Passiflora incarnata

Product Info

Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
Passionflower Family

An eye-catching flower that comes in many shades of purple, passionflower is an easy to grow vine that can be left to sprawl over the ground and through shrubs, or trained up a trellis or fence line. Flowers usually last just one day, but blooming occurs most of the summer. Large, egg-shaped fruits hang on the vine after flowering, but they are not the tasty passionfruit you may be thinking of. They are edible, but it is an acquired taste–they are ripe when they turn wrinkly and yellow. Passionflower will be happiest with a break from the afternoon sun, and works well in both a woodlands edge setting and a pollinator garden. Vines send out suckers and can become quite aggressive when happy. Not recommended for the small garden, but does well in pots. Host to the Variegated and Gulf Fritillary caterpillars.

Blooms: Purple, White, 3-4 months, June-Sept
Leaves: 3-6”, dark green, lobed
Height: 8-12’ 
Space: 3-5’
Soil: Average, dry, moist
Exposure:  Full sun, afternoon shade
Fauna: Host to several butterfly species, bumblebees, small bees, ants
Seeds: 2-4” egg-shaped, edible fruit are first green and turn a wrinkly yellow when ripe, seeds are encased in the flesh
Deer Resistance: High
Native Status: NC Native, common across the state
Provenance: North Carolina Ecotype, seed grown