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Passiflora 'Snow Queen' PP29,608 (Snow Queen Passion Vine) - An attractive vigorous evergreen tendril climbing vine that can reach to 10 feet or more given something to climb upon. The stems are densely covered with 3 inch long shiny dark green deeply 5 lobed (sometimes 3) leaves. Nearly year round in our climate but strongest from late winter through fall appear the nicely scented 4 to 5 inch wide thick and waxy white flowers that are produced in abundance and remain open for several days. As with most passion vines the structure of the flower is quite interesting and evocative of religious symbolism. 'Snow Queen' has nearly pure white petals and sepals that have a hint of green along the margins and long white corolla filaments with five golden stamens and the three stigma lobes richly spotted purple. The sepals also have the typical upcurved awl shaped claw at their tips and the white filaments take on a slight lavender blush in later fall. On occasion it will produce a large decorative green fruit that ripens yellow orange, but this fruit is not palatable.
Plant in full to part sun with regular watering in most any garden soil but prefers those that drain well. It is hardy to at least 20°F (listed to 18°F) and so useful in USDA zone 8b and above. A great passion vine for covering a wall or trellis and can be used in large containers.
This polyploid hybrid (the breeder believes it to be a triploid variety) described as a "pure white beauty" was created in 2007 by passion vine breeder Myles Irvine of Surbiton, Surrey a suburb of London along the River Thames. The pollen parent was an unusually hardy form of Passiflora caerulea and the seed parent was the hybrid 'White Wedding', itself is a tetraploid hybrid created by Roland Fischer and Henk Wouter of Hemer of Germany that was the result of crossing Passiflora caerulea 'Constance Elliott' with P. eichleriana. Passiflora 'Snow Queen' was selected in 2011 from the resulting seedlings because of its long lasting pure white flowers, its vigor and its hardiness. It is similar to 'White Wedding' but with slightly larger flowers, different foliage and is hardier and less prone to virus issues. It also noted as being hardier than and less susceptible to mosaic viruses than the most common white passion vine, Passiflora 'Constance Elliot'.
The name Passiflora comes from the Latin words 'passus' meaning "suffering and 'flos' meaning "a flower" from the Flower of the Passion after Spanish priests in Mexico found that features in the flowers seemed to represent events of the crucifixion of Christ. The three stigmas representing the three nails in Jesus's hands and feet, the many radial filaments represented the Crown of Thorns upon his head, the tendrils represented the whips used to flagellate him, the five anthers represented his five wounds, the ten petals and sepals representing the Apostles (excluding Judas and Peter) and the blue and white color representing Heaven and Purity.
The breeder of 'Snow Queen' notes that the cultivar name honors his friend Natalia Walaszek, who we are guessing may have had the title role the musical play The Snow Queen. It has won numerous awards in Europe and the UK and received Plant Breeders Rights in Europe in 2017 before being granted U.S. Plant Patent PP29,608 in August 2018. It is marketed in the U.S. by PlantHaven, who supplied us with cuttings for our first crop in July 2019. We offered this plant from 2020 until 2022.
This information about Passiflora 'Snow Queen' PP29,608 displayed on this web page is based on research we have conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations we have made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how our crops have performed in containers in the nursery field. Where appropriate, we will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.
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