Passion Fruit

Ah, tried to get a shot of what is in the second photo, yesterday (top image). What I called a pod is actually Passion Fruit. After a fruitless search Identifying California Flowers by color, I searched for California vine flowers. Spotted my mysterious new flower, right away by images that came up with the search result.

I am hoping that Mr. Manager does not get the guys to come whacking away all the foliage growing along the fence. The greenery with pickers and pretty yellow flowers has been growing like wildfire. I went out one morning chopping it down so the tendrils hanging almost to complex wall would not grab hold of my clothing or hair. Still some work to do on that ~ they are growing across the sidewalk.

When I first moved here, I would braid the vines around the fence and each other, forcing them to grow down or upwards, away from walk area. Then neighbor John moved in next door. Nosy neighbor John. And Mr. Manager had a padlock put on back gate. It used to be easy to clip, braid, discard, back inside to do some more. Now I need to make sure I have a key.

One day when I was working on those vines last year, I hung padlock on fence. Neighbor Mike, had a hissy fit. I pointed out that the padlock was well away from the gate and I had a scissors ~ let someone try to grab it. I guess he thought a person could grab the chain.

Anyway, I am excited about the possibility of picking some Passion Fruit ~ do not think I ever tasted it, except perhaps in a mixed fruit can I bought at Indonesian store I used to shop at with nephew's wife.

Now that I know what my new flower is, I was able to learn (and likely forget) a little about Passion Fruit. The plants are native to South American countries. Rare, I think, that they would show up in Long Beach. Yet when I viewed the image that came up in a search, an article comment said she (or he) had them in Long Beach back yard ~ lasted more than 2 - 7 years, hard to get rid of. Why ever would anyone want to get rid of such beautiful flowers!