Exceptional Exoniensis

Passiflora 'exoniensis' bloomed today after a false start yesterday. This is the same plant that escaped Pergolatory through the bamboo last season. It's definitely blooming earlier than last year though, and I've spotted a few other tiny buds. They take quite awhile to mature into fully fledged flowers, but it's completely worth the wait. 

After taking a few dozen pictures of this bright magenta gem, I dabbed some P. trisecta pollen on it that I harvested a day prior. In addition I have a bunch of P. 'Coral Sea' x P. loefgrenii in the front yard and perhaps some P. trisecta x P. loefgrenii in the back. We're off to a great start and it's only April!

White Flower!

It's April. There have been no showers. However, a few trips to the nursery to boost the appeal of my front yard found me picking up another new Passiflora. I picked up 'Quasar', a hybrid that I had not heard of before. It has large buds much the same size as x belotii, but the blooms are pure white. I actually planted this one in the ground instead of a pot, so it will be a permanent resident of this residence (though I'll take clippings eventually). 

I lost some branches of P. trisecta in a wind storm a few weeks ago. I was saddened to find that the branches that I lost were the ones laden with the most buds. Sad was I. However, last night I noticed that the largest bud on the vine was sticking straight up where had been drooping under its own weight the during the day. It looked as though it would burst like one of those egg pods from the movie "Alien(s)." Sure enough, the flower popped open to reveal this little nocturnal flower. I dabbed some P. loefgrenii pollen on it, and we'll see what happens next.