Purple passion flower
Wowee, what a flower. I bought this ‘Incense’ passion flower vine * (Passiflora incarnata x cinnicata ‘Incense’) a few days ago at Shoal Creek Nursery (sorry, it was the last one), and just look at that crazy bloom. I planted it on a new metal trellis, painted to look weathered and rusty, that backs the yellow bench, creating a tall focal point for the south end of the garden path and screening my neighbor’s driveway.
This glossy, indigo-feathered grackle visited my container pond for a drink this afternoon. In numbers, grackles are nuisances, pooping on everything and making a racket with their screeches. But singly they please my eye with their blue-black plumage and sharp, yellow-eyed stare.
I promised you a look at my spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis ) river, and this is the best I can do—photographed through the screening on the back porch, which offers the best perspective for a wide shot. Unfortunately, the Spring Flingers will not enjoy this sight when they come to the happy hour because the flowers close up in late afternoon.
Daily now, there are wonders to discover in the garden. What wonders are you finding in yours?
*This just in from plant-ID’er extraordinaire Annie in Austin: “Pam, your new plant looks an awful lot like the one I have, which was labeled ‘Incense’ but may actually be either ‘Lavender Lady’ or ‘Amethyst’. Tom Spencer’s ‘Incense’ looks completely different. I never did get a definitive answer . No matter what the name I think the flowers are lovely, but mine didn’t have fragrance, something TS claims for his. Do your flowers have a scent?”
No, Annie, I don’t think they do. I think you are right that this is not ‘Incense,’ though it was so labeled. Thanks for the info. —Pam
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Nothing. I woke up to more of the dreaded white stuff covering everything. Now we have to start all over again.
I know you must be very tired of the snow by now. But that means a good water supply for your summer garden, doesn’t it? I hope there’s a silver lining to be found. —Pam
We are getting hints of things to come. Not too much excitement here yet.
Love seeing your water garden. I am thinking along this line for our garden this year.
Do you ever have trouble with raccoons or other hungry creatures eating your goldfish?
Not so far, but the pond is two feet deep with straight walls, making it hard for a raccoon to get in without going for a dive. And I put a couple of cinder blocks on the bottom of the tank to give the fish hiding places. They can slip into the holes if threatened. —Pam
Wowee kazowee, what a fantastic flower! I love your river of spiderwort, do you find it spreads to the point of invasiveness? It is like that here, although I just dig up the unwanteds, but they sneak into the most unlikely places. Things are a poppin’ here, I was out with the camera this morning, we are indeed fortunate when we hear of some places under snow cover, or worse, under water!
The spiderwort does spread, but not so badly that I can’t pull it up. I like seeing where it will appear in the spring, but mostly it follows the dry stream, where it gets an extra drink after a rain. —Pam
Passionflowers are so beautiful. That one’s a lovely color.
In spite of the cold and snow here, little by little, more and more, some things are budding and others are beginning to emerge. This has been one of the longest, snowiest winters I can remember, and I’m grateful for every little sign of spring I find.
I’m sure I would be too, Linda. I hope you get some spring wonders in your garden very soon. —Pam
The disappearing by midday nature of Tradescantia is the reason I gave away all mine. I don’t have room for something that can’t even stick around all day. Don’t you hate it when you get a mismarked plant? The worst is to go for several years calling the plant the wrong name & confusing everyone about the behaviour of the named plant. (“Oops, sorry, forget everything I’ve been telling you about X plant for the past 5 years.” Growl.) In any event, your Passionflower is beautiful. I can’t wait to see it in person.
I can see why you wanted a longer-blooming plant, but I could never give my spiderwort away because it’s one of my earliest bloomers and tells me that spring is here. Also, it doesn’t mind the shade and brightens up the bed under the cedar elm. By the time it’s finished, the Turk’s cap will be up and ready to bloom, so they make a good pairing.
And yes, I do hate it when I get a mislabeled plant. That’s happened to me three times in the past year, at two different nurseries, with varieties I’ve intentionally sought out. It’s frustrating, but I usually just live with the result. —Pam
Beautiful passionflower vine. The flowers are so very unique. Your spiderwort river looks wonderful.
That spiderwort is the easiest plant to grow, which is one of the reasons I adore it. That, plus I love purple and green. —Pam
Finding anything in our gardens right now would be a wonder. More snow today. The passionflower is so unique, I love those blooms. Do you know if they’re hardy in zone 5b? I guess I could ask someone local… 🙂
I don’t know, Nancy. I think it would be worth growing even as an annual. —Pam
The daffodils smell wonderful, there are still some blooms on the winter blooming honeysuckle and the forsythia has a distinct fragrance I call flower! It’s chilly today so fragrance is not as noticeable I celebrate that there is no stinky Bradford Pear nearby!
That is a beautiful passion flower.
Gail
The colors and fragrance of spring sound wonderful in your garden, Gail. —Pam
Wow! That is some flower. Kind of a psychedelic experience! And I’m once again amazed. But you can even make a grackle look pretty! You can see it’s beauty beyond all that squawking if you take the time to look. Thanks for giving me this view of a bird many do in fact hate. (I don’t hate any birds or animals. Just don’t like snakes!) If it doesn’t talk back, I love it.
Brenda
You’re the first person to comment on that grackle, Brenda, and it figures it would be a Texan. Yes, most of us hate the noisy grackle, but by themselves (definitely not in a group) they are kind of pretty. The iridescent feathers always grab my eye. I was glad this one held still for me. —Pam
I wish I had any blooms at all. Snow everywhere here. I love spiderwort! I had 4 of them in the garden I left behind. I think I’ll have to get some more. Mom lived with us for a while and she pulled a few of them thinking they were weeds or something. I was happy they ended up growing back.
I just popped by your blog, Cinj, and see that you’ve still found some wonders even in the ice and slushy snow. I hope you get some early spring blooms soon. —Pam
You feature two of my favorite colors in your photos today; the deep indigo blue of the grackle and the iridescent lavender of the passionflower. I just planted some passionflowers today in my front yard. These are the first ones I have ever tried to grow, and I am afraid it may get too cold here for them to survive the winter, but I just had to give them a try. I bought the red passionvine Passiflora fulgens in hopes of attracting hummers. Yours are absolutely stunning! I also love the way you are using stock tanks for water gardens as well as planters. I have been using one for a water garden, but I hadn’t thought about using them for planters. What a great idea!
Cheers.
Carol
I love the red passionflower too and will have to find a place for one someday. My neighbor grows one that I admired last summer, but I understand they are more tender than the purple ones. —Pam
Grackle is fully new to me. It looks wow beautiful! what a shiny color is this.
Passiflora flower is also amazing – now wonder you took it home.
Grackles are not well loved here, for obvious reasons. But a solitary bird is welcome in my garden. Thanks for visiting, Ewa. —Pam
Wow! Those photos are amazing. Passionflowers are so detailed. You could stare at them for a while and see something new in the flower every few minutes! The grackle is also sleek and somewhat cagey looking. You have really captured that blue/black shine. Thanks for showing us your river of spiderwort. Now I will be able to compare images.
Cagey—that’s a good description. They look at you as if they’re unafraid of you. —Pam
Gorgeous, striking, saturated color! My mother always grew passionfruit vines and I as a child I looked at the flower with amazement. Loved picking the ripe fruit for drinks, too!
You have a great store of memories of how plants can be used, Nicole. What does passionflower-“ade” taste like? —Pam
Pam, the photos of the passionflowers are stunning. Beautifully composed! You still get my vote for best photography!
Robin, that means a lot coming from you. I do OK on flower photos, but I can never take bird photos as well as you. Yours give me inspiration to keep trying. —Pam
Oh, that is a gorgeous color passion flower. I would have snatched it up too. I live in zone 5, and winter my passion vine over (in a dark, cool basement) I can’t imagine not taking the trouble to do so as it’s so unique. As far grackles, I’m in the “hate” them crowd….
I can understand it, Kathleen, though it always surprises me to find out that grackles live farther north, in zone 5 for instance. Anyway, thanks for visiting and commenting! —Pam
Ah, Passionflowers… I’ve been wanting to post about my passiflora collection (if I have more than 2 of anything I call it a “collection”) – you and I have a such a sympatico going, plant-wise! my passiflora ‘Coral Seas’ is the standout for me right now. I’ve wanted one for so long, and I finally got it a few months ago. I’ll post an image of one, but I don’t know if the unique color of the flower will translate… it makes me so happy!
And as a former Texan, I really miss the call of the grackle… thanks for the beautiful photos, as usual!
I’ll look forward to seeing your passionflower collection, Germi. I have a “collection” of two also, but the other one, which is supposed to be an ‘Incense’ (we’ll see), is not blooming yet. What I really covet is a red one, but your ‘Coral Seas’ sounds very intriguing.
By the way, when I read your lastest post about your petulant front garden, I laughed all the way through. But if your photo is attempting to show us how your garden is having a low moment, well, I just couldn’t see it. It looked fabulous to me. —Pam
Pam, passionfruit drink is still one of our favorites-tart-sweet and fragrant. If you want to try it with market/supermarket passion fruits(note not all varieties are edible, so I don’t know whether the fruit of yours is edible, so better buy the ones sold for food)-cut open and scoop out pulp of a dozen medium ripe passion fruits. Swizzle the pulp in a jug of water. Strain, squeezing the juice out. Add honey or sugar to taste and chill.
I also cut open a ripe passion fruit. and press the pulp through a strainer, using the pure juice over ice cream and cheese cake.
Sounds yummy. Thanks for the recipe. —Pam
Great picture of the bird! Bravo.
Thanks, Chuck. Just wondering—do you have grackles in San Francisco too? —Pam
Spetacular passion flower. I wonder why some flowers are structurally complex and others so plain?
Good question for a botanist, Ki. —Pam
Ha! No blooms yet. Still covered in a blanket of white. Just when it’s almost melted (finally) we’re supposed to get 6-8 MORE inches of snow today. Thanks for checking though, it was nice of you to stop by!
Wonders can be found in snowy landscapes too. I hope you find some, Cinj, tired though you must be of the white stuff. —Pam
Once again some beautiful photos Pam. The passion flower is especially interesting and I don’t believe I’ve seen a coral colored honeysuckle with such vibrancy. Thanks,
Rees Cowden
Thanks, Rees. I can never get over my fascination with the structure of the passionflower. —Pam