I realize I'm starting my Nurture Native Nature blog by writing a handful of posts on the same subject. I’m a bit obsessive so thoroughness is part of my style, but in this case, it’s intentional. I have so much to say about passionflower vine (passiflora incarnata) because it’s helped me understand the importance just one plant can have on our local environment….and hopefully it will help anyone who is just starting out gardening for nature, not man.
If you want to add a vine to your landscape with the goal to have a big impact nurturing nature in your yard, plant the only host plant for gulf fritillary caterpillars: purple passionflower vine (passiflora incarnata).
The. Only. Host. Plant.
This means the impact of planting passionflower vine will directly nurture the abundance and survival of gulf fritillary butterflies in your area. The most important thing to look for when buying a passionflower vine is to find the native passionflower (passiflora incarnata) from a native plant nursery, NOT one of the tropical passionflower hybrids found at traditional nurseries. A gulf fritillary may still lay its eggs on a non-native vine (common non-native names: passiflora caerulea or biflora), but the caterpillars (cats) will die because they can’t eat the tropical vines.
I can promise the gulf fritillaries will find a passionflower vine if it's planted in a chemical free yard (pesticides will kill the butterflies and their cats). From late summer until early November here in Georgia gulf fritillary butterflies are dancing around my yard every day creating generations of cats munching away on my passiflora incarnata. If everyone planted just one passionflower vine somewhere on their property, imagine what an enchanting sight it would be to see gulf fritillaries flitting from yard to yard from August until November!