Passion Flower

This is one of the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen.  Passion Flower is so intriguing, that one can't help but be drawn to it and marvel at God's beauty.  Passion Flower gets it's name from an old story passed down from missionaries in South America who used the flower to tell the story of Christ's crucifixion. Each part of the flower and vine symbolize the passion of Christ's death, and thus the flower earned its name, 'Passion Flower.'  There are many variations to this story, and I researched as many as I could to get the best of all of them.  Some went into greater detail, but I chose the easiest to understand.  If you Google Christ's Passion Flower Story, you can see all the variations that have been passed along.  I find them all interesting.

The flower parts symbolize:

• The spiraled tendrils on the vine- the lash of Christ's scourging
• The 10 petals - The ten apostles (minus Judas and Peter)
• The 72 radial filaments - the Crown of Thorns
• The top 3 stigma - the 3 Nails
• The lower 5 anthers - the 5 wounds
• The leaves (some species) - the head of the Centurion's Spear
• The red stains (some species) - Christ's Blood Drops
• The Round Fruit - The World Christ came to save

Great story, huh?!  I can just see missionaries using this flower as a visual aid to spread the love of Christ for us.

In the garden, this vine is a winner in so many aspects.  The vine grows best in full sun on a trellis or arbor for support.  The vine will reach 15-20 ft in one growing season, and will freeze back in the winter if the Gulf Fritillary caterpillars haven't eaten it all by then.  I get calls and questions everyday from gardeners who are frazzled over caterpillars eating their Passion Flower vines.  I say let the butterfly caterpillars eat it to the ground, and trust me, they will eat it to the ground!  At least then there isn't a mess to clean up after the vine freezes in the winter.  There simply won't be a vine since the caterpillars have had their fill.  The vine will return from its roots in the Spring, and all will be well again.

Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

There are hundreds of species of Passion Flower.  The flowers range in many colors and sizes, but all have an amazing beauty that is unlike any other flower I've ever seen.  Passion flower truly is a beautiful flower with a beautiful story!  And so I have another plant of the day, which has made many days a joy in my garden.