Passion fruit

Passiflora edulis – our most popular black passionfruit is just about ready to eat now. Did you know there are over 300 species of passionfruit, mostly native to South America? Another one of my favourites, especially for its stunning red flower is Passiflora antioquiensis, aka red banana passionfruit. Although the fruit looks like a banana passionfruit and tastes like a vanilla version, it is not as vigorous a climber and is fine in a small garden.

The black passionfruit ideally needs a larger and stronger structure to climb – it is more dense. I have used it in the past to cover a small shed in a cottage style garden. They do not have a long life span – 3-5 years, and they do attract passion vine hoppers and green stink bugs. You can try squashing the green bugs as you see them, and spray the hoppers with white oil if you can catch them. Otherwise, just collect the ripe fruit as soon as they fall and enjoy them! Another tip if you have a glut, is to freeze the pulp in ice cube trays for future use.