Hello there,

As a Passiflora collector, I have to say my first interest is in finding out which one you have that is rare! Secondarily, I would be happy to try to help you.

Your support entirely depends on two things. The species of Passiflora and your preference for how it grows and blooms. Remember that it is a tendril climber, so it wants something to attach to, and with few exceptions, will tend to grow upwards. One way to control this behavior a bit is to cut and/or twine the vine at the lower levels, and allow it to grow up from there. Another thing you can do early in the year, (like now), is to tip prune. Every time you trim a tip, you will get new lower apical and subapical growth. Where you run into difficulty is that some species only bloom on old growth, though that is not common. Most Passiflora bloom on new growth, which makes life a bit easier for us in that we can trim the plant down quite low each spring if we desire to do so. One more potential problem arises: Some species only will bloom on very long shoots, though many others will bloom on very short ones. Hmmmm..... I guess the bottom line is that I need to know what it is to be able to help much more.

We grow over 200 variety of Passiflora in a multitude of conditions and growing supports. Can you post or email me a picture or two of the plant? Even leaves will help me identify the plant, and help you much more than this. We live in Northern California as well, so we are familiar with your climate. By the way, are you going to the big Strybing plant sale?

Best wishes,

Eric Wortman
www.bloomingpassion.com