What is this flower May 2005

Top 2. May 10, 2005 9:45 PM

» biogardener - Enjoy

First of all, let me link for you three great little videos of a passionflower. You need to let the page load fully which takes some time. Then move the round button with your curser. Then go to the link "short clips of bees visiting the flowers" where you can do the same to two other photos. There, too, wait till the line is fully filled out. You can move the curser back and forth. Do it very slowly.

Enjoy.

-- posted by biogardener

Top 3. May 11, 2005 5:23 AM

» FYNFAN - Re: Enjoy

In response to Enjoy posted by biogardener:

Good job, Traute, you're right,it is the maypop, passionflower. Florida/Southeastern native, as well as the host plant for the gulf frittalary,(Agraulis vanillae).

-- posted by FYNFAN

Top 4. May 11, 2005 2:34 PM

» biogardener - Variations

There are many variations of passionflowers with different colors varying from red through purple to royal blue, but the one in Gay's photo is the most common and is the flower associated with the vine from which we get passionfruit. They are all native to the tropical Americas.

My church choir director in Germany grew one in his garden in a glass enclosure to cheat the plant into thinking that the temperature was tropical and humid. He was not concerned about fruit, just the flower. I was his pet teenage choir member, and he explained to me how the passion story is seen in the flower.

I did not learn until a couple of years ago, though, that passionfruit nectar comes from the fruit from the very same flower. It just looks too pretty to be utilitarian.

-- posted by biogardener

Top 5. May 11, 2005 7:47 PM

» Gay_Klok - Re: Enjoy

In response to Enjoy posted by biogardener:

Thanks Traute for the link. I went to the English passion flower site but could not find the sp? hybrid? I have pictured. It is a great site with lots and lots of photos.

-- posted by Gay_Klok

Top 6. May 11, 2005 7:56 PM

» Gay_Klok - Re: Re: Enjoy

In response to Re: Enjoy posted by FYNFAN:

Thanks for the visit!

I have never heard the term 'maypop' - Why pop?

Passiflora mollissima [deep pink, banana passion fruit so called because of long yellow fruit] fast grows in cool climates and seeds like crazy in both our gardens. They can become a nuisance but I keep them in the country garden because the possums think they are better than icecream. I hope, in vain, that will keep them away from our roses etc.

I think this vine has reverted from the 'ordinary' passion fruit hybrid Nellie Kelly which is the only one [apart from the above] that we can grow outside and use the fruit on our national desert "Pavlova"

-- posted by Gay_Klok

Top 7. May 12, 2005 12:42 AM

» biogardener - Matter of degrees

What you call "cool climate," Gay, is considered tropical by comparison to our climate. There is definitely no passionflower which will grow outside around here. I don't even know of any of them growing indoors anywhere, not even in the provincial conservatory where we do have a banana tree which even grows tiny bananas. The only one which I ever saw in reality was the one which my choir director grew in his glass box in Germany, and he took that indoors for the winter.

-- posted by biogardener

Top 8. May 12, 2005 7:25 PM

» Gay_Klok - Re: Matter of degrees

In response to Matter of degrees posted by biogardener:

If you look us up on the map, Traute, you will see that we are quite close to the South Pole!

In gardening terms, we are 'cool temperate', similar to the warmest parts of England and Ireland

It takes 5 hours for a smallish plane to reach the main base - It is [I think] 8 hours to fly across the mainland of Australia in a jumbo jet or, to put it another wat - To leave Hobart and fly to Sydney, 2 hours by the large commercial planes. To reach the tropics in Queensland, 5 hours to Brisbane, and 7/8 hours to Western Australia. These times are all a guess in my part!

There is no doubt that our weather is warming and the mainland of Australia is losing its water.

-- posted by Gay_Klok