Morning Glories

[Chad-K]

Anyone else love morning glories as much as I do?!

My obsession started 3 years ago when my mom planted a few morning glory seeds. That summer Heavenly Blue morning glories covered her front porch. I became hooked!

Last year I planted some morning glory seeds. I grew Blue Star, Flying Saucer, Scarlet O Hara, Crimson Rambler, Star of Yelta and Milky Way. I also grew some purple and pink ones that my mom called the old fashioned ones. I loved them all, but my favorite had to be Blue Star.

Then, last winter I found out about Japanese morning glories! I bought some online.

This year I grew most of what I mentioned above and some Japanese morning glories. I cant remember the names of them all, but I do know one is the "chocolate" variety and I also had the dark pink Mt. Fuji. Absolutely beautiful!

Here is a picture of one morning glory that did very well this year. This pink one is the kind that my mom calls the old fashioned type.

[Chad-K]

Star of Yelta also did very well for me this year.



I think the pink ones and the Star of Yelta did so well because they re-seeded and I left them alone and let nature do the rest.

[opabinia51]

Mornign Glory has very pretty flowers that also attract beneficial insects to gardens. I love how they look but, where I live; they are SOOOOOO invasive.

They are actually a really, really, really pesky weed. Even when I try to keep on top of them they just take over my vegetable garden. It's crazy. I just can't seem to get on top of them.

What are they like (as far as invasiveness is concerned) in your region Chad?

Thanks for the photos, they are very beuatiful! If the darned things weren't so invasive, I'd plant them as well but, I have enough trouble just trying to keep them at bay.

[Chad-K]

The only wild morning glory in my area is called bindweed, I think. It has white flowers. The weed only lasts during the summer, the winter kills it. I don't think I have ever seen anyone have bindweed in their yard or garden, I mostly see it along creek banks and near swamp areas or wetlands and along country roads in the bright hot sun. Bindweed is in the Convolvulus family.

The rest of the morning glories are not invasive at all. In fact, the morning glories that are usually grown in these parts, the Ipomoea family, would be greatly appreciated if they were a little invasive and lasted longer. The only time in my area that we get to enjoy these wonderful flowers is from July till about the end of September. They are usually planted after our last frost for best results which is in the middle of May and it takes them a little while to get started but once they do they are fairly quick climbers and should start blooming by July. We really only have about 3 months of bloom time in my area.

This year we had a hot and dry summer. Although morning glories are supposed to be drought tolerant and do well neglected, I actually had to water them this summer and everyone I know had slow morning glories this year. It was not the best summer in my area for morning glories. The ones that I do have I cherish!

You should really try growing some morning glories from the Ipomoea family. Just pick a small empty area and put up a trellis or some support of some kind at least 6 feet tall or taller and plant a few seeds around it and see if you like it. If not, just cut the vine down before any seeds can develop. In my area we collect the seeds once they dry, which some are ready right now, but others wont be ready till sometime in October. I also leave some seeds on the vine and let mother nature do her thing. The morning glory seeds fall to the ground and wait for spring, they then sprout and grace us with their presence for another season.

I recommend Blue Star! Or even Milky Way or the ones you see pictured above! Any morning glory from the Ipomoea family is excellent!

[Chad-K]

Heavenly Blue is the most popular morning glory to grow. I highly recommend it!

[grandpasrose]

What beautiful morning glories! I love morning glories too Chad, and plant them every year. I don't have any problem with them being invasive, but that is probably because of the cold temperatures we have in winter. We do have bindweed as you do though!!
I have started my morning glories in the house the last couple of years so that I can get an earlier start for the bloom.
Gorgeous photos!
VAL

[ddensmore]

Hey Chadk,
Did you collect seeds from your Japanese morning glories? I was wondering if you had whether you would like to do some garden trading. I would love to try some of the Japanese varieties. If you did not harvest seed, could you direct me to a good online source to purchase some of these seeds?
Thanks,
ddensmore

[Chad-K]

Im sorry, I only collected a few seeds from my Japanese morning glories. Those varieties did not do too well this year, I think it was a mix of the weather and where I planted them. Better luck next year!

I got mine from Ebay. You have to be careful though, bid carefully and know that you are confident you trust the seller and agree with the price. It can be expensive, but I got some good deals last year. Even if you can only afford to by one type of Japanese morning glory, its worth it.

[SNOWWOLF]

HI!

I myself love these vibrant little flowers! Each year I plant new seeds(or wait for the ones Mother planted in my beds grow and grace the front of my apartment. Moon glories are also nice when you want a night bloomer to fill in the gaps after the sun sets. I often collect seeds from my vines(they often reach several feet longer than is mentioned on seed packets and sites for these plants).Last year along i gathered more than 2oz worth of seed and still had enought o leave on the old vines for nature to deal with onits own.

Biggest problem here(central florida) is being sure they get sufficient water during the hottest months of the year(july thru september) but they start as early as the end of feb and bloom through most of the year.

[Guest]

i love morning glories too i had about 200 seeds gave to me planted around my fence line hope they grow up my fence as they are nice i live in otterville ontario in zone 5a

[Flowerlover]

I, too, love morning glories. On our farm, many years ago, they grew wild and were beautiful! My husband hated them, because they choked our soy bean crop. Now, we have no farm and I can't get the things to grow in my garden! I planted some seeds last year, and the year before. They looked almost sickly, compared to the beautiful ones entwining around our soy bean plants!

[Durgan]

http://xrl.us/oypa

11 July 2006. The morning glory vines give a beautiful shade for the deck. The vegetation is excellent this year, and it is starting to flower. One can get more flowers if kept relatively dry and no rich soil, but I use it for shade, so treat it well. There will be many different coloured flowers later in the season. The trellis is 8 feet high and 12 feet long.

http://xrl.us/pad5
21 July 2006. Ir rained yesterday, and the Morning Glory plants responded.



Durgan.

[Newt]

Here in my zone 7 garden I have discovered seeds that have been in the ground for 5 years have sprouted. The seeds stay viable for a very long time.

Newt

[lillieyflower]

i to love them , i live in tampa, fl. and it gets so hot..... i have planted them for 2 years now, and never have got them to look half as good as all of yalls.....i do not know what i am doing wrong......thay never have many leaves and allways look like thay are going to die and not to many flowers eather......can anyone help me ? please....... i have allmost said forget it i can not grow this..... p.s. all the pics are so pretty it makes me want to cry when i look at mine....

[lillieyflower]

i to love them , i live in tampa, fl. and it gets so hot..... i have planted them for 2 years now, and never have got them to look half as good as all of yalls.....i do not know what i am doing wrong......thay never have many leaves and allways look like thay are going to die and not to many flowers eather......can anyone help me ? please....... i have allmost said forget it i can not grow this..... p.s. all the pics are so pretty it makes me want to cry when i look at mine....

[dorothydot]

The cultivated Morning Glories are delightful. They're why several dance tunes have been written in their honor.

But bindweed (wild white morning glories) is a pita. Birds planted it in my garden from their perch on our chain-link fence. By the end of the summer, we had a whole waterfall of green bindweed vines sprinkled with the white morning glory flowers.

Never did get rid of it. When we sold our house, we just cut it off at ground level and laid newspapers then black plastic trash bags over top, held down with stones so no one could see'em. Seemed to work - got a decent price for the house.

[Tansy]

Hi! I'm new to the forum, and also a MG lover. I like to grow new ones each year. This year I tried Grandpa Ott, and Crimson Rambler. Grandpa Ott will be one I will definitely grow again. My all time favorite is Heavenly Blue and seeing your picture, it makes me wish I had grown them again this year. The Crimson Rambler has been slow to take off, and I'm still waiting for the first bloom.
Your photo's are beautiful!

[Dolores Moffett]

I to love them , I live in tampa, fl. and it gets so hot..... I have planted them for 2 years now, and never have got them to look half as good as all of yalls.....I do not know what I am doing wrong......thay never have many leaves and allways look like thay are going to die and not to many flowers eather......can anyone help me ? please....... I have allmost said forget it I can not grow this..... p.s. all the pics are so pretty it makes me want to cry when I look at mine....

I live in Central Florida, Davenport. My Morning Glory vine in lush but,
it has not bloomed. I have tried to fertilze, but, still no bloom.
Have you had any luck?

[lillgardnr]

i grew them for first time this year...i cant say how happy they made me...they were easy to grow. needed little water and are so beautiful...i think i'll grow them every year now....and would love to try all sorts of kinds....
[img][img]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o294/mikeswaynow/morninggl.jpg[/img][/img]

[Coneflower]

Gorgeous Llllgardner!

[lillgardnr]

thanks... I'm having a great time growing these girls. took my mind away from my tiny carrots, and stunted corn ....

[Denise]

I'm in zone 6 and they don't seem to die. I planted them years ago and ended up trying to pull them up after a couple of years, because they took over. Every year I start getting them shooting up in places I never planted them, and usually pull them before they can get too big. This year I just let them come. They came up in my dark burgundy mum bush, but I draped them over the fence, and they just look lovely. It's the funniest thing though----I have pink AND blue on the same vine. People have commented on them, so I guess I'll let them come up from now on.

[lillgardnr]

i hope mine come back without replanting....then i could try out a new type too...now im planning areas for them to be... such a nice backdrop.....

[MotherNature]

I had some that came back every year for about four years... MG are some of my favorite!

I'm getting ready to plant some in front of a portion of fence that is a bit of an eyesore for some beautiful coverup.

[Marion]

I too love Morning Glories, especially, Heavenly Blue. I have two photos of them growing up my arbor in the flower garden last year. I planted a whole lot this spring, their on their way up...can't wait for them to bloom.






Hope the photos show up..????

[yer mom]

I too am obsessed - I'm the crazy plant lady in the neighborhood!!
I have 6 varieties started inside my house on the north coast of CA - Pastel Star, Scarlet O'Hara, Heavenly Blue, Candy Pink, Star of Yelta and my favorite - Picotee Blue. (If you have never seen it, google the image it is amazing!)

Just had a question for anyone - I am almost afraid to put them outside because I have read that they are invasive and hard to get rid of.
I have read that they can kill trees and pop up eveywhere choking prized plants!

[LeviathanGirl]

I know this is an old thread, but I thought maybe a bit of a revival might help with a problem I've now had for 2 years. I've been growing morning glories for many years now and last year I tried one of the japanese varieties, Picotee Blue. At the time I was living in Fayetteville, NC. Only 2 of the 12 seeds I aquired grew and, while my other varieties flourished, they seemed stunted. They stayed short for a long time and the leaves were rumpled and twisted. Eventually they started to grow, but only reached 3 feet. They produced less than 12 flowers each plant and by the time I had to move they wernt ready to harvest seeds. I have no idea why they came out that way and I thought maybe this year I'd have better luck.

I am now back home in WA state and this year I aquired 2 packets of the seeds from the same source as I did last year, Livingston Seed Co.(as I havent been able to find them anywhere else). I planted the seeds from one packet and decided to save the other packet to plant later for later blooming flowers, all but 2 of the seeds grew. I did this in early March. Here it is the end of June and the plants are again stunted, the leaves are not twisted and rumpled as much this year, but the plants themselves are no more than 5 inches tall if that, though one plant has grown a daring 3 feet. They receive no different care than the rest of my morning glories, which are flourishing as usual, and I am wondering if it may be the source from which I get them thats the problem. If this is the case then where can I get better quality seeds? The flowers of Picotee Blue are my favorite and I'd really like to continue growing them.

This year I also ordered some Milky Way seeds, however they took well over a month to get to me and I am just now getting them in the ground, I hope they do allright considering the late planting date.

[a0c8c]

I'm having similar problems. I planted around 2 dozen morning glories and only about 7 made it, the heat literally burned up the rest in 2 days, but they don't really reach that high. I've read they reach 15ft but mine have been growing for 2 months and are at maybe 5 ft, and some still won't even vine yet, they just sit there with 4 or 5 leaves and stopped. They're supposed to be blooming soon as well, and theres not a single bloom coming in yet.

[Kisal]

Some varieties of morning glories don't grow as tall as others. I'm only familiar with the old Heavenly Blue morning glories, but I remember looking up one called Blue Picotee, or some similar name, and apparently its maximum size is only 5 to 6 feet.

[a0c8c]

I'm not sure about LeviatanGirl, but half of mine planted were Heavenly Blues so I'm still a little confused as to why they're not growing as big. They also aren't as 'bushy' as pictures I've seen, not sure if everyone else plants them closer together or not but I'm only getting around 2-3 vines per plant and the leaves are pretty spread out. The vines are also really thing. I haave another fence ina different are, and the whole thing is covered in vines which look alot like morning glories(same leaves), but have small little white flowers, and they're spreading like wildfire. That's what I wanted my morning glories to do.

[adobo]

I'm not sure if its right to revive this old thread rather than create a redundant topic..

I also love morning glories. Actually I'm obsessed with them especially the Japanese MGs.

is there a perennial morning glory out there given if grown in a location without frost...?

[zmikers]

I have just bought a few morning glory plants, but have a question. I have them in containers and hung them over the side of my balcony as I live on in a rooftop apartment. Will Morning Glory do well hanging down the side of a wall or do they need to be climbing? Thanks in advance.

[cynthia_h]

I'm not sure if its right to revive this old thread rather than create a redundant topic..

I also love morning glories. Actually I'm obsessed with them especially the Japanese MGs.

is there a perennial morning glory out there given if grown in a location without frost...?

Morning glories self-seed so...exuberantly...that they may as well be perennial in mild-winter areas. Be careful: they can become invasive!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[cynthia_h]

I have just bought a few morning glory plants, but have a question. I have them in containers and hung them over the side of my balcony as I live on in a rooftop apartment. Will Morning Glory do well hanging down the side of a wall or do they need to be climbing? Thanks in advance.

I've seen them climb up guy wires to power poles and then horizontally on the wires. At my former house, the morning glories climbed up an old wooden fence, up the garage wall, across the garage roof, down the other garage wall, and then across the neighbor's fence. They were very happy morning glories!

I'd be more worried about them drying out in a hanging container than anything, especially when just starting out. They don't need lots of water, but be sure to monitor the soil. It's easy to forget to monitor the soil of hanging containers, as many of our members have testified.

Cynthia

[zmikers]

Fair enough, the good thing is thery're just above waist level in a basket hanging over the edge of the railing so I can keep a good eye on them. I spend at least an hour a day on my rooftop balcony with all of my other plants; Lady palms, ferns, daisies, red tip photineas, bougainvelleas, chinadolls, assorted herbs and tomato plants, so I'll definitely keep an eye on them too.

So, you think that as long as the soil is ok, the morning glories should be ok hanging down the side of the balcony wall?

PS. I'm currently living in Taipei, Taiwan where the temps are already hitting 27C (85F) and rising daily. Also, my balcony is covered with a frosted glass roof so the light is not too intense but still bright.

Thanks for the advice so far.........

[zmikers]

Sorry, I have on more question about morning glories. I live in Taipei, as i stated above, so I believe it's zone 11. It never frosts, and temperatures MAY dip down to 10C (50F) in the winter. Will morning glory continue to grow and bloom all year'round in this climate, or will in die off due to temperature change?

PS, it does get a little windy and cold on my balcony as it is N/NE facing.

Thanks again!

[cynthia_h]

"Zone 11" conveys no information about how hot it gets during the summer. Morning glories are pretty sturdy vines, but they aren't tested to any extremes here in the Bay Area. My part of the Bay Area may see temps in the 90s F (30s C) regularly, but almost never 100 deg F (38 deg C), so I don't know for sure whether they'll last through such heat.

Maybe other members from normally hot climate zones can tell us?

Cynthia

[brownthumb-babe]

This may have already been answered but since it's a topic about morning glories I figured this would be the right place to put it.

I'm pretty new at this whole gardening thing - as my username states, I have a brown thumb and I'm hoping to turn it into a green thumb. This is my second year with my own, very small herb garden (only 5 herbs) and my first year growing morning glories.

So I have some fabulous morning glories growing on a trellis on the front / side of my house but they seem to be dying. I've gotten a few flowers out of them but other than that, it's mostly leaves and the weird part is that the roots seem pretty sturdy but the middle of the vines are starting to lose their leaves and turn brown. I can't remember how long ago we planted the flowers - at least a year.

I hit it with some all-plant miracle gro a few weeks back and it didn't seem to do much. They're pretty neglected and from what I've read, MGs need to be neglected in order to grow.

Anyone have any ideas on how to help?

Also, I started some seeds in a small container and they've started sprouting. Is now the right time to move them? The packet said that they'll get about 6 feet. Right now, in the container, they're in some mulch / planter mix soil. The mulch does a good job of hanging on to the water so when I transfer my MGs, should I pour some of the mulch in there, too?

If anyone can help me on this, that'd be so great.