Passionflower

The Passion Flower (Passiflora Caerulea) is a dramatic climber that will put on a succession of exquisite flowers. Young plants will do well indoors but this is a hardy variety and can be planted outside in the garden once it has finished flowering.

When indoors make sure your passion flower gets plenty of light, by putting it near a window but a little way back from the glass. Strong direct sunlight is best avoided as are extremes of temperature.

Whilst your Passiflora is in a small pot you will need to water it regularly especially if in a warm spot. Try to keep the compost damp – not dry and not soggy. Over the summer months your passion flower will benefit from a dose of liquid feed every couple of waters to help keep the foliage healthy.

Cutting off dead flowers encourages more buds and over time you will need to keep twisting new tendrils around the supplied support to keep it neat. These plants are vigorous climbers and can be trained up a wall or trellis if desired. Alternatively if you prefer to keep it in a pot it is a good idea to prune your plant back at the end of the summer and repot it in the spring to keep it nice and bushy.

Problem solving

If the leaves start to turn a pale or mottled colour your plant needs more nutrients and will benefit from a good dose of general house plant or citrus feed every couple of waters until it greens up again.

If during the summer months your plant stops flowering or the buds drop before they open it may not be getting enough sunlight so try moving to a sunny spot and hold back on any feeding until you see flower buds begin to develop.

This is the ornamental Passiflora grown for its flowers but if the dead flowers are not removed they will eventually form orange fruits in the autumn these are not poisonous, but they don’t taste good!