The Joy of Growing Maypops

By Andrew Moore
Published on February 12, 2019
article image
by Wikimedia Commons/Andrew Cannizz
Maypops are native to the temperate, southeastern United States, growing in the wild as far north as southern Illinois and Indiana, and as far west as Kansas and Oklahoma.

When I was given the tiny, black seeds of a maypop a few years ago, I was warned: This plant will absolutely, without question, take over your garden. I heeded the warning to an extent, but I was sure I could manage my plants. After all, could this vine really be such a bully? And, in the ensuing years, has it actually taken over? Turns out, yes, it could; and, yes, it has. This fruit-bearing vine has colonized every square inch of my garden. Yet I’ve never once regretted growing the plant, and that’s for one very simple reason: Maypop vines produce the most beautiful flowers in the world.

Maypop (Passiflora incarnata) — also known as passionflower or passion vine — belongs to a mostly tropical botanical group called the Passifloraceae. The most famous member of this group is the tropical passionfruit (Passiflora edulis), an important commercial crop in many countries. Maypops, however, are native to the temperate, southeastern United States. You can find them growing in the wild as far north as southern Illinois and Indiana, and as far west as Kansas and Oklahoma. I wasn’t sure if the plant would survive at my home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but it’s thrived and proven its vigor in our climate. The perennial vine climbs via tendrils and can reach up to 20 feet in a single season, and its large, three-lobed leaves are ornamental and lush.

But there’s more. The flower bears an edible fruit that tastes quite similar to the tropical passionfruit, a flavor that’s both sweet and pleasantly tart. Wild types can vary in quality, but the fruit I’m growing happens to be excellent, without any off-putting sourness or funk. The largest individual fruit I’ve grown was the size of a tennis ball and weighed 2 1/2 ounces.

To have the ability to grow a tropical-tasting fruit on a gorgeous flowering vine in temperate Pennsylvania is almost too good to be true.

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