Growing a gorgeous flower that has both food and medicine uses. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Multi-purpose plants are invaluable. Especially when you can maximize your harvests in more ways than one.
The Purple Passion Flower is the perfect example. You can eat the fruits, flowers and leaves, and it’s an absolute pleasure to grow. The flowers have gorgeous, fluttery blue-white petals and purple corollas, and grow on long, trailing stems. The vines can grow upwards of 20 feet in ideal conditions, so consider that when figuring out where to cultivate yours.
This is a great flower to grow on trellises, arbors or a gazebo. Wherever you decide to plant, make sure it gets plenty of sunlight. Several hours to be exact, or they won’t bloom let alone create any fruits. It’s also best to buy seedlings or young plants from trusted growers rather than cultivating it from seed.
When it’s time to harvest your Passion Flower fruits you simply twist the fruits off the vine gently as you would a tomato. To eat them, slice the skins over and scoop out the insides.
Collect the Passion flower leaves and flowers. They can be used fresh, or dried and are ideal in tinctures and infusions.
Listen to Cathy Isom’s This Land of Ours program here.