Passion Fruit Flower Picture from Wikipedia
Click the link for a picture.
One of the treasures of our family is a wonderful couple named Dot Dot and Robert. They take up a great deal of time with my kids and lavish them with loving attention. My children simply adore them.
They have a wonderful garden. I have been asking Dot Dot if I could photograph it for you. I know you would enjoy it, too.
In conversation, I told them that I had read online that Passion Fruits were edible. After a long discussion, I offered to be the guinea pig. I ate a couple of the fruits last fall. They have an interesting, unusual and perfumey flavor, to me anyway. And maybe a bit slimy. I think I could get used to it, but it is nothing like anything I have ever experienced.
So the fruit is edible.
The flowers, Oh the flowers are stunning. They are completely covered with bees. They have this really interesting stamen that stands up from the flower. The ones at Dot Dot's house are purple with light yellow. After the bees finish with the nectar, the caterpillars take over and harvest the leaves. These are the caterpillars of the Gulf Frittilary butterfly. Passion Fruit is their favorite host plant.
Click here for an image of the Gulf Fritillary.
So the Passion Fruit Vine is also an important part of maintaining our butterfly friends and feeding our bee friends.
She gave me some today. I hope they grow. I'll take pictures if I get anything from them.
(Man, I hope we get some. I would love for my kids to get to see the life cycle of the Gulf Fritillary. Wouldn't that be a cool science thing for them?)
Click the link for a picture.
One of the treasures of our family is a wonderful couple named Dot Dot and Robert. They take up a great deal of time with my kids and lavish them with loving attention. My children simply adore them.
They have a wonderful garden. I have been asking Dot Dot if I could photograph it for you. I know you would enjoy it, too.
In conversation, I told them that I had read online that Passion Fruits were edible. After a long discussion, I offered to be the guinea pig. I ate a couple of the fruits last fall. They have an interesting, unusual and perfumey flavor, to me anyway. And maybe a bit slimy. I think I could get used to it, but it is nothing like anything I have ever experienced.
So the fruit is edible.
The flowers, Oh the flowers are stunning. They are completely covered with bees. They have this really interesting stamen that stands up from the flower. The ones at Dot Dot's house are purple with light yellow. After the bees finish with the nectar, the caterpillars take over and harvest the leaves. These are the caterpillars of the Gulf Frittilary butterfly. Passion Fruit is their favorite host plant.
Click here for an image of the Gulf Fritillary.
So the Passion Fruit Vine is also an important part of maintaining our butterfly friends and feeding our bee friends.
She gave me some today. I hope they grow. I'll take pictures if I get anything from them.
(Man, I hope we get some. I would love for my kids to get to see the life cycle of the Gulf Fritillary. Wouldn't that be a cool science thing for them?)
I grow passionfruits to eat - they are really commonly grown here. Not all types are grown to eat though (not sure if thats for taste or safety reasons). The type i grow have a purply brown skin and if you have a look at my March - Wrap Up post that should appear soon if its not already there there is a pic of three of them there. There are other edible varieties but it might be worth investigating what sort your friends are growing. REgardless the flowers are fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI have seen some of your passion fruits on some previous posts. The ones that Dot Dot grows are not brownish-purple like yours, but I know they are edible, because I ate 2 of them last year. No ill effects.
DeleteIt's funny. Some people grow them around here, but until I started talking about it, no one knew you could even possibly eat them.
What color are your flowers? Dot Dot said that she knows one lady who grows a solid white one, and another who grows a scarlet red one. Hers is a beautiful purple-y color with a little yellow in it.
She is going to try to get me a slip of one of the red ones. If she does, I guess I will grow two of them.
Did you pick your passionfruit for the fruit? Or the flower color? Can you tell by flower color if it is edible?
Thank you for providing me with more information about them.
Wow, that is one weird/cool looking flower. I have never heard of passion fruits, but thanks for the education.
ReplyDeleteKris, did you know that the passion fruit flower was used by early priests to show people Christ, because the stamens look like a little man on a cross? That's another reason to like this beautiful plant.
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