'Incense' vs. 'Blue Eyed Susan' or 'Elizabeth'

16 years ago

What are the opinions out there about Incense vs. Elizabeth or Blue Eyed Susan? Which would be more floriferous and hardy? Looking to cover a 20' fence in full sun. I've had Incense in the past, and while I love the flowers, I think I may want something different. All responses much appreciated.

Amy

Featured Answer

mark4321_gw

15 years ago

Jill,

Patrick Worley, the creator of 'Elizabeth', recommends it as one of the best varieties for fruit in our area (the Santa Clara Valley near San Francisco). He apparently cares passionately about eating these things too, and actually wrote a book of passionfruit recipes.

Nancy Garrison, author of the fruit article states:

"PASSIONFRUIT (I do not know of commercial sources for the first four, but wanted to list them as Patrick Worley, passionfruit hybridizer extrordinaire, recommended them for this area).
Passiflora ÂCoral GlowÂ or ÂCoral SeasÂ for cooler coastal summers, P. ÂElizabethÂ, P. ÂPurpleTigerÂ when cross pollinated by P. caerulea, P. ligularis - likes cool weather, not self fruitful, not in container, Passiflora edulis: Â FredericksÂ, Black KnightÂ, ÂFrostyÂ, and 'Nancy Garrison'"

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Comments (11)

kiwinut
16 years ago
All three will likely be hardy for you. I have only grown Incense and Elizabeth. Incense will bloom all summer, while Elizabeth will bloom in spring and late summer into fall, but usually not during the long days of summer. Elizabeth survived here one winter, coming back from the roots like Incense, but died later when voles ate the roots.
louisianamark
16 years ago
I have Incense and Blue Eyed Susan. They are very similar (Blue eyed Susan is Incense x edulis I think), but I prefer the Blue Eyed Susan. It is a bit darker and has more contorted filaments than Incense, but it doesn't flower as much or grow as vigorously. The vigor of Incense is pretty impressive.

Mark
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amycjes
Original Author
16 years ago
Louisanamark, thanks for this insight. I remember Incense being so vigorous that it was almost invasive-- but so gorgeous I didn't really care. I don't know that less vigor is a bad thing in this case, as I want to grow other vines in the same area...guess I'll find out. When you say it doesn't "flower as much"--when is the peak flowering? Is it still a reliable bloomer?
eviebr99
16 years ago
I have a blue eyed susan, and it's pretty vigorous in our climate...grows like crazy (we even have shoots coming up in random places in our yard) and blooms nearly year round (march-november/december)
louisianamark
16 years ago
My Blue Eyed Susan is a first year plant in a container, so it may still be adjusting. I got it two or three months ago from Logees. I would be quite pleased if it turns out to be as vigorous as Incense. It had a couple of blooms 2 weeks ago, and is ready to start blooming again in a week or so. So far it is taking our south Louisiana heat and humidity.

Mark
louisianamark
16 years ago
Amy,

I was able to get a pic of both Blue Eyed Susan and Incense side by side today. I don't know if the URL link will work, since it accesses the pic that I posted on Dave's garden. If it doesn't, just e-mail me from my member page, and I'll send the photo. If you can see the photo, Blue Eyed Susan is on the left, and Incense is on the right.

Mark

Here is a link that might be useful: Blue Eyed Susan and Incense
catsndog_optonline_net
15 years ago
Hello,
This question is a bit off topic but still related. I happen to have all three mentioned and I would like to know if any (which ones?) are edible? I know that edulis is supposed to be the edible variety but I also know that some passifloras are dangerous to eat. Since eating passifloras is something I wish to do (and I do have several which are clearly for consumption) finding this out is paramount. I have found conflicting answers thus far.
Thanks,
Jill
Any answers are appreciated.
Ethane Zizyphus
15 years ago
The majority of passionfruit are safe to eat. The ones that aren't are usually small and will smell bad. If you want to be safe, don't eat it unless you know what it is. There's a lot of bad information on this floating around the internet, with people claiming that more are poisonous than really are. Unripe fruit of some can be dangerous, so make sure you eat the ripe ones, which will fall off of the vine. If you have questions about a particular variety, you can ask here.
passionlove
15 years ago
Well, I have the Incense and I also have the Inspiration. Both the Inspiration and Incense are vigorous and seem to flower late Spring and summer here. The Inspiration is supposed to be an improvement over the Incense and does not have that virus that the incense is known for. I think that the Inspiration is very similar to Blue Eyed Susan.

Passiflora Inspiration was introduced by R. Fischer
Passiflora Blue Eyed Susan was introduced by R. Fischer and Carolee Anita Boyles.
louisianamark
15 years ago
Hi Jill,

I have Incense and Blue-Eyed Susan. My Incense had 17 fruits last year, and 4 this year. It does not readily produce fruit--I had to bud pollinate to get the ones I did. The fruit does not look or smell edible (nothing like incarnata for example), and I have never tasted it. My Blue-Eyed Susan has never put out any fruit--I read somewhere that it is a tetraploid (which would mean it is sterile). I have tried pollinating it numerous times without luck. If you're looking for edible passies, I would stick to incarnata and edulis. There are some others that are edible, and I think some are poisonous. I believe the MacDougal and Ulmer book has a list of edible ones.

Mark