Before the Story of Pergolatory

I was recently contacted by a new friend on the Facebook Passiflora page and a mutual friend of some other contacts. He had a wealth of information for me regarding the lineage of my plants. In particular it turns out that P. x exoniensis, P. parritae, my former P. 'Mission Dolores', and my recently acquired P. membranacea are all very likely clones of plants that he owned. It's a small (and friendly) passi world as it turns out.

In addition to this information he was kind enough to send along pictures of the plants that he owned!

Hybrid Hopes

With the pest situations under control, and my new passiflora all flourishing, I have a new goal. I hope to breed a new hybrid and give it a registered name! It seems that the number of hybrids on the scene and up for sale lately has grown exponentially. However, I've noticed, or at least perceived a lack of subgenus tacsonia hybrids. Having said that, I do have 'Mission Dolores' in Pergola-tory, but other than that I haven't seen too many others. I was also lucky enough to score a parritae and exoniensis this Spring, and they're both doing marvelously. In fact, I think the botanical zone that I live in is near perfect for them. So, getting back to my goal, I hope that I can create a new tacsonia hybrid, but I could use some advice! Have any of the seasoned veterans of passiflora horticulture tried the tacsonias? What would you recommend as parents? I'm anxious to hear from you!

Pergola-tory Conserva-tory

I forgot to write about this, but Passiflora parritae (along with 'Mission Dolores' which is a parritae x antioquiensis hybrid and a replacement for cyanea) and nephrodes arrived from Grassy Knoll!!! The story goes that it's extinct in the wilds of Colombia and that the parent clone plant of all the available (rarely available) plants thrives in San Francisco at the botanical garden with the same name. (Note to self: find parent plant when I eventually visit the Andean cloud forest there). They say the town that the San Francisco plant's parent is from was bulldozed, so until someone finds another wild plant I am doing my part in continuing the species! That's kinda neat. And, allegedly it will do very well here in Redondo Beach where the temperatures don't climb beyond 80°F nor dip below 50°F all year long. Maybe in a few summers I'll have some peachy-pumpkin colored blossoms danging down from the pergola. I can't wait!

So here's this summer's inhabitants:

Container 1:

•     P. holosericea 
•     P. 'Manta'
• xiikzodz × coriacea
•     P. 'Jennifer Grace'
• quadriglandulosa × poslae

 Container 2:

•     P. parritae
•     P. 'Mission Dolores'
• parritae × antioquiensis 

  Container 3:

• P. alata
• P. 'Blue-Eyed Susan' 
• (incarnata × edulis) × (incarnata × cincinnata)
• P. 'Lady Margaret' 
• coccinea × incarnata
• P. 'Saphire'
• edulis × caerulea

Container 4:

• P. 'Blue Boquet' 
• ((amethystina × caerulea) × (amethystina × caerulea)) × caerulea
• P. 'Moniker Fischer' 
• (incarnata ×  amethystina)4n × (kermesina x caerulea)4n
• P. 'Star of Surbiton' 
• 'Amethyst' × caerulea
• P. racemosa

Container 5:

• P. 'Exoniensis'
• antioquiensis × tripartita var. mollissima (aka tarminiana)
• P. 'Warmlands'
• vitifolia × macrocarpa
• P. nephrodes

Container 6:

•     P. 'Sunburst'
• gilbertiana × jorullensis

And because I have a passiflora problem...

Container 7:

•     P. × belotii

Container 8:

•     P. antioquiensis
•     P. trisecta