Hi all--
I have a million questions and this seems to be the best place to put them. I want to get some height to my soon-to-be CG, and cover a brick wall, and a recent thread had some wonderful pink morning glories. I just checked my seed stash and I have Japanese Morning Glories.
Can anybody describe the differences between the JMG and the regular ones? Not only the bloom differences, but the plant habit, too. Japanese morning glories seem to be more popular on the seed exchange than the regular ones, and I wondered why.
I also wondered if morning glory seedlings in general are easy to identify, and easy to pull out. In the back of my mind, the word "invasive" is screaming at me. If they are invasive, are there other kinds of vines that grow really well but are not invasive? Something faster growing with more coverage than a hybrid Clematis, for example. Could I deadhead a morning glory so it doesn't set seed?
Do they really close in the daytime? Are there (m)any that stay open longer?
Do they come true from seed?
Is there any morning glory that would grow on the north side of a board fence?
Told you I had a lot of questions! Let's just get a morning glory discussion going here....you don't have to know the answers to all the questions I am posing, just tell us how you grow them, or even why you quit growing them.
Thanks!
Suzy
Morning Glories !!!!
Suzy, I have had good luck and bad luck with Morning Glories. They are an annual for me I've never had them reseed for me, if I want them I have to start with new seed each spring. I have nicked the hard seed coat with a file and soaked them before planting. I really love the Heavenly Blue. And they do close up in the late morning, early afternoon. Some gardeners plant Moon Flowers with them that will bloom in the evening.
Personally, I have started growing Clematis where I use to grow MG. They are much more reliable for me.
Chris
This message was edited Nov 11, 2006 12:09 PM
Japanese Morning Glories tend to be larger, but not always. They often have varigated foliage which is pretty even when they are not in bloom. They tend to only form seeds very late in the season, while the common morning glories form many more and for a longer time. I got very few seeds off my JMG this year because we had an early frost. Next year, I will try to start them earlier inside the house. There is lots of information and photo on the morning glory forum. Here is a photo of all the Mg's I grew last year. The very bottom one is the one that grow over my garage. It is an Ipomoea purpurea. Maybe Crimson Rambler. Ipomoea purpurea's tend to reseed easily at least around here but they are easy to pull up when small. 2 or 3 will cover a large area. Most of the rest in this photo are Japanese Morning Glories or Ipomoea nil. Some grow 6-7 inches in diameter or more. They tend to be more fragile as far as wind damage goes. The only one that is not is the white one on the far left with the wine center. It is an Ipomoea pandurata, which is like a wild sweet potato vine and is a perennial here, growing back from the large tuber like roots. If you go to the plantfiles and type morning glory in the common name space, you will find pages of different types of morning glories. It is a very interesting group of plants.
Susan
This message was edited Nov 11, 2006 1:17 PM
Another thing to think about is when you want the vines to add color to your garden. Morning glories like heat and don't really start to grow until it is hot. The first blooms will be mid to late summer and last into fall. Many Clematis bloom early and may also rebloom later in the season. I have 4 of the Jackmanii ones and they are in full bloom by the first of June when there is not a whole lot going on in my garden. They bloom for a long time and rebloom on and off all summer and into fall. Here they are with a pink asiatic lily.
loncolniness, great questions which I don't have answers for but I do know that if you post in the MG forum you will definately get the right answers. There are several people there with most of the answers to MGs and lots of offers for seed trades too.
They're like the rest of DG folks, absolutely terrific!
I planted a mega-mix of morning glories (at least half a dozen named varieties plus seeds from several "mixed MG" trade packs) at the back of my new bed along the neighbor's fence this summer. I didn't want them to overgrow his fence too much, so I also planted a bunch of different sunflowers for the MGs to climb. The effect was wonderful! Unfortunately, a summer storm that came out of the "wrong" direction blew down the whole shebang before blooming was over. That will teach me to put in some stakes and twine!
I'm planting clematis, a climbing rose, and some Hibiscus syriacus along the fence now, but I'll bet the MGs will come back next year (I know I didn't manage to harvest all the seeds!), and maybe some sunflowers will reseed too, or I'll just sow some more... It will take a while for the perennials to grow in, and meanwhile we'll have MG & sunnies back there to enjoy!
I wondered at first also about MGs being invasive, because we have this wild morning glory sort of thing that's one of our worst weeds... but from what I've been told, invasive reseeding isn't a problem except maybe in the south, so you & I should be fine.
I think MG's belong in a cottage garden almost by definition! ;-)
Susan, your JMG's are glorious -- and what a wonderful way to compose a "group shot" of them!!
Susan, what is the name of the large blue with the pink throat? Is that Granpa Otts? Is that right...it is late may have the name spelled wrong..lol...anyway I have some mg seed and am trying to figure out what they look like, so I will know where I want to put them next year..I have really been enjoying seeing your gardens on a couple of these threads! It is beautiful!
Thanks,
JanetS
Well, I sort of lost interest in MGs and was just ready to bite the bullet on more than several $10.00 clematises when you gave me the idea of the sunflowers, so I am back on. In other words, I have no idea what I'm doing.
Morning Glories are cheap. Bloom late in the year. Might reseed. Grow rampantly. Close up when? I don't even know what time of day they bloom! They are open in the morning, but close at noon or thereafter? Then they open at sun up the next day? Like a part-time flower?
Clematis are expensive. Bloom early - mid & late. Won't reseed (for all practical purposes.) Take more than one season to get established. Are slower. Are expensive. Yeah, I know, Iput it down twice because compared to seed, they are very, very expensive.
That about it? That part-time flower thing might be a problem for me.
Suzy
I figure my morning glories & sunflowers will fill things in while the clematis get established. Some MG blooms seem to stay open longer than others (maybe especially the Japanese ones? not sure), but the sunflowers will also give you something fun to look at. I thought the combination was a good one... but a little staking and tying may be in order, unless the sunflowers are like the mammoth ones that the birds planted for me out near the veggie garden -- wowza, those were more like trees!
I've bought several clematis from Brushwood Nurseries, and they were big, strappin' plants... some blooms even the first year, and by the second year, stand back! I've also picked some up (bare root) from Wayside and most recently from a spring clearance at the Park wholesale site... babied the latter in pots this summer and have just planted them out in the new bed. So there are cheaper places than Brushwood, but if you're less patient they are the way to go. I think they often have a price break if you get 3 plants, too.
Closing up time depends a little on the weather, how much shade they get and on the cultiver. Most will open as soon as it's light out and be shut by early afternnon. They work well for me since I work nights, come home in the mornings and work outdoors in the mornings and early afternoon, then sleep late afternoon and evenings. If you work days, you might only get to enjoy them in the evenings. Hyacinth bean vines are another vine I enjoy and it does stay open all day, but does not start to bloom until mid-late summer.
Susan
My favorite vine is the native honeysuckle vine, Lonicera sempervirens, cultivar 'Blanche Sandman' . I also like the Clematis, cultivar 'Betty Corning', with pale purple bells and lovely red stems all season.
You do mention wanting to cover a brick wall or a plank fence . The two vines I mentioned and the Morning Glory are all twiners, they need some support to twine through, like an arbor or lattice. I have also used shrubs, bamboo poles and rebar with waxed twine.
This message was edited Jun 13, 2007 5:28 AM
Sempervirens, NOT that I would ever consider snatching, but I believe there is a nice named honeysuckle similar to that in my neighborhood. Would those work for hardwood cuttings? Probably should wait until later in the year and do semi hardwood, I'll look it up. Of course I would never consider stealing it, but sometimes I like to help neighbors with keeping their overgrown plants in check and deadheading. You'd be surprised at how few people really know how to prune!
Lincolnitess, I have seeds for the hyacinth bean vine...I was just going to sow them -- either winter sowing or maybe a couple weeks before the last frost. That be okay?
Critter, I went to Brushwood with the intentions of looking at Clematis, but I got sidetracked on vareigated hydrangeas. LOL! I have the attention span of a flea sometimes!
In any case, I will make an inventory of my seeds and see what I can get by with using seed next year and what I need to buy. I do know what my problem is. I have seen too many great pictures. One patio I saw had Dragonwing begonias and Elephant Ears plus an Escargot begonia, I think it was. Then I see little snippets of people's gardens and want that entire combination -- whether it's poppies & larkspur or MG & sunflowers or One of every color of Profusion zinnia. THEN I see something that really, really sets something off -- an arbor, a little stone wall or a picket fence and want that...and I really want it. And I know where I'd put it all, so it's not some kind of ephemeral want, it's a real want! LOL!
Oh, and Sempervirens, Roger on the twining up something. I have some wrought iron I need to take to the welder that fits the wall that I can use. I need to borrow Mr. Clean's car to move it, and he's so darn picky about everything that I like to do a lot of messy stuff all at once so I only have to vacuum it once. LOL! Can you say M-A-N-U-R-E? Shhhh!
Suzy
Iloquin,
I've never tried hardwood cuttings but last spring I used the trimmings after I shaped the vine and had a high success rate just sticking them in some planters along with annuals. I used good potting soil enriched with salmon compost and didn't even use rooting hormone. Just be careful the plant you get is the native honeysuckle, the Japanese Honeysuckle is beautiful but on the invasive list in most states. The native honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, is a hummingbird magnet, has lovely semi-evergreen, bluegreen leaves and over time will form a thick woody trunk. It blooms on both old and new wood so you can get a really early bloom in the spring if you prune carefully. You can plant this vine in the shade of deciduous trees, just expect only the spring bloom instead of the full season bloom. Mine are still blooming lightly now. It also forms berrylike seed pods that start out green, turn yellow, then red. The yellow cultivar in the photo is 'John Clayton'.
Wrought iron will look lovely in front of the brick.
Nice pic, Sempervirens -- You've been at this for more than a couple years! I'll keep that in mind about the Jap Honeysuckle. Actually, I'll have to look it up because I'm not sure I know the difference, although I know what you mean. Funny that the native one wouldn't be invasive, but the imported one would be.
My dad would tell me stories of how different invasives got introduced to the American public (in his lifetime). They had giant writeups about them in the catalogs. And these were good catalogs, but they would advertise these plants in magazines like Popular Mechanics. They might show a cartoon drawn man with a tree towering next to him and a caption about how the tree grew that tall in one year. The next frame would be a hedge of them screening off his neighbor with the words "In one year" in bold italics. He told me to never buy plants with that sort of advertising, or that sort of growth, because nothing in a garden should grow that fast unless it was an annual. And any catalog should know better. That a gardener above all had to be patient.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane and the tip on the 2 honeysuckles!
Suzy
Suzy, I don't think the hyacinth beans would do well winter sowing. Not sure, but the directions say to plant out after the soil has warmed. I think like most beans, the seeds might rot if planted in cold soil. I'm just guessing. I have always planted them about Mid May and they don't really take off until it is hot. Then they grow very fast. Might start them inside to get them to bloom stage faster. Come to think of it though, I had a castor bean 2 summers ago that went to seed and many of the seeds sprouted this spring after being out all winter. I'm not sure if they are really in the bean family, but they sure seem to winter sow themselves without problems. Might not hurt to try the hyacinth beans.
Susan
Oh, okay, Susan. I thought the season might be too short and that they wouldn't bloom if I didn't start them early. Our weather has been weird the last 5 or 6 years...a HOT, dry April then a cold wet May. (I only remember because they have trouble some years getting qualification days for the Indy 500 and all cars have to have 2 different sets of tires, depending on if the track is hot or cool.) I have no idea what the soil temps are doing, but the cool season annuals seem to like it here until June.
I will no doubt flub up many many seeds next year -- sowing too early or too late. Will be quite interesting and I shall probably become very learned on what NOT to do. An expert, no less. LOL!
I've been looking for hyancinth beans to no avail. Where did you get them?
thanks Susan, I was only looking locally
Scroll down on this page and look at the bottom photo. They really are lovely. I may have to grow some again next summer.
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=1236
What a wonderful way to cover the ugly block wall that surrounds my entire back yard. I was reading the post about length of sun for best blooms. I know i can't manage that little sun here, but even without the flowers, the vine alone is simply magnificant.
A few summers back, I covered the whole side of my ugly garage with them. This photo was taken before they were in full bloom. The bean pods are a great color of violet. The next time I tried growing them I had problems with some type of insect that ate tiny holes all over the leaves. Lately this is where I grow morning glories.
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2486597080011296460OoCkHl
just what I imagine doing to the block wall on the long run. One short run will have gourds and the other MGs
I think I could live in a jungle very happily
Sempervirens, Thanks for posting your picture of Betty Corning, I have a baby one and was surprised when it bloomed its first year. Can't wait for next year! Yours is lovely!
Here is a picture of a mini vase with some first year blooms.
Hey Jude,
Regarding the purple hyacinth vine: I got one pack as a bonus in a trade, and one in a swap...it took me this long to find them in my seed stash, if you can believe it. I have 2 packages and can send you one. I noticed they have a width of 4-8 feet -- not too precise, is it? But yes, I think they would look great on your wall. But so would roses and a million other things. What zone are you in, Jude?
Lincolnitess, Do purple hyacinth vines also need screening or a trellis to climb? How many seeds did you sow for your garage wall? I assume it's 16-20 feet wide, like a normal garage. I'm just curious.
Suzy
This message was edited Nov 20, 2006 10:45 AM
Illoquin,
The Japanese honeysuckle are very fragrant, the natives are not. The leaf on the native Lonicera sempervirens is very distinctive, a joined double circle. A really pretty annual vine is cup and saucer vine, Cobaea Scandens. The arbor in the photo is covered with Cypress vine(red), Morning Glory Heavenly Blue, yellow Lonicera sempervirens, and tricolor Spanish Flag.
ladygardener,
The picture of the Betty Corning in the mini vase is charming, as is the tiny peek at your garden I can see in your photo. I like the delicacy of the leaves and the red of the vine in this cultivar. I have the cultivar Prairie Chinook which is not as pleasing in leaf and vine although similar in flower.
Sempervirens -- Fantastic picture! Oh my! I had no idea you could put diffferent vineson the same support and have it look so GOOD! I gotta get an arch!
Suzy
I love that pic too. It looks like the arch I just installed on the crib gate. Mine is very simple because I don't want it to draw attention from the vines when they grow, sort of like not seeing it will make the vines liik like they're magical, at least to me.
I used ladder like wire from the building materials dept at HD, right next to the same stuff that comes in sheets about 8x10. It's pretty cool and just attached like it belonged there already. There's a third piece I have yet to install between the existing two which will fill in the open middle area for vines to grow on.
I could use that, too Jude...except I don't have the crib to attach it to. If I stuck it in the ground, I could just see it go BOINGGGGGG! And have one side flip right out of the ground.
On the other hand, knowing it comes in sheets will come in very handy....not sure how yet, but I know I will be buying some. Next time you are there, can you get a name for it? I have to go to Lowe's and they really don't know what you're talking about when you try to describe it verbally.
I would want to be able to take it down for winter, I think. What do other northerners do with stuff like this? Leave it up or take it down? I know you keep the wood trellises up, but what about the smaller, more fragile ones?
Thanks,
Suzy
I used hose clamps to hold the wire to the crib. Infact that's what 's holding the crib parts to the posts which are in the ground. ince the crib is wood, I didn't want it ON the ground,but a couple of inches above so it won't rot as fast.
You could sink (pound in with a sledge hammer) a couple of pieces of 12" rebar and hoseclamp the wire supports to that. It should keep the wire in the ground.
Suzy, the hyacinth beans do need something to twine around. I attached some of the plastic netting to my garage and it worked well I think I planted them every 16" or so along the side of the garage.
sempervirens, love that combination of vines. Really pretty together.
I like your trellis idea too Jude. I made the big mistake of buying one of those cheap, screw together ones last summer and growing a lavender moonflower vine on it. The vine grew huge and about the time it started blooming, a big gust of wind came along a blew the whole thing over. It all ended up in the garbage can. I think the wire like you used might work well secured to the fence posts on wither side of the gate.
susan
I can't wait to have mine covered with vines. I'm figuring one potato, one hyancinth vine and some MGs for each side. On the crib rails, which run from the crib head at the bottom of the pic at right angle,I'm putting MG and moonflowers because it's right near the seating of the patio and I long for moonflower fragrance again.
Hose clamps have worked wonders for me and they are easily removed if you want to make changes too.