Black Beauty

Black Beauty is the most widely available purple passionfruit variety for NZ home gardens and the safest all-round choice for most of the country. It is a self-fertile, vigorous evergreen vine producing masses of tangy, purple-skinned fruit with intensely flavoured golden pulp, starting to bear around 18 months after planting. The fruit ripens from summer through to autumn, typically February to June, and is at its sweetest once the skin begins to wrinkle. New Zealand's commercial passionfruit industry began in Kerikeri in 1927, and the purple passionfruit remains the most commercially important variety. Black Beauty performs well across most of NZ but prefers a frost-free, warm, sunny position with shelter from wind. Provide a sturdy trellis or fence for the vine to climb. Plant in free-draining soil rich in organic matter. The NZ Passionfruit Growers Association represents the industry.