P. vitifolia in Texas?

21 years ago

I checked some of the local nurseries in the area today, and those that had any passiflora at all had incense, which I've already got in spades. So I checked Home Depot. To my surprise, they had P. vitifolia (marked as "Crimson") and "Lavender Lady." Now, I kinda want to get a P. amythest, but I have no way of knowing if this Lavender Lady is the real (sterile) deal or a mis-named amythest, so I'll pass on that one.

But the the vitifolia is intriguing. I've Googled and turned up conflicting information as to its preferred environment. Namely, would it survive in south-central Texas as something other than a container plant. Freezes are usually light, so I'd expect its roots, at least, to make it through our mild winters. Summers may be a bit much for it, but one site recommended planting where they'd get afternoon shade. So, the question ultimately boils down to "Anyone in a Zone 8ish environ have experience growing this one out of doors?"

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Comments (4)

singhin
21 years ago
I live in the high desert of So. Calif. in zone 8. I currently have 2 Vitifolia - but both are still in containers. The one that is in a 5 gal. container gets approx. 3/4 of the day in FULL sun, I'm talking we've had close to if not 110F for about a week a little while ago. As long as it was watered everyday and still gets watered everyday it does fine. It is growing very well, however, at this point no flowers yet. Time will tell. I have 1 in a 1 gal. container,doesn't get as much sun, but is growing well. Once again tho, no flowers yet. I also have a Scarlet Flame, which looks extremely close in the leaves. Had 1 flower (5 gal pot) and that bud was on the plant when I bought it. It seems to suffer a little more from the heat.

Don't know if that helps, but so far that's my experience with the Vitifolias.

Can't hurt to try. Good luck and have fun.

Debbie
patsy_b
21 years ago
I have been growing Vit. pass. for several years. Blooms when the weather is cool. Mine bloom all winter in an unheated greenhouse but stops when the weather starts to really heat up. I tried one in the ground a couple of years ago but it did not survive even with very heavy mulch.

Patsy
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jblaschke
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks for the comments. Sounds like our mild winters shouldn't be a problem. If I can nurse them through August, they should do OK. :-)
chills71
21 years ago
My Vitifolia bloomed for the first time this summer TODAY! Two beautiful red blooms and I tried pollenating both with incarnata and lavender lady (which outblooms every other passionflower I have put together).

Vitifolia, Lavender Lady, Incense, Edulis and a couple unknowns are all in pots and come in during the winter months (my son's room is like a tropical jungle and vitifolia always manages to bloom indoors well too). My son's room is the envy of some of his friends with all my plants in there.

~Chills