Kid in a Candy Shop: Tuesday Lagniappe

There are three times I get that feeling of being a "kid in a candy shop" and I think they are co-equal in creating this feeling:
1. When I am in an actual candy shop, especially one that has really excellent chocolates;
2. When I am in a top-notch art supply store surrounded by all that paper, canvas and colors and
3. When I am in a plant nursery.
Well OK, there are four:
4. When a plant I have waited for does what I have been waiting for it to do.
Well, there are probably more than that, as I am lucky to have this feeling often!
I planted a passionflower (Passiflora icarnata) a year ago. I built a beautiful trellis for it, out of bamboo and dried vines, in June. I watched it grow and twine...and produce sterile flower buds, one after another, after a dozen....and today, September 19, 2011, a half dozen, beautiful, large, awe-inspiring flowers erupted from it.
Passionflowers are...er...one of my passions. The flower was said to represent the Passion of the Christ, not earthly passions (though it inspires those too). Look at the photo and see if you can identify the Christ on the cross, the crown of thorns and the whips used on Christ. See the Wikipedia entry for more details at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora on this fascinating flower and its culture and history.
For me the passionflower is lovely, exotic and pleasurable....though take heed, once you have it, it will spread....
Happy, passionate gardening!