Passiflora x ‘Amethyst’

Passiflora 'Amethyst' is one of the most rewarding of the ornamental passionflowers, a vigorous hybrid grown for large, jewel-toned blooms of glowing red-purple. Each flower opens nearly flat, three to four inches across, the petals and sepals reflexing back to set off a short, banded corona and a lifted central column of stamens and styles. The parentage is somewhat uncertain, as with many old garden passionflowers, but the effect is unmistakable: an amethyst star held out along the vine.

From early summer to frost the vine carries a steady run of flowers, each lasting a day or two and drawing bees, butterflies, and the occasional hummingbird. In frost-free gardens 'Amethyst' holds semi-evergreen and blooms nearly year round; where winters bite, the show is a long and generous summer one.

Despite the tropical look, 'Amethyst' is tougher than the flowers suggest. Here in South Carolina the vine freezes to the ground in winter and returns with real vigor in spring, flowering through most of the summer, so gardeners at the cool edge of passionflower country can treat the plant as a fast, flowering perennial.

Grow 'Amethyst' on a fence, a trellis, an arbor, or an obelisk in a sunny spot with good, well-drained soil, and give a sturdy support for the tendrils to grip. Site where the striking flowers can be read at close range, near a path, a gate, or a seat, pair with other sun-lovers, and cut the old growth back in late winter where the vine dies down. A large container makes the plant easy to shelter through hard freezes.