Ordinary Wonderment

Today's Joy: Passion Flowers Opening.
I am ecstatic, Reader! Came home from work today to see my new purple passion flower in bloom. I fell in love with these wonderously weird tropical plants several years ago, when I first saw photos of them in magazines and on screen savers. But I figured I'd never actually see one in person. Finally got my chance while visiting the Oklahoma City Zoo over Labor Day weekend in 2008. I was smitten!

A few weeks later, I stopped by the Heinz Bros. Greenhouse in St. Charles, IL, where they were having a huge end-of-season sale. For $5 each, I took home my first hibiscus tree (a topiary with a braided stem of both red and pink varieties) and--couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it--a 5 foot tall blue passion flower. Though it was remarkably finicky (shed its leaves almost constantly) from the moment I brought it home, I did enjoy a few months of sporatic, gorgeous flowers before it mysteriously gave up the ghost the following January.



The passion flower is one of the most fascinating plants I've ever seen. I've often wished to have another. This spring, while visiting our favorite high-end garden center, on a lark, I asked if they had any. Turns out they had just one left and it was about to bloom. It was also pretty darn cheap as exotic, tempermental tropicals go (I doubt I will ever find such a deal for $5 again). So we brought it home. I fussed over where to put it so it would get the right amount of sunlight without drying out. I fussed over how to fertilize it and if I watered it too much and whether or not to re-pot it before it blooms.



Then, the minute I go to work, the little blossoms begin to open. They don't stay open very long--a day or perhaps less--but there is nothing like seeing that distinctive, zany flower unfurl on your back porch, offering a breathtaking private show. Amazing! Now I'm busy reading up on everything I can find about the care of these magnificent plants.