Wild Passion Vines

I have looked for years for them growing wild on our property and could never find any. A few days ago, I found tons of them in our pasture!!!! They have nothing to trail on- just growing flat on the ground. I would love to have these in my garden.
Should I try to dig up and re-pot some of the vines when the weather gets cooler, or should I save the seeds??
And how would I go about saving the seeds? I have had one growing in a pot for over 2 years and it has NEVER bloomed for me. WHY???

Thanks for any help in advance!!!!!

I would dig up some small shoots and transplant them to where you want them. Keep them watered until they have rooted in well and then I would still water some for the rest of this year. Next year, you will have them, but watch out....you might have more than you bargained for. I've heard that they can send out runners all over the place.

Brugie is right. Some species can be invasive in some parts of the US. The lack of blooming can sometimes be attributed to the type of fertilizer used. In this case they grow like crazy in foilage and vining but no blooms. I have read that a blooming plant is a stressed plant so you have to actually stress the plant a bit to induce it to bloom. Maybe let the leaves wilt a bit between waterings and also check into the type of fertilizer your using. Your wild one (most likely P. Incarnata) is easy to take cuttings from. If you decide to collect seeds, you must collect the fruit when it comes off the vine almost by itself or minimal pull. Or even better, when they have fallen off of the vine and are rotting on the ground around the vine. The seeds are a bit of a task to seperate from the fruit pulp, UNLESS....

I have red that people take the fruit and smash it up in water and remove the large chunks of fruit without and mix and smash the smaller pieces of pulp in with the seed and water. Then you take a strainer and strain the pulp and seeds that have settled to the bottom of the container of water. You then take the mixture of pulp and seeds collected in the strainer and lay them on newspaper and spread them out as thinly as you can. Let them dry and you should be able to easily pick the dried seeds from the dried pulp once they have been given time to dry.

To store them, use damp but not wet sand in a small platic zippy and put them in the fridge (don't let them freeze). This prolongs/extends their shelf-life. The moisture in the sand prevents them from drying out. It is when they dry out to a certain point that they die or get to the point that they are no longer viable. If you keep them moist as mentioned above they reportedly germinate a lot faster too. I hope this helps. Good luck. BTW, this (P. Incarnata) is one that you can actually take tuber/root cuttings from too. Seeds would be easier, cuttings would be a way to get a plant that would mature to blooming size faster. Root cuttings I can't comment on because I've never done it. I personally would just do cuttings.

Thanks for all the great advice.
I knew they were invasive, so that is why the one I have is in a hanging basket. I have never fertilized it, though. Maybe it doesn't get enough sun???

I think I'm gonna dig up a few, pot them and keep them watered. I will keep you all posted.

Thanks again!!!

Good luck berrygirl. When you smash the fruit pulp with the seeds in the water. The seeds should sink to the bottom and most of the pulp float to the top. You can pour the excess water with the floating pulp before you strain the seeds.

It's hard to say why it may not be blooming. You may be on the right track to think that it may be lack of sun. Good luck and I hope you find a solution. Water CAN play a key role in blooms or lack of blooms. Keep us posted.