Passion Flower Seeds

This evening when I went to WM, I noticed they had their seeds in already. As I was checking them out, I noticed Passiflora seeds. I already have one and would love to have a second, so I had to grab them. I mean look at the flower, who can resist that.


Now that I had the seeds, I figured I better read up a little. Some seeds need a cold period (stratification), some need bottom heat and some need to be roughed up a bit (scarification). These seeds need to soak over night before they are planted. I read that after soaking the seeds in water, the viable ones will sink to the bottom, leaving the dead ones floating.


There is a catch though, Passiflora seeds can take up to a year to germinate, so one must wait at least a year before the seed can be considered a dud. Well of course I have to see this for myself because I have never heard of this before. I have no problem planting both sets of seeds in separate containers and leaving it for a year. I think it would be really interesting too see what happens.


Now on the back of the seed packet it states that germination can take anywhere from 20-45 days. Every site I visited tonight said it can take up to a year. Are these "special" seeds that are guaranteed to grow? Probably not. Either way, someone is misleading someone .


So from seed to flower it can take upwards of 2 years (the seeds can take a year, and I have read that it can take a year to produce it's first flowers). Again I am getting conflicting information. Some say a few months: the seed pack says to plant them 10-12 weeks before the last frost and that it should bloom from July until the first frost. Others say a few years. Shouldn't they have to mention this on the package? I was expecting flowers this year. Most people expect that after planting seeds in the spring, they will see a plant in a few weeks and flowers by the end of the season. If I saw nothing for the entire season, I would assume the seeds were crap. Just a tad misleading I think.

I am still excited to grow them, a little disappointed, but still eager to do it. I didn't realize it could take so long until I read up on them. AND, I wonder if my flower is going to look like the one pictured on the package, the white flower, with the white and pink corolla's. I can't even find another pic that looks somewhat the same. I can find pics that resemble the purplish ones on the package, but I bought them for the pink and white flower. I guess I will see.......in a few months, years, who knows??

**EDIT** 24 hours later, all the seeds have sunk to the bottom, so there is no need to do anything other than plant them.