Maypops or Purple Passionflowers (Passiflora incarnata) open up around midday. Each flower only blooms for a singly day and it’s fun to watch them open up in real-time too. This native perennial vine is common in roadsides, forest edges, fence lines, and disturbed areas across the southeastern US. It also grows well in flower gardens, but it can spread quickly in open sunny spots. I grow Maypops in my garden and I enjoy watching carpenter bees and gulf fritillaries visit it’s beautiful flowers a

Maypops or Purple Passionflowers (Passiflora incarnata) are blooming in gardens, roadsides, and forest edges across the southeastern US. Eastern Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa virginica) are a common pollinator of this native plant. These bees have a shiny black abdomen, unlike the hairy abdomen of bumblebees. As a bee takes in nectar, the top of its thorax rubs against the flower’s anthers, depositing pollen on its back. When this carpenter bee visits another plant, some of the pollen may be transfer

Maypops or Purple Passionflowers (Passiflora incarnata) are blooming now in roadsides and forest edges across the Piedmont. Eastern Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa virginica) are a common pollinator of this native plant. As the bees take in nectar, their backs are dusted with yellow pollen from the rectangular male anthers. When the bees visit other flowers, some of this pollen may be transferred to the sticky, knobbed female stigmas. This cross-fertilization results in the fragrant passion fruits prod