 |
|
Exposure: Full sun. Zones 6 to 10.
Soil: Grows in a wide range of good-draining garden
or field soils.
Growth habits: Passionflower is one of our most
beautiful native vines with its large purple flowers and showy dark
green lobed leaves. The purple flowers are borne most of the summer
and are followed by green, ripening to yellow fruits whose leathery
exterior protects the delicious pulpy interior seeds. Passionflower
can climb 15 feet in a season only to die to the ground for winter.
Often found in old fields, passionflower will spread rapidly through
underground stolons if given good garden soil in good tilth, invading
your other plantings, so site it with care.
Landscape uses: Passionflower is such a wonderful
fruit and medicine plant; it is worth finding a spot for it in your
landscape. Use it to provide summer shade or screening by placing
it on a fence, arbor, trellis or shade structure.
Edible/Medicinal properties: Passionflower fruit
is loaded with vitamins and minerals and should be eaten fresh or
turned into a refreshing tropical flavored juice. The leaves and
flowers are edible, while the leaves and stems are a wonderful,
calming medicinal herb that has been used as a gentle sedative to
treat insomnia, nervous tension, irritability, neuralgia, and PMS.
The roots can treat skin inflammation, boils, cuts, and earaches.
$12.50/3½ inch deep pots, $15.00/1 gal |