MBN 1Gal Passiflora eduli 'Nancy Garrison'

‘Nancy Garrison’ NANCY'S PURPLE PASSIONFRUIT

this fast, easy variety has repeatedly proven to be either

daylength neutral or is very chill-sensitive as far as flower

initiation. It provides us with fruit all year here in our

production blocks. Similar strains are ‘Frederick,’ ‘Black

Knight’ and ‘Purple Possum,’ all of which vary in different

details but are often touted as being superior. In spite of

those I keep coming back to this variety as the most reliable

producer of good, high quality fruit. This variety originated

as a seedling I selected from plants grown from seeds sent to

the CRFG Seed Exchange by Nancy Garrison from the Santa Clara

UC Ag Extension Field Station. The parent donor plant

originated from cuttings taken from a very old, untended plant

found by Nancy in the yard of a farm house donated to the city

of San Jose. That original plant reportedly survived 25°F

without damage, and recovered quickly from the all-time record

low temperatures of December 1990 (~20F and lower), fruiting

by late spring or early summer of 1991 according to Nancy.

Brazil. This is actually a strain as opposed to a genetically

identical clone or cultivar as we've had to reselected this

several times again from seed ourselves in order to escape the

obnoxious and highly transmissible Carla Virus, which

definitely is detrimental to growth and fruit production, and

appears to almost ubiquitous in passionflower cultivars in the

trade. Very careful precautions and procedures must be

followed to stop or limit its transmission, most importantly

always using freshly cleaned and bleached clippers for any

pruning or cutting of any kind. Ever! Protect from frost, USDA

zone 9/Sunset zones 9, 16-17, 21-24. rev 1/2019