How I discovered passion fruit

Early this spring, just as things were starting to warm up, I was outside doing some cleaning in the dog house when looking out the window, I noticed a big, exotic looking flower. I had just really started taking photography seriously, so I had to rush out and do some exploring (with my camera, of course). I was very sure that I hadn’t ever seen anything quite like those flowers. They were fist sized, very purple, with tassels, and large stamens and pistols. I was intrigued, and shot a TON of photos.

Later that evening I went through my photos and I put one of my best ones into one of my all time favorite iPhone apps, PictureThis. PictureThis quickly and reliably identifies plants, flowers, and fruits, and gives you a lot of information about them. Low and behold, my little beauty was a passion fruit flower!

What I learned about passion fruit

From PictureThis and some more in depth research I found out that passion fruit is a tropical and subtropical plant. It grows as a vine that likes to spread along the ground and climb fences and other bushes. The big flowers eventually become an edible fruit. There are actually several kinds of passion fruit. The fruit hangs on the vine until it gets ripe and then falls to the ground. They can be picked for eating just before or right after they fall, and they are delicious!!!

At first, I really wasn’t sure how the passion fruit vines had even started growing on my farm. I’m very sure they had never been here before, but as the summer went on, I noticed that the flowers attracted lots of butterflies, bees, and wasps, and the fruit attracted birds and wildlife. I’m sure some wandering bird or squirrel pooped out seeds in the fall that started growing in the spring. I don’t usually appreciate extra poop being around (I already feel like I live my life to pick up poop!!), but I would thank that little wanderer if I could. The passion fruit has been a wonderful summer adventure!!!