Surprise flower

How nice to come back to a little treasure. Bet you are glad to get away from the British weather Schizolocal.

i can certainly see what you mean ~ intriguing ~ i think someone plugged it in!!!? looks like it had a shock!!
but its a lovely flower

What a gem for you to return to it s a beautiful passionflower your so lucky to be able to grow this one out doors.

is this a clematis or a passionflower?

Lol Stickitoffe your right its a passionflower I have edited not had much sleep last night oh well

hope you are ok sixpence, i havent slept that well recently and its not nice!
sun is out here so im going out for bit of fresh air hoping it will make me feel better!

Sorry to hear your the same think it could be the changing of the weather so quickly, sun will boost your emmune system enjoy.

Give them the correct conditions, and these passion flowers will quickly outgrow your whole garden!!!
It's worth it though, because the fruits, which can sometimes reach over 30cms in length, are absolutely delicious!!!

i didnt realise that! you have to have lots of sun for them dont you? my son has one growing very rapidly on a wall in london ~ i shall tell him it could get fruit ~ can you use that to make liqueurs?? like sloe gin??

Stickitoffe you can only eat certain fruits of certain Passionflowers, they say the Bannan one is the best one.

ah, ok thank you ~ will have to wait and see what type his plant has

There are only a few that grow here and survive outside, Lavender Lady Caerulea Constance Elliot are the main 3 I know the Caerulea is the most popular here in this country for outdoors.

thank you

Your welcome the hardiest one and flowers far above all outside in this country is the Caerulea.

Hi - I'm somewhat amazed that the passion fruit can survive outside in London. As far as I was aware, it needs a frost-free environment. So, you live and learn.

As I said above Schizolocal, the Caerulea is the hardest, I have had quite a few of different varieties which I have left outside its only the Caerulea which will continue year after year to florish the rest have died on me, I am now waiting to see if any which I put in last year will survive.

Wow, that's put me right in my place...thats certainly not edulis is it? (see your question!). Beautiful flower though, I can't wait to see a photo of the fruit!

You should find that the fruit is bright yellow in colour, but it is essential to harvest it at the correct time. Too early, when the skin is still hard, and you'll need dentures soon afterwards. Too late, and the soft squishy pulp will explode all over you, as you bite into it, and you'll resemble an over ripe banana!!!

The plant is taken from the seed of the purple passion fruit. I was really hoping that I would get purple passion fruit in return (is this too much to expect, as we have only the one variety here as far as I know?). With purple passion fruit (granadillas as we call them), we wait until the skin just starts to wrinkle, and the fruit should be perfect. The above flower has now generated the first signs of a fruit (which is still very light green and I expect it to remain so for a while). I'll post a picture of the fruit when it is ready.

The fruit deepens with age to a mid to dark green, and then surprise, it turns yellow. However, I am not sure as to which variety you refer. Many Passifloras are incorrectly termed granadillas, in the mistaken thought that subsequent varieties of the species carry the same designation. Unfortunately, because the error is widespread, common usage dictates acceptability. For it to be a true granadilla, the flowers should descend and the stems should be square, not round.

Jason - from my internet research alone, I would surmise that the variety is Passiflora edulis, which Wikipedia describes as havng two sub-varieties: one which is yellow and the size of a grapefruit, one which is purple and smaller than a lemon. I am pretty confident that the fruit I took the seed from is the latter (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_edulis) - I am also sure that it is NOT Passiflora ligularis.

"The two types of passion fruit have clearly differing exterior appearances. The bright yellow variety of passion fruit, which is also known as the Golden Passion Fruit, can grow up to the size of a grapefruit, has a smooth, glossy, light and airy rind, and has been used as a rootstock for the Purple Passion Fruit in Australia.[2] The dark purple passion fruit is smaller than a lemon, though it is less acidic than the yellow passion fruit, and has a richer aroma and flavor[3]. In Colombia, the purple passion fruit is referred to as "gulupa", to distinguish it from the yellow maracuyá"

Of course, I have to assume that Wikipedia is right and that my identification is also right, but we never see any yellow passion fruit here.

In terms of edulis, you are correct, although Wikipedia has to be treated with scepticism.
Quadrangularis, which I personally find to be a much better plant, has huge yellow fruits ( the size of three grapefruits end to end) and much richer flowers.

I've just checked and the stems are round, hard and mainly smooth (although they appear to be ridged, they are smooth), except for the very oldest parts, where the ridges stand out. But they are round, not square.

Nevertheless, I am now confident that the pictures, descriptions and blogs I have found refer to Edulis (purple sub-variety) and we (as well as many others) refer to the fruit as granadilla. I have, today, started a series of photos of a specific flower on my vine. It should (hopefully) show the entire evolution from smallest flower bud, through blooming, insemination (small fruit bud), fruiting and finally ready to pick. I'll also capture the fruit when picked and cut.