Hi,

I used to live in Sunnyvale and grew P. edulis 'Nancy Garrison' and P. edulis 'Frederick', both in the ground on a North-facing fence. Both bore fruit, but the NG plant was quite a bit ahead for a number of reasons and bore more heavily. It has smaller fruit. They were both evergreen and 'Frederick' had frost damage one winter ago. Neither had been through a cold winter. NG is supposed to have more frost tolerance.

I believe Nancy Garrison had a 'Frederick' at her house in San Jose a few years back that gave hundreds of fruits a year. You should ask her what she recommends--nobody knows more about growing fruit in the area. She will be at Yamagami's Nursery in Cupertino this weekend.

I've grown other fruiting species/hybrids, but none for very long. Email me if you are curious.

Randy

Here is a link that might be useful: Yamagami's Spring Garden Fair Schedule

Thanks Randy. I've been looking around Bay Area nurseries only to find ornamental varieties. All of the sudden I'm in Home Depot and see 'Frederick' for sale. I'll give it a go....

I am growing passiflora edulis in the Bay Area. Edulis flavicarpa. So far so good, delicious yellow fruit for juice. Also looking for Nancy Garrison variety, Monterey Bay Nursery has it but gave me attitude, $400 minimum order, do you have access to that variety?

Check out Berkeley Horticulture... sometimes they have it.

Hi Robert,

Do you grow P. edulis flavicarpa outside all year in the Bay Area? I always heard it was too cold.

I bought P. edulis 'Nancy Garrison' from Grassy Knoll Exotics--you should check with Elizabeth and see if she has it (even if it's not listed).

I don't know who carries Monterey Bay Nursery plants, but you may have to special order to get it at a reasonable price. Berkeley Hort is a good suggestion, but you may want to check others if they are closer (Roger Reynold's in Menlo Park and Yamagami's in Cupertino). You'll have to ask the local nurseries directly. I've seen a number of varieties in 1 gallon pots at Yamagami's, but it's very seasonal. I just checked and they do carry MBN plants.

Melikeeatplants,

Love the screename!

I am growing a large number of edible Passiflora in Berkeley. Most of them are more ornamental than anything, but some of the edulis varieties do give me some delicious fruits. I have 20 or so varieties/hybrids of edulis. The most prolific fruiter among them is an unnamed one. Appears to be mostly forma edulis as opposed to flavicarpa. I can't get much out of the flavicarpa plants in the climate here. I think they might like it in warmer San Jose, though. Their yellow fruit is tastier than the purple ones usually. All of my edulis plants have made it through the winters, though they're not happy with frosts.

a few other tasty and winter-hardy varieties I'm growing (mostly with either small or minimal fruits)

actinia
alata
sidifolia
hahnii
x exoniensis
parritae
tarminiana

Happy plant eating.

shawn

Very nice Shawn, I picked up a "Frederick" at Home Depot of all places. I'm building quite a large trellis for it and it's near completion. It generally faces south/south west and is 30 feet long. I'm wondering if I plant it in the middle of the trellis will it spread both ways? Otherwise, I guess I'll start it on the side closest to the house.

I am pretty sure I have a 'Fredrick'. I live in Oakland and got the vine at East Bay Nursery last year. The funny thing is that they did not know it was edible! (I got the variety from an edible landscaping book).�
Unfortunately the fruit is really hard and not at all sweet. I was told by a local gardener that this isn't the right climate and that they will never be sweet tasting so I should take it down before it gets too big. �Will the fruit become more edible if I wait? It has been a rather cold summer...

(I just tried to paste a picture but it didn't work)

Your fruit probably just isn't ripe. Wait for it to soften, change color and begin to shrivel before picking. It should be sweet by then. You can also wait for it to drop on it's own.

I LIVE IN THE SF BAY AREA, A SUNSET ZONE 15/17. DOES ANYONE KNOW A PASSIONFRUIT VARIETY THAT IS VERY TASTY AND WILL GROW HERE... I HAVE JUST BEEN IN THE YARD AND HAVE BEEN WEEDING OUT A VARIETY THAT MIGHT AS WELL BE KUDZU...AAARGH....AND THOUGHT I MIGHT AS WELL GET WITH THE PROGRAM AND GROW ONE THAT IS TASTY....

In case anyone is still shopping for edible passion fruit vine in the South Bay/Peninsula, hubby and I just picked up a passion vine from Los Altos Nursery this afternoon. We're not sure the variety, but it was laden with fruit and flowers (which induced the impulse buy). Unripened fruit is light green and semi-hard. Ripened ones are bright orange with a soft fleshy shell that opens up to reveal red (sweet) seeds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Los Altos Nursery

I have Frederick growing in sunset zone 9 (Central Valley). It bears pretty heavily (some years more than others). Mine can bloom at any time between April and December, but the fruit it sets late in the season never ripens well. If I leave the fruit on the vine until it wrinkles up and falls, the aroma is just intoxicating.

Mvshibamum, it sounds like you're describing P. Cerulea.

I live in Pleasant Hill. I would love to get some passion fruit. I really don't have space to grow one but I could see if my gardener can find a spot. Would I have any luck? I am zone 9B. Some frost at times. Anyone in my area have more than they want? I am hoping to make jam! Berkeley Bowl gets it but way too costly. Thank you!

You can grow it in a pot. Mine grew like a weed in ground (I sold house back in July) I sure hope they are enjoying the passionfruit. You can find the space because you can always prune it to the size you want to keep. Because it is a climbing vine it can go in places where other plants can't; say you have a concrete area the vine can grow in ground a few feet away and then be trellised over concrete.

Thank you! I will give it a try. And perhaps I can cover it a bit during frost if not too large.

Yes, I strung Xmas lights around my main trunk and covered with frost blanket. If it was going to be below freezing I would turn lights on for night. http://www.kevinsedibleyard.com/2014/12/28/its-cold-outside/

I have grown a bunch in San Francisco; 'Fredrick', 'Black Knight', Red Rover', and 'Nancy Garrison' are all reliable and produce useful quantities of fruit for me.

I get more fruit from some of the Tacsonias like mollissima, but the flavor is a bit more acidic.

I see this is an old post, but adding on: I’m in San Francisco West SoMa district (USDA 10b/a depending on which map), have southwest facing wall that is partly protected from wind, and have tried the following:

Frederick - does well! quite sour taste

Purple Possom - grows well. no fruit yet (<1 year)

Nancy Garrison - didn’t grow well. 2 tiny fruit

Panama Red - Just started from seed indoors (maybe too tropical a variety?)

I believe Panama red has more flavicarpa in its parentage. I tried growing from a cutting in the east bay, and it took forever to root, and forever to grow. It flowered once, and the flower looked like a flavicarpa flower more than the edulis hybrids (Frederick, etc) that I grow. Once weather cooled down, it died. Of course, i got the cutting from a friend, who got it from a neighbor, so no way to verify if it was really a Panama Red. But based on the foliage and single flower, it certainly did appear to be more flavicarpa than edulis f. edulis.

I grow tangerines from seeds, In a year it grew up to 10 cm. I read about your experience, and I'm afraid that mine will grow forever.