Green House

Even though it doesn't get that cold here in Redondo Beach, CA with a mean low of about 50°F during the night, I figured that I would set up a green house to help some of the younger and/or cold sensitive plants keep their rooting. Passiflora cirrhiflora is in there and growing like a weed now. I have two spot lights, a 32 gallon trash can filled with water and a submersible tank heater for constant warmth, a tent fan, and a few timers to make sure things turn on and off as I desire. Together in the pop-up green house, the whole thing seems to be working really well. It climbs into the 80's during the day when the sun is coming through, and doesn't go below the 70's at night.

I have 4 trays of 72 seed wells that I'm trying to germinate in the green house. So far absolutely nothing has come up. Maybe it will take awhile, maybe the seeds are sterile, maybe I'm terrible at germinating seeds. I will have to wait and see what comes up if anything.

Serious Flora: Cirrhiflora

Well, I've really gone overboard yet again. I purchased through ebay.com a P. cirrhiflora. It's a rare find, and it cost me a pretty penny, but it should be a fun one to watch grow and bloom and hopefully fruit. However, it's not the best time of the year for an equatorial species that loves heat to be introduced to the fold. I'll have to and keep it warm and under grow lights for the cooler season here before I can let it run rampant in Pergola-tory in some iron rich lateritic soil.

The other half of the story is that I want to cross breed this one very much. It could be a difficult task since it's not of the typical families (decaloba: n=6 group, or passiflora: n=9 group). This is an n=12 and potentially without many compatible species. From what I've read, I think my options are:

• subgenus Tetrastylis
• subgenus Deidamioides
• P. arbelaezii
• subgenus Tetrapathea
• P. aurantioides
• P. kuranda
• P. tetrandra
• P. pittieri
• P. kawensis
• P. candida
• P. guatemalensis
• subgenus Dilkea
• subgenus Adenia

Great! I've identified them...now to find them. That should be interesting. I'll definitely have to put this to the Facebook Passiflora group for help. Until I can find a mate, I'll just have to wait out the Winter and hope for an early hot Spring.

Update: I found one! I picked up a P. tetranda from Grassy Knoll Exotic Plants today. Apparently it's pretty hardy, so if I can combine that with P. cirrhiflora, that might be something marketable.

All Hallows Inventoreve

Despite factors out of my control, I was able to maintain homeostasis in Pergola-tory this Spring, Summer, and Fall. I'm pretty much ready for Winter now (such as it is here). The plants are largely healthy, except for 'Blue-Eyed Susan' which has highly yellowed leaves for some unknown reason. Going into the sunless season, my inventory is:


Container 1:

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

Container 2:

• P. parritae

 Container 3:

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

Container 4:

• P. racemosa
• P. × belotii (alata x caerulea)

Container 5:

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

Container 6:

• P. 'Sunburst' (gilbertiana × jorullensis)

Container 7:

• P. trisecta

Container 8:

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

Container 9:

• P. 'Coral Sea' (P. manicata × ?)

Container 10:

• P. 'Warmlands' (vitifolia × macrocarpa)

Container 11:

• P. cirrhiflora

Bi-color Lady Margaret

Something strange showed up in Pergola-tory recently  While doing my rounds, I discovered a mutant blossom on 'Lady Margaret' It had half red petals/sepals and half white. The extra strange part of this is that two of the sepals were divided down their mid-lines the same way - half red and half white. I'm not sure how the mutation occurred though between all the pests and the poisons, I'm not really surprised. I had hoped that the mutation would persist throughout that branch of the vine, but it did not. If it had, then I would have tried to propagate it and start a new variegated variety.

Coral Un-Sea-sonably Hot

It's the middle of October, and the weather in Redondo Beach is in the low 80's! To me, that means it time to garden...of course, that's what time it is every spare minute. Nevertheless, I decided to replant some of the front yard. The mealy bugs from the neighbor's yard had done a number on my plants there. I fought them the best that I could, but decided in the end to start fresh. So, I pulled out the most afflicted, and pruned aggressively those that could handle it. The best news there is that the peony which I thought was dying for no apparent reason, was actually just dropping some branches, and new ones were coming in at the nodes. Anyway, I picked up some new inhabitants for the front yard. I have high hopes of course, especially for something I had never seen before. It's called 'Hairy Balls'...yep. Gomphocarpus physocarpus.

Every time I go to the garden store I check the back where they keep the vines. I found some passi's there. They had P. x belotii, P. edulis, and 'Coral Sea' (manicata x ?) in stock. All were healthy with fruit and flowers on most. I couldn't resist, and picked up a 'Coral Sea'. I had an empty pot after all. The only question was where to put it. I decided to put it in the front yard and lean it tendrils on the palm tree growing there. My friend from the Facebook Passiflora group promises me that it will climb up over the house and strangle all the plants on the block. I look forward to that!

Blue Seed Group

I've harvested a few of the 'Blue-Eyed Susan' x 'Blue Boquet' seeds now. They're sticky little things. Since scooping them free of their shells, I've dried them, and freed them from their casings. They're in baggies now awaiting their sowing. I'll have to read up on the best ways to do this before I lose patience and just jam them in the dirt. Wish me luck!

Alata Patience

I've been impressed with the size of my P. alata 'Ruby Glow' (see edit at end of this entry). Late this Summer it took off up one of the legs of the pergola, over the top, and then on a direct diagonal across. Very recently, I noticed that there were a few buds on the main vine. I was as excited as I was surprised, since P. alata doesn't typically bloom the season that it's planted! The leaves look healthy, the tendrils are tentaculous (I made that word up), and now I might get some spectacular Fall flowers. I won't hold my breath though in case the buds are dropped, which is what happened to my P. trisecta.

Well...it turns out that 'Ruby Glow' is actually P. x decaisnean a cross of P. alata x P. quadrangularis. I discovered this vicariously through a very well informed passie friend in the Facebook passion flower group. He noted that 'Ruby Glow' has smaller, less wild, more purple coronal filaments. I agreed, posted the discovery on the Facebook page, and the other experts agreed. So, that's a mixed bag revelation. On one hand, I didn't get what I ordered from Logee's. On the other, I got a spectacular plant with fruit which are rumored to be delicious. I did try to pollinate the blossoms before I knew what I really had. The first with P. racemosa and the second with 'Blue-Eyed Susan'. I'll have to wait to see if I get a delicious reward!

Update: Nope.