Wednesday, November 14, 2012

A passion flower update (and a shocking photo!)

Outtake from a photoshoot for my gardening column
I know you've been waiting on the edge of your seat wondering how my passion flower is going. So as to keep you not in wait any longer, I tell you, it's been a very successful year for the passion flower here in Jardin Encantado.

Planted at least eight years ago, if not ten, our passion flower has always done well. Dying back every winter, sometimes even to the ground, it always comes back. It can be tricky and not leaf out until late spring, making us think it's muerte. But it never is. 

But this summer? Banner year. Best ever. Tremendous. Shocking, really. Thanks to our mild winter last year, it didn't even die back hardly at all. And with our long warm summer? It completely covered the back arbor. Completely. Full shade. Shocking photo proof:
It's been a good year for the Passion flower. Vigorous, you think!?
Photo taken from a second floor window looking down on the arbor. Can you see all of those blooms?! And yes, it's also climbing over the garage. It's a good thing we have neighbors who enjoy having it on their side of the fence, too.

Literally dripping with hundreds of passion flowers. Passion flower decadence. And then one evening while sitting at the table underneath the exuberance, I looked up and saw something round and orange. Lo and behold, it had produced fruit.
My passion fruit vine has produced passion fruit! #gardening #npdx #pdx

That is a first. And today, in mid November, blooms still abound on the vine. Year of the passion flower!

8 comments:

Paula said...

did you eat the fruit? how was it?

Bell and Star said...

Brava! Brava! What a show. You've got me wanting to try growing a passion flower again. And I love the colors of the flowers with your blue and green garage.

Heather said...

DAYAM.

outlawgardener said...

Your passion is contagious!

ricki said...

It amazes me that something so tropical looking can be so hardy. The one I had long ago knocked down towers and strangled everything in its path.

Rosemary said...

Every gardener deserves this treat once and a while, congratulations and enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Have you made pavlova? Good recipe on Epicurious
Hugs, Mom

whimsy2 said...

Climate change is here. Now. I've lived in Portland for 35 years and I've never seen anything like this. I live in close-in Southeast and there are many trees that are still green.