The Flower Of Passion (Passion Flower)

Member Name: Jamie73

Product:	Passion Flower
Date:	23/06/07 (2465 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning flowers, easy to look after, quick grower

Disadvantages: Can take over the garden if your not careful

Myself and my girlfriend have been sorting out our back garden so it’s all in good shape for the summer. The garden is not very big so we only have a couple of small flower beds. We have found the Passion Flower to be a great addition to out garden because it is a climbing plant and grows along the fence, rather than taking up floor space!

The Passion Flower
The Passion Flower is very similar to a vine in the way it grows. New stems grow from the main plant and attach themselves to whatever they decide to grow along. The leaves of the Passion Flower are dark green and have a very attractive shape (I suppose it is quite similar to a cannabis leaf). Along the main stem of the plant, little feelers grow, these are vital to the plant because this is what clings to whatever the plant is growing along and supports the weight of the plant. I find the feelers useful as it means you can manipulate the plant to grow in the direction you want it to by attaching the feelers in the direction you want the plant to grow.
The Passion Flowers produces exotic purple and white flowers which really are beautiful. The Passion Flower tends to flower in late summer or early autumn. Ours is flowering at the moment for the first time since we started growing it two years ago.

Where Can You Grow The Passion Flower?
As I have already stated, the Passion Flower is a fantastic climber so it is suitable to grow in conservatories as well as in the garden as long as you have suitable space to let the plant climb and grow.
The Passion Flower originally comes from the tropical rainforest regions of South America so obviously these plants enjoy the heat and the wet and really thrive in these conditions.
Passion Flowers need to be planted in soil that has good drainage. It amazes me how quickly the Passion Flower grows, especially with the weather we have been having lately, lots of rain and then some sunlight really makes this plant go mad!
This plant is fairly hardy and has survived the frost from last winter.

How To Grow The Passion Flower
I have found that Passion Flowers are fairly easy to grow. They can apparently be difficult to keep alive during the winter months because their roots can rot if they are constantly cold but again, we have not had any problems with this.
As I already mentioned, your plant will need to be planted in soil that has good drainage.
Our Passion Flower was bought for us as a present so I have no experience of growing this plant from seeds. While the plant was small, we protected it with an empty lemonade bottle to make sure the slugs and snails didn’t eat it for dinner.

Caring For The Passion Flower
I find that the Passion Flower takes very little looking after. During the hot weather, you will need to ensure that you water it on a regular basis as because this plant is such a fast grower, it can dehydrate quickly, especially in the middle of the summer.
You will need to keep an eye on your plant because it can get out of control very quickly as so many new shoots appear and they can attach themselves to place you don’t really want them to grow. You need to be aware of this and help the plant to grow in the direction you want it to by training the new shoots in the correct direction.
New shoots grow very quickly so this is the perfect plant to cover up any ugly places in your garden as it will fill spaces very quickly.

Pruning Your Passion Flower
Once your plant has reached the size you want it to, you will need to keep it pruned to ensure it doesn’t fill the whole garden (and believe me it will if you leave it to grow)
The Passion Flower should be pruned in the spring time when the plant is beginning to grow again. I always remove any dead leave and flowers as well.

Summary
I really like this plant. I find that it is easy to grow and really does look attractive. We have the plant growing along the fence in the garden and when people come round they always comment on how nice the plant looks. At the moment, our plant is flowering and the flowers really do look stunning and certainly attract the Bumble Bees.
I am not particularly green fingered but have managed to look after this plant fairly well so I would say that it does not require much maintenance! 100% recommended!

Summary: A great climber plant that makes any garden look nice