This Passiflora hybrid holds many traits similar to its paternal parent which isn’t that unusual for crosses with Passiflora amethystina. There was even a time when I thought that maybe I purchased the wrong plant!
Continued below…….
After spending quite a few years with Passiflora ‘Amalia’ I now know that this is not the case. Although Passiflora ‘Amalia’ is very similar to Passiflora amethystina, it blooms much earlier than its parent. In our climate, Passiflora amethystina blooms only in late summer through fall whereas Passiflora ‘Amalia’ starts blooming 2-3 weeks earlier than any of our Passiflora amethystina plants. We have also created crosses with this hybrid and Passiflora loefgrenii and have had the offspring display 5 lobed leaves which none of my Passiflora loefgrenii clones or Passiflora amethystina clones display. This could be a coincidence of hybrid mutation, but it doesn’t matter to me since Passiflora ‘Amalia’ is such a delight to grow! It blooms readily even in a small container, although I’m certain that it would perform much better if I would give it more root space!
Breeder: Henk Wouters
Parentage: P. ‘Blue Star’ x P. amethystina ‘Sao Sebastiao’