Passion blooms

Texas. Here it is the middle of December, and it's a comfortable, if damp, 69 degrees. For the past week, the weather's been sunny with temps in the upper 70s. Not exactly conducive to Jolly Old St. Nick, but it's done wonders for my passion flowers. As we approach the winter solstice, I have not one, but two of the tropical vines happily setting flower buds.



The Lady Margaret hybrid above is one of my favorites because of the gorgeous maroon flowers. It's been blooming steadily since September. I've got several cuttings that are putting on new growth as well, so I'll have some to plant in my yard come spring.



This little one surprised me. I got a cutting of it, coreacea (the "bat-wing" passion flower) in early October and didn't expect much until maybe the spring. Intolerant of cold, I put in my office window, where it took off. It started flowering yesterday, with quite a few new buds appearing along the vine. The tiny yellow flowers are only 3/4 of an inch across--very cool. I can't wait until my p. Mexicana or p. citrina starts blooming, so I can attempt to cross pollinate them. Yeah, I'm a geek about passion flowers as well as SF and comic books...

Now Playing: various random holiday music