It was just before 7am. I brought two cups of tea into the bedroom, and set one each side of the bed. "Good morning, darling, I love you!" I said. Then I opened the curtains to see what sort of day it was. And took a step back
"Triffids!" I declared. "We must make sure to get out there and prune it back later, before it takes over, and strangles us i our sleep" [Bob sipped his tea silently, I think he thought I was over -reacting]
But later in the day we went outside with secateurs in hand to do the trimming. I love passion flowers and was really pleased when this appeared in our garden.
A previous neighbour planted one her side, and it spread across to our garden. The next neighbour uprooted it, but ours thrived. Last summer it grew all over the satellite dish next door [do people still use them? or are they just left there as a reminder of obsolete technology?]
When we got to Ferndown, there was a runner bean 'pyramid' in the garage. I never did get any beans grown. But it came with us in April, and I used the frame to support the passiflora.
As you can see, it has worked quite well - but now at the top, the plant is clearly making a bid for the neighbour's dish and our bedroom window.There are only two blooms open at the minute- and more than 30 buds waiting for their moment to shine.
If you don't know how the Passion Flower got its name, read this
Ah yes, they are very tenacious! ours managed to break a piece of plastic off our back door by clinging strongly to it! Ours are usually so rampant but I don't know what's gone wrong this year as they aren't growing!
ReplyDeleteMaybe if we get the promised hot summer, yours will revive
DeleteI seem to recall you picking some passion fruits from your vine, last year. Did you know that the leaves are edible? We shred them and cook them with grated coconut to make a side dish called mallung (means "mixture"; a mallung can be made with many different types of leaves, vegetable, etc.)
ReplyDeleteYes, Rosie and I scooped out seeds to garnish our desserts. Mallung looks interesting - I'd be OK with the coconut and cumin, but I think I'd have to reduce the chillies!
DeleteOh good grief! I have never made the connection between a passion flower (which I love!) and passion fruit!!! D'oh! I planted a passion flower this year - it's flowered a couple of times, but after that the buds have all refused to open, possibly protesting against all the rain! I'm training it along a low fence between us and the collège next door.
DeleteThey're not exactly the same variety Alison. The passion flower ones are fairly bland.
DeleteThe fruit Is bland, but the seeds in their red gel make a pretty garnish
DeleteSuch pretty flowers. Yours looks tenacious!
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful and your title made me laugh out loud!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many other people expected different content
DeleteYour title reminded me of why I gave up on Netflix - too many steamy scenes unnecessary to the actual story. (especially as they usually weren't even in the bedroom) I hope you get lots of lovely fruits from your sneaky plant.
ReplyDeleteWe have been picking wild blueberries, and are hoping that the blackberries will be good this year.
Loving all your gardening posts Angela! I read this on my phone and the small screen confused me briefly, I thought you had a passionate insect breaking into the bedroom....
ReplyDeleteWe had those in our garden - when we had a garden. I had no idea what they were called or how they could be used to tell the story. Which is a shame because sometimes, I used to need a bit of inspiration.
ReplyDeleteMy friend Bette used to select the best bloom each summer and store it in a box in her freezer. Then she would get it out on Christmas day and put it on her cake. She then told the story, and explained to her grandchildren that Jesus the baby came to be our Saviour...
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