Description

This is a rare offering of the beautiful Passiflora gilbertiana , discovered fairly recently in Costa Rica. From spring through autumn, it's covered with wonderful, golden-yellow blossoms that look like little sunshine rays! Even without blooms it's an stunning plant, with terrific, variegated leaves that have purplish undersides. This vine is rarely seen in cultivation, and seldom offered for sale. Its large, wing-shaped leaves grow to about 6 inches long and have attractive "lightning bolt" variegation down each lobe, similar to my Passiflora boenderi , also from Costa Rica. If you look closely you'll see rows of yellow dots that serve to mimic butterfly eggs, to keep butterflies from laying eggs there. The inch-wide blooms appear in large numbers all over the vine. Sometimes the blooms have no fragrance, but usually they have sort of a chemical smell that most find unpleasant. It doesn't seem to bother hummingbirds, which often visit the blooms. You can cross-breed it with some other Passiflora species, particularly those in the subgenus Decaloba. After flowering, it can make small, round fruit that is purple. I don't know if the fruit is edible - some species make toxic fruit. It comes from a mild climate, without extremes in temperature. It reportedly tolerates heat, but it's happiest if nights aren't warm too. I don't know its frost tolerance, but it's probably best to protect it from freezing. It enjoys partly sunny conditions. The variegation gets strongest in bright light, but the plant might need some shading from strong sun in warmer climates. Like most Passifloras, it likes fertile, well-draining soil that's kept evenly moist. It can be grown in a 3-5 gallon pot onto a trellis. It's vigorous, but it doesn't get rampant. In the right conditions, it's an easy vine. This auction is for the young plant shown below, which can bloom in a few months. It is about 8 inches long, and it is growing in a 2½ inch pot. The leaves have bug bites from growing outdoors. It will be shipped in its pot, not bare-rooted, to maintain plant health. I usually ship on Saturdays & Mondays (Fedex is Monday & Tuesday). If you want shipping delayed up to 2 weeks, wait to pay please, since Ebay expects me to ship promptly. Weather notice: Delivery to areas below 38 degrees will be done at the buyer's risk. If you want a heat pack sent with it, purchase one from my Ebay store, and choose Fedex 2-day for this plant. If you have questions, please contact me. Outside the United States mainland, contact me before bidding for the shipping terms and rates. Save on shipping when you win one of my other items (request a combined invoice to receive discounted shipping). Not all plants can receive discounted shipping. Please contact me if you have any questions. Check my other exciting items! Strange Wonderful Things is your source for exotic, hard-to-find plants that bring the excitement back into gardening! Most of the plants in my collection are rarely seen in nurseries, and a few are sold nowhere else on the internet. I am a low-volume grower and don't produce many plants, so if you see something you like, please bid early! I personally answer all emails, and provide free "technical support" through my website. - Happy growing! - Jeff Get updates of new plants! Select 🤍 or "Save this Seller"! Photos & text copyright 2024 by Strange Wonderful Things