The variety I grow is Passiflora caerulea, one of the hardiest varieties and ever so easy to grow from seed, usually starting to flower the following year. Just pop a few seeds in a pot in a warm place and keep watered (using warm water helps to stimulate germination) and you will be rewarded with baby passion flower plants.
This is not a plant for a cold situation, however - try and give it a sheltered, warm site if you want it to bear fruit and also retain its foliage over the winter. Here in Southern England, I grew one plant up a north-east facing wall, but it didn't flower very freely and defoliated during the winter. One planted on a west-facing fence, however, produced flowers and fruit in abundance and retained its leaves winter long. A south-facing house wall is ideal, but be prepared for some pruning as it is a rampant grower (reaching 10m or more) which will soon reach roof level. I have seen it grown in such a way together with red climbing roses, whose blooms look much better against the passion flower's attractive foliage than the rose's own.
There are many more species and varieties of Passiflora, most of them not hardy enough to grow outside in this country, but superb for a conservatory or heated greenhouse. You can check them out in another Suite101.com article http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/pere...
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