Plant Encyclopedia

Other Names:  Bluecrown Passion Flower

Description:

A spectacular vine for the garden; the large flowers are intricate and distinctive, with their cream petals adorned by a crown of sky blue filaments; wonderful for covering an arbor, trellis or lattice, the flowers are amazing to view close up

Ornamental Features

Blue Crown Passion Flower features showy lightly-scented creamy white star-shaped flowers with burgundy eyes and sky blue anthers at the ends of the branches from early summer to early fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its glossy compound leaves remain dark green in colour throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Blue Crown Passion Flower is a multi-stemmed annual with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Blue Crown Passion Flower is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Blue Crown Passion Flower will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 30 inches. As a climbing vine, it should either be planted near a fence, trellis or other landscape structure where it can be trained to grow upwards on it, or allowed to trail off a retaining wall or slope. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. This plant does not require much in the way of fertilizing once established. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Blue Crown Passion Flower is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.