Do you tie your passion flowers to a trellis or fence, and

[babylonsister]

if so, what do you use to tie them with?
I've planted my very first and it feels like I'm watching a baby. It's planted in front of a trellis attached to the fence, and has been so for several weeks. While the plant looks healthy, due to the high winds I'm/we're :) not having any success sticking to the trellis/fence. Is it okay to help it along by tying it?
I hope so because I did out of frustration, using twine tied gently. But I don't want to hurt it!
Help and thanks!

[GardeningGal]

1. Passion flowers have to be grown in pots here.

The one time I had one, I just "threaded" it between the trellis supports. For other climbers that I can put in the ground, I use either cut up pieces of panty hose or some green florist tape. I prefer the panty hose option but sometimes it can't be hid well enough and that's when I use the florist tape.

[babylonsister]

2. Thanks! I never considered pantyhose!

I tried threading but the wind has been wicked so that wasn't working. The twine seems to be doing the trick, though the porousness of pantyhose would work better.

[Gato Moteado]

3. Passiflora incarnata is hardy to zone 6

what USDA zone are you in?

[babylonsister]

4. TX-zone 9/10? HOT?! It's too late; I stuck with the twine, and now

don't need anything. The passion flowers are growing like weeds, but I've only had 3 flowers so far. The purple one doesn't even seem to be growing anything that might resemble a flower, but it is growing and I'm being impatient.

[Gato Moteado]

5. i knew you were in houston.......

....i was wondering about gardeninggal.....she said she can only grow them in pots. there are some hardy passifloras she might be able to put in her garden.

as for houston, you have lots of options for passifloras. and if your purple passiflora is Passiflora X incense then just wait....it will explode with blooms before you know it.

[GardeningGal]

7. Sorry, didn't check in for a few days

I'm in Denver which is zone 5. The winter freezes here can be bad. This last year we had about a two week stretch at the end of Nov., early Dec. where the temp was below zero. Then again in Feb. we had another 4 or 5 days with below zero temps.

[Gato Moteado]

8. it might be too cold for passifloras then.....

...although i think i remember a friend in chicago telling me he had passifloras that survived the winters. maybe P. incarnata would make it if you mulched heavily before winter.

[Nicole]

6. I use velcro tape for any tying up jobs

It's green & not very noticeable among the plants. It's easily removed once they have taken hold on their own. Or can be left in place as it's made for outdoor use. Some of my clematis have had the same velcro in place for 5 years.

I get it in the garden center at Home Depot. I use it for all kinds of stuff in the garden.

[wiggs]

9. Passionflower

has tendrils (like a cucumber) that need something small to wrap around like wire or mesh. They won't wrap around a post (like beans) or attach to something smooth (like Boston Ivy) on their own. But if you train a leader or two on a fence or post, it will use those vines to attach to and pretty soon it's off and running all over.

Once they get going, they are vigorous.

Fine to tie it up loosely. I bet it takes off soon.