It is true that sometimes nursery employees don't know much about the plants they are selling. Yes, GFs will lay eggs on the P. ceurulea. In fact, last year they seemed to prefer the P. ceurulea over the P. 'Lavendar Lady' I also have. However, they Variegated Frits will only lay eggs on P. incarnata and perhaps its cultivars. Hope this helps! Susan

Longwings, like gulf frits, zebra longwings and julias, also variegated frits, will lay their eggs on most ALL passionvines, including the tropical ones from South America - apparently, they're close enough to our natives that the butterflies think they're okay. The reason we don't use most of the red-flowering ones, which, as far as I know are all South American tropicals, is that, even though the females will sometimes lay their eggs on these vines, the caterpillars will die after eating the leaves. The leaves are either too toxic for them or they have rough hairs on their undersides that kill the cats. There are SO many types of passiflora in the world, and to complicate matters, there are even more types of hybrids on the market. That's why we listed in the FAQ - I think we did - the ones that we know from personal experience will get eggs laid on them by the above mentioned butterflies and will also nourish them all the way to pupation and make perfect butterflies. In addition, even though all the passionvines I have in my garden or on my property are the type that will successfully grow gulf frits, VFs, etc., there are some passionvines that these butterflies prefer, that is, they lay their eggs on them as long as there are leaves of that type available, then use other types. The favorite passionvine for gulf frits, zebra longwings, and variegated frits, by far, is passiflora incarnata. As long as there is a single p. incarnata leaf left on the vines without a caterpillar or egg on it, they'll lay eggs on it. After the p. incarnata is all gone, they'll use my p. caerulea, p. biflora, and p. lutea. I'm continuing to plant more p. incarnata on various parts of my property, just because it's so popular! MissSherry

Jayme, I would love to strike up a trade. I am not sure what you will find on my list that is different, you have an awesome collection of passiflora. I do have some things you may be interested in, please check out and see. Here is a link to my tradelist.... Here is a link that might be useful: My tradelist

That's a great suggestion, Angie! Unfortunately I won't be able to get down to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center next weekend for their sale. I've been trying to plan another trip to the TX Hill Country with my wife, and I'd love to include the Center in the travel itinerary in any event, but it looks like the soonest that could happen is more than a week later. Probably we'll miss an awful lot of the bloom because of the delay, too. Aargh! Say, if you will be attending the sale and happen to reach the P. lutea a bit earlier this time, perhaps you could pick up a specimen for me as well as however many for yourself? (No P. affinis for me, though.) I would repay you, of course, and consider myself as owing you a great debt besides! It occurs to me that I might even be able to return the favor the following weekend. I'm planning to attend the Heard Museum's (McKinney) native plant sale then, and perhaps there will be something there that you would like me to pick up for you. If so I'd be delighted! I've been told that they don't necessarily have all of the plants on their advertised list (see pdf link below for list) and as in Austin things tend to go quickly - which is why I plan to become a member so I can go to the sale's opening night :^] - but I can give it my best try, anyway! Why don't you look over the list and see if anything catches your eye? If you're interested in this idea, let's take it to e-mail. I don't get e-mail sent to me through GardenWeb for some unknown reason, but you can contact me directly at the address below. Gerry gbin@zoo.ufl.edu Here is a link that might be useful: Heard Museum native plant sale list