Has anyone noticed this?

The leaf munching bugs in my garden seem to have a preference for I purpurea and mostly leave I Nil's alone!

Jon

I see that too, Jon. I think the herbivory is good for the plant. That is, as long as the entire plant is not consumed. What is feeding on your purps, beetles?

Hi Joseph, it seems a combination of jap beetles and slugs. the latter are easy to control.

A photo taken 5am this morning.

That's interesting ... I have the exact opposite problem. Some kind of caterpillar larvae and beetle has been enjoying not only my I. nil leaves/blooms, but also my brug leaves! They haven't touched the I. purpureas at all.

Jon - I don't worry about it too much, as Joseph said, as long as the vine isn't being completely destroyed by the insects, it should do just fine. As the vines age, they tend to get rather raggedy. They are annuals and have a life cycle that only lasts 4-5 months here. Sometimes shorter due to the drought conditions.

Something is taking the clorophyll,sp? out of my lvs, leaving just a see thru pane. Also that bad bug that looks like a golden ladybug is back, eating holes in the lvs exactly her size and shape.

Gee I hope the pests go away, Jackie and Jon. We better put Spiderman on speed dial.

We had a fairly strong earthquake yesterday, no damage to the house but I'm hoping it's shaken some of the bugs off! The rainy season has just started here, slug heaven!

Jon - Oh geez! I forgot about the earthquakes in Japan! Yikes! Glad to hear that you and the family and your home are fine! I love this time of year for gardening, but hate it because of nasty weather conditions that can develop. I've got a really bad feeling about hurricane season this year. The water is soooo warm out in the ocean right now that I bet we get some early storms in July. If El Nino goes away, we are in big trouble here on the east coast of the USA.

pajonica,
Can you tell us how it is you happen to be living in Japan?

Any observations you could send us about morning glory cultivation there would be very interesting.

Do you know the cultivar name for the MG photo you posted above? Where did those seeds come from?

Cibarius - If you are talking about these blooms: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7883356 they probably came from me. You should've gotten some in your seed swap under the name "Purple-blue Flaked" of "Purple Flaked" I. purpurea.