Passiflora citrina

The Passiflora citrina, also known as the citrine passionflower, is a botanical passion flower native to the forests of Central America. It is a vigorous climbing plant, particularly floriferous, with a tropical appearance and temperament. It is appreciated for its real ease of cultivation, its lush evergreen foliage, but above all for the duration and abundance of its flowering. Its modest-sized flowers are unique in their lemon yellow colour and tubular corolla that opens into a star shape. This passionflower can be grown in pots in most climates, which allows it to be overwintered in a temperate conservatory or a bright room. Growing it in the ground is only possible in the mildest regions.

Mostly originating from tropical areas of South America, passionflowers belong to the large family of passifloraceae, which includes 400 species and numerous spontaneous or horticultural hybrids. The Passiflora citrina grows naturally in the humid pine forests of the mountains of Honduras and eastern Guatemala. It thrives in slightly acidic, humus-rich soils that do not dry out in summer. It has low frost resistance, with the stump perishing below -2°C (28.4°F).

The Citrine Passionflower develops voluble stems that cling to a support using tendrils, reaching an average height of 3 to 4 metres (10 to 13 feet). The entire plant is slightly villous. Its long stems are adorned with large leaves of a fairly deep green colour, slightly glossy, strongly veined, theoretically evergreen in winter (excluding frost). Their palmate shape is unique, with the lamina having 2 to 5 lobes. The plant flowers as soon as the temperature exceeds 15°C (59°F), so it is capable of flowering all year round. Generally, in our climates, the flowers are produced continuously from May to October. The flowers are a light and vivid yellow, measuring about 4 cm (2in) in length and 2 cm (1in) in diameter. Each flower has a tubular base that ends with 10 slender and pointed tepals and petals, slightly curved. The center of the flower is occupied by a column with 4 stamens around a pistil bearing 3 stigmas. In nature, pollination is carried out by hummingbirds.

This Citrine Passionflower is not a fussy plant, its cultivation is within the reach of even beginner gardeners, and it performs very well indoors. It grows easily in good slightly acidic potting soil, kept slightly moist, and blooms generously in the sun in a sheltered location. Pruning, at the end of flowering, consists of reducing the branches to maintain a beautiful habit. It can be trained on various supports such as trellises, obelisks, stakes, or trellis panels. In regions unaffected by frost, it can be trained to climb on a pole, pergola, arch, or fence. To accompany it, choose, for example, a Sollya 'Ultra Blue' or a Solanum jasminoides 'Bleu'.