks a lot guys....this thread has exceeded my expectations. So I have a couple of your guys attention. I said I only have room for two because I'm assuming they'll grow big. I built a trellis out of a deck I ripped up and it's about 38ft L x 5ft W x 7ft H. I figure two will cover the trellis up but maybe I can put more. You guys who know best I'm completely new to them. I've just been cutting lateral reaching vines to try and get it to the top. I have it on a 1GPH drip for 30 min day (so half gallon a day with no rains).

Maybe you can come across country and build one for me. lol You can definitely fit more then 2 vines on that structure. They'll likely grow into each other but I don't see that as a bad thing. I'd probably plant 1 vine per post. There's similar structures built at Butterfly World with what looks to be about the same spacing and they also plant 1 vine per post.

Great structure! If the vines need a little help finding purchase for their tendrils, a little fishing line works wonders.

As usual, I agree with Karyn. If you strictly grew P. edulis, and other larger Passiflora, I would say 1 per post, though many smaller varieties may be fun to throw in the mix as well, which could easily be added as a second plant per post, even if they are just for a little more color. In an open sunny spot, a little crowding won't usually hurt them.

Thanks guys (Trellis isn't perfect but came out good enough and is functional)....I'll try and get two more edulis varieties and stick em on there. Eristal....i used nylon stockings to tie them to the posts....tell me how you use the fishing line...I'm curious on a good way to get it going up. Right now I just nailed nails into the posts and hung a chain...

I also use fishing line to give vines something to climb on a flat surface. I screw small C-hooks into the wood and run the line thru them. Once the vines fill in you don't see the hooks and the fishing line is virtually invisible.

ok karyn i think i get it...i will try that

Just thought I'd mention that I saw P. edulis 'Frederick', a plant in bloom/fruit at Summer Winds Nursery in Mountain View. Summer Winds is a local South Bay chain--there's actually one in Cupertino next to Yamagami's. There was only one 5 gallon plant, for $37, if I remember correctly.

I just heard on TV that we haven't had heavy rain like we had today in June since 1884.

Here is a link that might be useful: Summer Winds Nursery

Yeah I saw those at Summer Winds as well as Home Depot and Lowes. They are all buying 5G Frederick from La Verne Nursery in SoCal. I picked one up at HD since it was 18$ there. I'll attach a picture of it below. Also, La Verne sells a variety they just call 'Edulis' and I think Summer Winds puts a label on it calling it Maracuya.

http://www.lavernenursery.com/PGPssfloraEdulis.jpg
http://www.lavernenursery.com/PGPssfloraFred.jpg

I trade emails with someone at Yamagami's who said they could get Nancy Garrison and another variety but when I asked when they didn't reply back.

I ordered a variety called "Granadilla" from Florida Hill Nursery and I'll still hold out hope for NG, Black Knight, Red Rover to fill out the trellis. Let me know if you run across those locally.

{{gwi:123626}}

Here is a link that might be useful: La Verne Nursery Passionflower