This was my first hybrid to bloom for me! Yes I know, I mentioned that Passiflora ‘Andromeda’ was the very first, but it wasn’t only our very first, it was also Eric’s hybrid. Don’t worry, we don’t keep tabs on who made what hybrid at this point. We pollinate too many things throughout the year to keep up on this.
Continued below……
Not to mention, we both take a part in the hybridizing, propagation and raising of all of our hybrids, so it is only fair to call all of them “ours”. I do miss the teasing of “Well that is because my hybrid is better than yours”, but I’ll find other ways to get those jabs in there :-D.
Back to Passiflora ‘Janus’……. When I made this cross, it was the first time that Passiflora amethystina ‘Minas Gerias’ bloomed for us, so I was so excited to see a fruit set. I then started noticing that fruit was setting on all of the other flowers also. I did some research and learned that Passiflora amethystina was a great self pollinator. This was learned after I had a ton of the seeds germinate. I was ready to toss all of the seedlings since I didn’t need more Passiflora amethystina. Eric talked me out of it. I’m glad that he did! Passiflora ‘Janus’ was named after the Roman mythological god of beginnings. I thought that it was appropriate to name my first cross after the Roman god that looks to the future and the past. That is how I viewed my beginnings with hybridizing. Looking to a future of more hybrids to come but remembering the past that started my hybridizing journey.
Passiflora ‘Janus’ has survived our winter down to 22 degrees Fahrenheit with tip damage. It is also pretty heat tolerant. Its flowers do get smaller as the days get hotter, but increase in size as the days start to cool down. I don’t know if it will do this if it has more humidity, since I’ve only grown it in my yard. It starts blooming for us in late spring and continues sporadically through late fall.