Passion Flower (Passiflora)

The Passion Flower (Passiflora) is a perennial vine with beautiful flowers. This plant will freeze back to the ground in winter but grows back from the ground annually.

All parts of the plant are edible. The flowers make great additions to a salad. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked (also a great addition to a salad). The fruits range in color from yellow to purple depending on the species of passion flower but can be eaten raw, juiced, or just about anyway you can come up with. All parts of the fruit are edible so you can eat the peel all the way through the seed packed inner core.

The plants require large bees to pollinate. Wooden beams staked up near the plants are great way to attract native carpenter bees to pollinate the plant.

You can make a tea (hot tea or iced tea) from the leaves which is supposed to be good for epilepsy, hysteria, insomnia, and even pain relief. You can also dry the leaves and smoke them (but tea or salad is probably a healthier way to ingest them). The plant has been shown to have beneficial effects for treating anxiety disorder. It also has sedative effects.

As with any plant, only consume in moderation (the plant has been shown to cause hallucinogenic effects if taken in large quantities) and contains a form of cyanide if taken in large enough quantities.

Below are some pictures of a Passiflora Incarnata commonly referred to as a Maypop or Purple Passionflower. And yes, the fruits are quite tasty.

Blueberry Problems (Iron Chlorosis)

Our blueberries are not doing too well. After a little research I think they are suffering from Iron Chlorosis.

Blueberries are acid loving plants. They thrive in soil with a PH between 4 and 5. I tested the soil PH using a simple test with baking soda and vinegar with a result indicating the soil is neutral (PH around 7). We used peat moss and pine mulch when we planted them but it apparently was not enough to lower the soil PH enough for them.

Below are pictures of our blueberries. Notice the yellowing of the leaves - this is an indication of iron chlorosis. The yellow leaves could be an indication of nitrogen deficiency, but the results of the soil PH test lead me to believe it is iron chlorosis.

We will have to take more drastic measures to reduce our soil PH closer to 5. Luckily the vinegar test did not indicate that there was free lime in the soil (the vinegar would have fizzed when added to the soil if there was free lime in the soil). Free lime in the soil makes it even harder to lower the soil PH. The Colorado State University Extension CMG Garden Notes #222 Soil PH states [o]n soils with free lime, a gardener will not effectively lower the PH.

Considering the significant decrease in PH we are going to need to make, we are looking into using elemental sulfur, iron sulfate, or aluminum sulfate to lower the PH closer to 5. I do not think we could reduce the PH enough usingpine needles, pine bark, or peat moss without the help of elemental sulfur, iron sulfate, or aluminum sulfate.