Count Your Blessings!

With love and passion, everyone can have a nice garden...Elaine Yim

Count Your Blessings!
Count The Garden By The Flowers, Never By The Leaves That Fall.
Count Your Life With Smiles And Not The Tears That Roll.
..... Author unknown.

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Malaysian Flora USDA Zone 11
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Sunday, November 28, 2010

My First Scarlet Passion Flower


Today, I am delighted to show you my first bloom of scarlet passion flower (Passiflora coccinea).  When I first saw this passion flower at The Secret Garden of 1-Utama, it was love at first sight. The plant was blooming profusely on a huge pergola. There were so many blooms and buds, indeed a sight to behold. My first post on the scarlet passion flower is here.


Botanical name: Passiflora coccinea
Common name: Scarlet Passion Flower
Family: Oxalidaceae
Origin: Tropical America


I tried to grow one at home but my first seedling died after lying dormant for some time. I should have known better when it didn't grow at all for more than 3 months despite all the care that I had given. It was not until I saw Aaron's plant that I realised mine is a goner. His was growing fast. Perhaps somethings are not meant to be, just like in real life relationships, passion without love may lead to nowhere.

When I went to the nursery where I bought this plant to complain about this, they told me that there will not be any refund or replacements for plants that died in my hands.  Undeterred and still very determined to grow a passion flower in my garden, I purchased a second seedling. This one survived and now it is blooming. I am smiling.

“My First Scarlett Passion Flower”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on November 28th, 2010.


This is the unopened bud. The flower lasts only a day. By sundown, the flower closes and appear like a bud again. The next day, it dries up and fades away.


Another view of the vine spreading over my wall fencing. Like many attractive red flowers, there is no scent.


If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.
..... Benjamin Franklin



This is my entry for Today's Flowers # 121, a meme which opens every Sunday, 2pm GMT. My grateful thanks to Today's Flowers team members; Luiz Santili Jr, Denise in Virginia, Laerte Pupo and Sandy Carlson. To participate and view other gorgeous flowers around the world, click here.

This is my favourite flower this month, so I am joining in the Blog Carnival at Fer's, the link is here.


I think this flower is Hot, Loud and Proud, so I am also joining Noel at his meme # 9, the link is here.

50 comments:

  1. Dear Autumn Belle, What a beautiful flower. I am not surprised that you have persevered in tracking it down and growing it in your own garden. It really lives up to its name of Passion Flower, especially in that very striking red!!

    Thank you so much for making my weblog one of your 'Favourites' on Blotanical. I am thrilled.

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  2. Thats a big WOW! Gorgeous colour and definitely made you so passionate and determined to have it blooming for you and to share its glory with us here! Congrats Autumn Belle!

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  3. I'd smile too if I had such a spectacular flower growing in my garden! Congratulations! May the plant bear many many more such gorgeous blooms!

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  4. Very nice flower. Congrats! You have spectacular flower in your garden!

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  5. A marvelous study in this beautiful Passion Flower. Your photos are stunning. Thanks for sharing them.

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  6. Such rich vibrant colors this plant has. WoW!

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  7. Now here is a flower to get passionate about! Gorgeous! Your photography is equal in beauty!

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  8. Seasonal greetings from the self proclaimed best native blog and only one in the Caribbean until further notice.

    Let the record show that any competitor to this claim shall provide the botanic inventory to clear any dispute.

    Until then...

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  9. That is amazing! The colors are so rich. Love it!

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  10. aloha,

    beautiful blooms, i love the intense red of this passiflora - great choice to have


    thanks for sharing, noel

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  11. Marwellous flowers.
    Beautiful colours.
    I like it alot.
    Thanks for sharing

    Gunilla in Sweden

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  12. The color is amazing as is the form... love these blooms! L

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  13. Gorgeous red passion flowers! Love that Benjamin Franklin's quote. It is so true. As a new gardener, I learned that passion only is not enough sometimes :)

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  14. Bravo to you for your first bloom!
    That blossom certainly has an appropriate name.

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  15. That is beautiful! I have only seen the white/purple passionflowers before, so the scarlet is something new to me. I love it, maybe even better than the regular ones!!

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  16. Hi Autumn

    Yes the flower is absolutely gorgeous when i first saw it years ago immediately went looking for it and it spread so well. I have it in a few spots in my garden I dont know how to spread to some parts in my garden. It bears a fruit like a hugh round lime, hard and green. but I am not sure if the fruit is edible. A specie I saw in Cambodia is really beautiful too, maroon leaves

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  17. I've never seen a passion fruit flower before, they are so pretty!

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  18. Such a beautiful bloom!
    I would smile too!

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  19. It is a beauttiful flower. One of my neighbours has it, and there are usually five or six flowers on the vine every day. Soon yours will be like that.

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  20. Oh this is just glorious, you must be one proud grower!
    You certainly have a very green thumb, lucky thing :)

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  21. You need patience and passion to grow a passion flower.

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  22. Wow, this flower is gorgeous! Would love to have one of this beauty. Where did you buy it from? Is it very expensive?

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  23. That's beautiful. Notice my Avatar? As per MySunnyHappyGarden's latest post, I visited Daiso in IOI Mall and saw water spikes available there.

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  24. Gorgeous flower. I wish I have one too. Yes I did received your email and the seeds has arrived safely in Malaysia. I hope you received it soon.

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  25. the link is open now autumn bell, that will be a nice post for the hot meme, thanks

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  26. Edith, Yes! The passion flower is as beautiful as the words you write in your blog.

    P3Chandan, this is only the starting bloom, so I hope there will be more to come.

    Eileeninmd, a mature plant will have a flower on the exil of every leave! I am certainly waiting for this day.

    Kanak, this is the most rewarding passion flower to grow if you wish for many blooms and red is your favourite colour.

    Makarimi, I think this flower is as gorgeous as an orchid.

    Denise, in our weather, a healthy plant grows fast and produces new leaves non-stopped, so you can imagine how many flowers it will have.

    Redneck Rosarian, once started, this plant blooms continuously. That’s great, isn’t it?

    Carol, I feel so honoured to have your visit and comments. You are a great artist, photographer and writer!

    Antigonum cajan, I am no match for you. I am only a gardener while you are a botanist. I am trying to propagate some stem cuttings of this one, hopefully it is successful.

    Chubskulit, this flower is as gorgeous as you!

    Randi, these amazing flowers have the habit of arranging themselves to face the light.

    Noel, Aloha! I have your Hot, Loud and Proud meme in mind when I prepared this post. I am waiting to link in.

    Gunilla, I wonder if you have it in Sweden.

    LC, This plant can grow in shade and sun, but it won’t flower under the shade.

    Ami, you are so right. In my case, intense passion can kill my plants. That’s what I do to my cactuses when I keep watching it and watering it.

    Meredehuit, I read from Wikipedia that the name of the passion flower refers to the passion of Jesus Christ. The unique physical structures of this plant are adopted by early Spanish Christian missionaries as symbols of the last days of and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

    Judy, regarding the purple version, Passiflora laurifolia has the most beautiful fragrance and this is the one I have been looking for but still in vain.

    Cina, the best way to display this plant is to let its long, slender branches hang over the edge of your support. For ideas, you can view them at the Secret Garden of 1U where they are grown on huge, beautiful pergolas. As I know, passion fruits are edible.

    Jama, yes, all passion flowers are pretty, the purple ones too.

    Malar, the blooms are really stunning!

    Lotusleaf, I do hope that my blooms will be as what you describe.

    Ali, I certainly hope my fingers are getting greener. Thanks for the compliments!

    Rainfield, the passion flower is easy to grow in our climate and it grows very fast. We need enough space because it can get very big.

    Kitchen Flavours, I bought mine at a nursery in Klang for RM 5.00. I am a stingy poker, so with this amount of money, I got a small seedling without flowers yet and hoped for the best. The first one died because it was made from a wounded cutting. I didn’t notice it as my selection skill was not good but now I know better. They have a gardener who can propagate plants from stem cuttings in this nursery.

    One, I’ll visit Daiso soon to get those cute water spouts. I like garden ornaments that are also functional.

    Diana, thank you very much in advance for your seeds!

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  27. Noel, I just saw your comment. I'll link in now.

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  28. Such beautiful blooms. Love the beautiful colour. Lovely shots.

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  29. I have never seen a passion flower before and think that it is a very striking bloom.

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  30. Thank you for finding my blog so that I can join yours!

    Salam & Aloha from Waikiki

    Comfort Spiral

    ><}}(°>


    <°)}}><

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  31. EEeeeeeee---- cantiknya!!!! I should have listened to you to plant this on the arbor instead of the bunga kertas! -- erm, but not possible also as the hole is too small :(

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  32. This is very beautiful, i just wish you showed the full growth of the plant. Is this just the passion vine not the fruiting type? Yes maybe, if i remember right the fruiting type is P edulis. I haven't seen this yet, just the bluish one.

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  33. Beautiful! Love the red color. It truly says passion.

    Is so nice that you didn't gave up on the flower and now you have a very beautiful reward. It looks amazing!

    Thank you very much for joining the carnival! It is a great entry.

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  34. Autumn Belle that is such a striking flower ! We love Passion flowers here but they are only annuals .. our climate is too cold for them to survive as a perennial .. but we have them on the deck for the summer season and love them to bits .. they truly are amazing plants and flowers!
    Joy : )

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  35. What a gorgeous flower, nice to see you were rewarded for your perserverance!

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  36. Eden, Jenifer, CanadianGardenJoy, Marguerite, the passion flower is indeed very showy.

    Cloudia, welcome to My Nice Garden and thank you very much for following my blog. Hope you'll visit me again.

    Milka, the scarlet passion flower may be different from yours which looks like P. edulis, the fruiting type. I am growing mine in a flower pot as I worry that the roots and base of the plant may become too big and difficult for me to handle.

    Andrea, I have added 2 more pictures here. My plant is still very young and this is the first bloom.

    Fer,keep up the good work!

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  37. It is so beautiful and such a wonderful colour. You must be so pleased with it.

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  38. Wow! Autumn it is so gorgeous. I can see why you were determined to grow one.I love the unusual blooms on passion flowers anyway but this one is the prettiest by far.

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  39. Autumn, what a lovely flower it is so pretty. I'm glad you were able to eventually grow a vine. After the flower dies does it produce a fruit? Do you eat the fruit?

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  40. Beautiful! I've grown one once in a pot and had it bloom a little. I didn't end up bringing it indoors for the winter in time, though. I really like the photo with the black stamens, they look like eyelashes!

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  41. Awesome specimen, Autumn Belle! The red passionflower is my favorite. Love those closeups that show all the intricate details.

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  42. That passiflora truly look wonderful. Its a pity that the bloom only last a day.
    Wonder if they can turn into a passionfriut for you to enjoy.

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  43. Before I scroll down I was prepared and as expected my jaws sure to drop..phew! Wonderful & awesome pixz..tQ they are truly lovely.

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  44. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous.

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  45. I have never seen anything like this passionflower. Thanks for letting us see this beauty, and thanks also for the links to the other memes for this entry. I've followed your blog. Love the header photo, too!

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  46. Congrats on your Passion Flower. You took lovely photos of it in bloom. It is a flower that seems to say happy in all the vibrancy of color.

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  47. Hallo!
    It`s easyer to write in swedish, can you translate if I wrote in my language?
    We try.
    Vilken underbar passionsblomma, har aldrig sett en röd förut. Vad roligt att den växer sig stor och vacker hos dig.
    Önskar dig en fin dag.

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  48. Easygardener, Yes! I am delighted.

    Lona, Yes! I agree with you.

    Melanie, this species is grown more for the fruits than the flowers. The flowers of my plant have all dried up and dropped off. I read that it can produce an edible fruit which looks like a mini water-melon.

    Eliza, yes the stamens reminds me of eyelashes too.

    Floridagirl, it is my current favourite too.

    James, when the plant is mature, it will have many many blooms everyday, so it kind of offset the short lifespan of each flower. I hope one day I can get a passion fruit from it too.

    Bananaz, haha, do you want to change your icon?

    Patty, Bingo! You got the right word.

    Sara, welcom to My Nice Garden and thanks for the compliments!

    Gardenwalkgardentalk, thank you very much for the nice words.

    Gurun, No probem, I can use Google Translate. Here’s the results:
    What a beautiful passion flower, has never seen red before. What fun it grows large and beautiful with you. Wish you a nice day.
    Thanks!

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  49. It's an absolute stunner! Well worth all your efforts ... and your photos all show it off beautifully!

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Words are like the voice of the heart... Confucius

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