On the Cover of Passiflora Online Journal

I am super excited to announce that the first issue of Passiflora Online Journal is out today, and can be viewed on the website Passiflora Online. I was alerted by Myles Irvine, the webmaster for Passiflora Online by email this morning that the issue was out. When I clicked on the link, to my greatest surprise, I saw that my photograph was on the cover page!

Look, that's me!!! No, not the lizard, I mean that's a photograph I had taken of my passion flower! Well, what is more exciting is that my article on this flower can be found on pages 12 to 15. I had submitted my article to Myles who is the editor and publisher of Passiflora Online Journal (POJ) at the end of last year and we decided that a collaboration would make the article a comprehensive one. He  provides the history, the discovery and the mystery of this fabulous hybrid, while I provide the romance and the up close and personal profile of my Passiflora Soi Fah.





The team who worked on this first issue did such a wonderful job. The journal would appeal to any flower-lover, gardener, hybridizer, as well as people who love passion-fruit as there are articles about the benefits of passion fruit and even how to make a passion fruit drink!

  

Click on this to view the whole journal. 

Passiflora Soi Fah

My fine romance with the passion flower is far from over. I am still fuelled with passion for this exotic flower, after twenty years of first getting to know her! In the early days, I used to be totally infatuated with her. My every thought was...would she appear on my chain-link fence where she dwelled, when I woke up the next morning? I literally pined for her presence, and if there weren't any buds on the vines in the morning, I would be forlorn. I spoke of nothing but her...her exotic beauty, her heady  perfume, her  delightful charm.


Today, in a new neighbourhood, she graces the pergola in my garden, resplendent in her deep purple attire. She is my pride and joy ...the jewel in the crown of my garden haven.















Today I found that I have a rival for her affections. She has a self- appointed guardian who stays by her side, refusing to be scared away by my presence.

Seeing how dedicated the chameleon is to his new-found love, I concede defeat. As long as he is there to protect her, I shall consider him my ally, not foe.

Plant profile

This  hardy vine grows very well in the tropics. In Malaysia where I am gardening, the  tropical  climate is suitable for the vine, even in the hot season which could reach a high of 35 degrees C. It is the humidity that the vine thrives upon. There is abundant rain in the monsoon season (the annual southwest monsoon from April to October, and the northeast monsoon from October to February).

This plant grows well on loamy soil, but can survive on most types of soil. The Passiflora Soi Fah flowers the whole year round, and the blooms are plentiful. You can find as many as 8 buds along one trailing vine, and the buds bloom one at a time. Each flower blooms for a day, but the large number of buds result in a prolific production of blooms on a daily basis.

The blooms have a subtle perfume that is truly remarkable. It is not an overwhelming heavy perfume, but a fragrance that is pleasant, like that of a rose.

The Soi Fah does not bear fruit. It is strictly a flowering vine.

Propagation is possible by taking cuttings, but the more successful method is by layering. Once it takes root, the plants grow fast and the growth can be invasive. 

  

Who wouldn't be enamoured of this beautiful species of passiflora? Not only is she fabulous to look at, she is easy to maintain and a resilient character to top it all.