Andy Barr

Nathan Yospe wrote:
I'm not certain of the full range of P. caerulea, but I have seen well established plants thriving in Northern suburbs of Seattle, Washington, at least one of which was in a zone 7a spot. However, they reportedly only set fruit on years with either mild winters or early thaws.

The key to making these work in the Seattle area is putting them in the most full sun areas of your yard and possibly changing up the soil.

These plants can handle super low temperatures. But most of them will struggle for long periods of cold and wet. Passiflora in general need soil that drains well.

I am constantly planting seeds and trying to select for things that can handle our soil better. But for those who are just looking to plant a Passiflora selection they bought somewhere, they should keep that in mind.

Paul Haggerty wrote:
Have you thought of crossing I. vomitoria with I. paraguayensis? Seems at least the chromosome numbers are the same.

I had plants of both that flowered at the same time in my garden in Ankara, Turkey. I tried to hand pollinate but only got a few berries with seeds, none of which germinated by the time I had left.

I donated all of that material to a researcher in Turkey, but am starting again with plants in my garden near Seattle.

I have a few varieties of Ilex vomitoria and Ilex paraguariensis. I suspect that a lot of the "yerba mate" floating around the US has significant variation. I hope to get some actual cultivars in the future imported from South America. As far as Ilex vomitoria goes, those can be hard to find, but they have a huge range and amount of variation. At this point, I am just buying whatever I see, growing things out, and hope to do some breeding in the future.

I recommend reading "Pomegranate Roads: A Soviet Botanist's Exile from Eden". It is available on Amazon.

The author describes how he found much variation in pomegranates in Turkmenistan, where apparently radiation from the mountains caused these changes. Everything from prostrate forms to much more showy flowers.

A common variation that shows up in pomegranates is black fruit. In almost every place with a history of pomegranate cultivation, you see black pomegranates show up (I'm hoping to eventually cross some of these!). Perhaps you will end up with a black or variegated one!