Passiflora ‘Lady Margaret’ (Passion Flower)

Adding an exotic touch to the garden, Passiflora ‘Lady Margaret’ is a vigorous evergreen climber with rich raspberry-red flowers adorned with a ring of red filaments with white tips surrounding the white fleshy reproductive structures. The foliage consists of deep green three lobed leaves which create a perfect backdrop for the flowers. Passiflora ‘Lady Margaret’ is a pretty hybrid Passiflora resulting from a cross between the red Passiflora coccinea and the deciduous Passiflora incarnata. This Passion vine is somewhat cold-tolerant and can withstand temperatures as low as 40ºF (4ºC) for short periods of time.

• Blooms intermittently throughout the year with a peak bloom season in summer and fall.
• Thrives in full sun or part shade, in loose sandy or gravelly, moist, well-drained soils. Good drainage is essential. Go light on fertilizer and water deeply, but infrequently. Passion Flowers should be encouraged to reach deep into the earth for water. This prompts them to develop a powerful root system that will sustain them through droughts and freezes. Do not provide too much manure or compost or this will result in lush vegetative growth and poor flowering. Keep the soil on the dry side in the winter. Some drought tolerance once established.
• Easy to grow, this Passion vine can quickly grow up to 6-30 ft. long (1.8-9 m). Don’t try to train your Passion Flower to be too neat and compact. The branches allowed to hang loose and droop a bit will be the ones most inclined to flower.
• Excellent choice for trellises, walls, fences or arbors. Perfect in wall-side borders, city gardens, cottage gardens, Mediterranean gardens and containers.
• Butterflies are extraordinarily fond of Passion Flowers.
• The terminal buds may be pinched out to encourage branching.
• Propagate by seed, semi-hardwood cuttings or by layering in spring or fall.
• This vine blooms on new growth and should be pruned in late winter or early spring. No regular pruning needed. However trimming may be required to keep them to the space available, removing as much from the longer shoots as necessary.
• Ingestion of some parts may cause severe discomfort