Passion and Poison In The Central District
Seattlest is a covert eater of plants from other people's gardens. Being the owner of less than a foot of growing space in our apartment window box, we covet large yards with sprawling rosemary bushes and have been known to snip off a sprig or two when roasting a chicken.
Last week, while walking between Central District and the ID, we passed a wall of beauty. Hundreds of small orange fruits hung from vines wrapped around an iron railing, with purple passion flowers, spiraling tendrils, and copious fruit covering a stone wall. Though we've seen passion flowers all around Seattle, this was the first time we've ever seen fruit. Breaking one open, we exposed the deep purple red flesh. The flavor was slightly sweet, floral, with the texture of the crunchy seeds -- less intense than the tart berry flavor of store bought passion fruit. Then we realized we might be poisoned.
A few days later, after noticing no ill effects, we returned to take photographs of the fruit, only to be caught by the owner of the yard. She, though initially confused why people were standing across the street photographing her house, quickly grew friendly.
"Bring a bucket," she said, admitting that she didn't like the fruit. "Fill it up!" Though we were still nervous about the possible toxicity, she assured us that her husband eats the pulp on his cereal every morning. She said she had bought passion flower plants from two different sources, which might be why they were bearing fruit, and that they had "taken over" the front of her yard. Given that passion fruit is indigenous to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, we suspect that this street, 15th, between Fir and Spruce, is located in a balmy microclimate.
