In Memoriam: Passiflora 'Erl'

My very first original hybrid bloomed today!! It's P. Blue-Eyed Susan x P. Blue Bouquet or if you prefer ((P. incarnata × P. edulis) × (P. incarnata × P. cincinnata)) × (P. caerulea × (P. amethystina × P. caerulea))...all that. For short, I'm going to register it as Passiflora 'Erl'. I've had the name picked for quite some time; ever since I discovered these plants. I wanted to use my very first opportunity to register a hybrid in memoriam of the brother lost to someone very important to me and many others. He drove a baby-blue Mercedes, many years older than he, so in a way it seems fitting. To draw any more analogies would be disparaging. But, if this is the only hybrid that I'm able to contribute to the enthusiast and horticulturist community, then I'm proud that it has this name. I'll distribute it freely, and in my garden and in others P. Erl will live on.

Febru-any and All

At the end of 2012, I was accepting seeds like mad. Not everything sprouted, but from the lot, I have more than my share of seedlings. Most are P. tarminiana and P. edulis var. flavicarpa, but I have a few hybrids as well that are growing along side their pure bred cousins. 'Blue-Eyed Susan' x 'Blue Bouquet' is doing the best of that group, but (P. actinia x P. sidifolia) x P.actinia isn't showing any signs of weakness.

The last two days have been very warm in the green house, so the inhabitants are really taking off. Most have matured to the point of needing their 4" pots, although I don't really have space for all of them, and I've been trying to gift many of them away. I'm toying with the idea of posting a flyer offering them for free to co-workers. If I had any passiflora friends in LA, I'd surely unload a few.

Skipping and Sipping

I've always liked these little butterflies. Only recently did I try to figure out what they are. They have distinct triangular wings that the fold when they land. They actually buzz around when the fly in their darting patterns. I think they're Pelopidas (aka Skipper) butterflies. This one is tonguing my 'Blue-eyed Susan'.

Blue Monday...Not!

Today I returned from work and after inspecting Pergola-tory for a few minutes discovered, to my delight, that a new passiflora was in bloom! 'Blue Bouquet' opened up! Though that hybrid is prolific bloomer given sunny conditions, it wasn't until today that it opened up for the first time this year. Because it's mixed in with P. racemosa, 'Monika Fischer', and 'Star of Surbiton' in a single large pot, I wasn't even sure it had survived the mite attack. But, now I see that it had survived to climb to the top of the pergola and bloom first of all the others! Now that it's up there and June gloom (as it's commonly referred to in Southern California) is nearly over, I expect fireworks!

Update: I just returned from a business trip and I found 'Lady Margaret' opened for the first time this year too. And, 'Blue Bouquet' is popping open everywhere just as I expected. 'Blue-eyed Susan' continues to impress.

The Trouble with Thrips

It was the mites last year. I was able to kill them all with some miticide, but not after some casualties. This year, there were thrips. It took me awhile to figure out what was causing the general chlorosis on some of my passiflora, and then I saw a couple of them skulking about on the newest growth. So it was back to the poison. I think I got them because the chlorosis has stopped, and since they were slightly less devastating, most of the plants have fully recovered. I do think that I've lost P. sanguinolenta. It gave me two blossoms before the pesticides burned it up. Nevertheless, I have some new blossoms from some of the other inhabitants, and the best part of all is that the leaves are looking healthy and large.