13 Stunning Passionflower Varieties

Who could resist a passionflower with a name like 'Silly Cow' This RIVERSIDE hybrid® has an eye-catching "skirt" of dark purple filaments over light petals. The vines are evergreen in zones 8 to 11 and reach 10 to 20 feet.

Vigorous 'Sunburst' vines have blooms with unusual, orange corona filaments and green sepals. The leaves are sprinkled with yellow spots, sometimes called "nectar dots," and stripes, and they're purple underneath. Give your passionflowers well-drained soil; most benefit from feeding with a balanced fertilizer in early spring and again in midsummer.

Passionflowers (Passiflora spp.) are exotic, fast-growing vines. These tropicals grow wild from South America to Mexico and come back as perennials in frost-free regions. In the North, they'll succumb to frost unless you overwinter them indoors. Try them in hanging baskets, containers or garden beds. If they're in the ground, support them with a trellis or fence, or let the vines weave through other plants. Most need full sun, but some can take afternoon shade in hot climates.

Hardy in zones 7 to 11, passionflower 'Inspiration' is a hybrid loaded with light to deep purple blooms. The vines grow 10 to 15 feet and are a good choice for containers. If you grow your passionflowers in the ground, mulch them deeply to help them survive the winter cold.

'Citrinia' is one of the few passionflowers with yellow flowers, and it's lovely when grown in a hanging basket or other container. The star-shaped, lemon-colored blooms open from summer to early fall, and the plants are hardy in zones 9 to 11.

One of the most sweetly perfumed of all the passionflowers, 'Allardii' is an often hard-to-find hybrid. You may find it sold under its proper name, Passiflora xallardii. Hardy to 24 degrees F. (zones 9 to 11), the vines are loaded with blue, purple, pink and white blooms.

Magenta, pink and white 'Raspberry Strudel' almost looks good enough to eat. This passionflower, hardy in zones 9 to 11, reaches 10 to 15 feet. Although passionflowers need soil that drains well, they like to be kept slightly moist and shouldn't be allowed to dry out completely. Add some compost when you plant to help the soil retain moisture.

Most passionflowers have blue or purple blooms, but 'Lady Margaret' bears strawberry-red blossoms with snowy centers. Give white shrub roses a punch of color by letting these vines weave between the branches, or let the 8-foot vines climb a fence or wall. If you live where the winters are cold, overwinter your plant on a sunny windowsill.

Pure white 'Incarnata Alba' is native to the eastern U.S. This passionflower's edible fruits can be made into jams or other dishes. The herbaceous plants spread by underground runners and are hardy in zones 6 to 10.

'Chambord' opens its purple, pink and white flowers from spring into fall. Recommended for zones 9 to 11, this hybrid has a sweet scent. It won't grow true-to-type from seeds; most hybrids don't. Non-hybrid passionflowers will sprout from seeds; to help them open, soak the seeds in warm water for a day or so before planting.

'Victoria' is a vigorous, evergreen passionflower in zones 10 and 11. It grows 20 to 40 feet, so give the vines plenty of support. Its big, dark pink flowers have white filament tips.

Plant passionflower 'Lambiekins' near a deck or porch, so you can enjoy its fragrance on warm summer days. The white and soft-purple blooms appear from summer into early fall, and while the vines tolerate full sun to light shade, flowering is usually heavier in the sun.