Misera Loves Company

I got a second chance at some photos of Passiflora misera. The first round was blurry because I had to go off to work that morning in a rush. Today, I took my time. First I tried with the natural fence background, but the white flower on that light gray was a wash. Then I held a black background up to get the contrast that I needed, but it looked synthetic and staged and still the photos were coming out ... not great. So, for the third try I sprayed the fence down with water which darkened it up some. Finally I got a few acceptable shots. They're not fantastic, but they'll do. They always bloom in couplets it seems, and they look very sea-creature-y with their white tendrils and pale purple inner corona.

Awns or Yawns

I recently posted the bud of P. aff gibertii with curly awns. Today it bloomed for the first time. I like the flower, but if it weren't for the awns it would be a yawner for me.

Kitty in the Rough

For the last week a gray cat has been sleeping on my patio furniture. I'm not feeding or watering him or her, but she looks healthy and perhaps just likes the scenery. Regardless, I figure that if it keeps the opossums from using my yard as a bathroom, then it's welcome to stay.

Tulae Today

I've been keeping my eye on the Passiflora tulae bud, and jeez did it mature quickly. It went from a faintly pink tipped cream colored bud to and opened flower in about a week. Anyway, it's a beauty and a keeper. It reminds me of a daffodil, and I hope there are more flower next year.

Focus on Macrophylla

I was snapping some shots in Pergolatory today. Casually inspecting my collection and noting the buds on P. aff gibertii, P. tulae, P. bogotensis, and P. misera. The first three in that list have yet to bloom, the last has bloomed but my pictures were terrible. So, I'm excited about all. I was checking out Passiflora phyrrantha which has some bumps on its tendrils just like P. cirrhiflora hoping that they'd mature more. Next to it is P. macrophylla having just dropped both of its only leaves, but with a healthy shock of 4 or 5 new baby leaves. I decided to snap a shot of the new growth when I noticed much to my surprise that there was a pair of buds! I'm still shocked, and after P. gritensis, a healthy and large plant dropped its two buds, I'm nervous. I hope these make it to bloom!

Something Like Gibertii

So, some Passiflora aff gibertii seeds came to me a few months ago. The "aff" part means "similar to" which indicates that the plant may be gibertii, but it isn't certainly so. The seeds germinated in good numbers and the strongest plant has been outside in a gallon pot for awhile. I noticed recently that it had a bud on it, but that it dropped soon after. However, there are more! And they look bonkers!

Seeing Reds

Today I plucked two fruits. Passiflora sublanceotata x Passiflora foetida and the opposite cross, P. foetida x P. sublanceolata. Both of which were bright red, but the seeds were shaped differently. I pulled 50% more seeds out of the P. sublanceolata x P. foetida than the other, but I sowed 18 of each. They're fresh and from subgenus Dysosmia I expect good germination rates. Maybe in a couple of weeks there will be some sprouts to get excited about.

I also sent one cutting each from the parents to a student at Ohio University. He's doing some genetic study on the subgenus, from which I'm excited to read the findings.

P. sublanceolata mother on the left. P. foetida mother on the right.