Are you one of those people who delay checking your lottery numbers so that you can the relish the feeling of not yet having failed to win?
If so then this one is for you. After creating a long raised bed behind the new greenhouse and refreshing the raised bed at the opposite side of the garden we planted almost hardy passionflowers in both. We stapled up curtains of fleece over each in November.
On one side we had P. x violacea forms (P. ‘Victoria’ and a form close to the original 1819 hybrid) and on the other principally P. x kewensis forms – P. ‘Beervelde’, P. ‘Purple Passion’ with a couple of our hybrids of Purple Passion. To this we added P. loefgrenii, P. ‘Fata Confetto’ and P. ‘Yarnick’.
Passiflora ‘Fata Confetto’
Now most of these are half hardy and if covered with fleece should establish. The only problem is that their hardiness depends on getting roots down deep and our beds are on concrete. Currently the fleece is up and until late April they will remain simultaneously alive and dead until I open the fleece and check. If it fails I have replacements for the year lined up and future plans to try these ones (I have backups!) grafted to hardy P. caerulea rootstocks and try again.
Let’s see how it goes!
Devon Subtropical Garden 