I think I sowed my passiflora Incarnata like in september or october. I also sowed an unamed passion flower that same day. Well I got Incarnata sprouts this past week. I also sowed some Passiflora caerulea maybe january or febuary and I haven't got sprouts yet. This is my first time sowing passionflower but I have heard they take awhile to germinate and they are hard to break that dormancy cycle. Some advise to even soak in some kind of acidic mixture prior to sowing, like even orange juice. Also they advise to remove the, oh me what is that technical name, you know that stuff around the seed. I didn't remove it on the passiflora Incarnata, but it was removed on the caerulea and the unamed before sowing.

I adore the Gulf Fritillary butterflies! My neighbors had 2 passion vines on the wood lattice topper on our shared wall. Both ornamental, no fruit. One was the classic purple flower and the other was a red flower that was more bell shaped and produced nectar that meant it was always full of ants. Well we always saw butterflies flitting about but never caterpillars. I think the ants ate them as soon as they hatched. Well the lattice was rotten and new neighbors moved in who sweetly asked if it was OK to remove it. We were more than happy since we wanted to replace wood with steel topper. But then I seriously missed the butterflies. I saw zero for a year. I missed them so much I planted a passion vine on the shared wall of the other neighbors. Just the purple flower that doesn’t have nectar so it won’t attract ants. Well for the first time in a year, I see not only butterflies but larva! I plan to cut it back to the “trunk“ each winter so it doesn’t get out of control this time. This vine is incredibly vigorous and could completely cover a carport if you let it. I don’t care about the flowers which are always there or the look of the vine, which is always green with chew holes, but my heart sings when every day I sit in the patio surrounded by the fluttering of beautiful amber butterflies. Usually 2 or 3 but sometimes 7 or 8 as I also provide nectar flowers for them. For me, the whole point of the vine is the butterflies.

Digging up suckers with a peice of root is an easy way to propagate them. I would not recommend transplanting them now, as I have not had good success doing it in late summer/fall. If you dig up suckers next year when they start popping up, the transplants should take off quickly and get well established before the following winter. You may be able to collect some root cuttings after the tops die back this fall, and hold them in a refrigerator in some lightly dampened sawdust or peat, then plant out next spring.

It may not be such a problem if you can get to all sides of where it is growing to control any spread. This earlier discussion might give you a better idea: Maypop aggressiveness.... Crossvine and coral honeysuckle are two commonly mentioned native alternatives that don't sucker any or as much. Some clematis can also do very well and get dense enough to cover things.