I once knew a little old lady with the most successful and beautiful garden in town. Her tulips were supreme, her annuals sparkling, and her mums attracted visitors from nearby towns.
But one summer day, when I stopped by to see her, I found her gazing with a puzzled frown at her garden plot. In response to my query, she told me that she had given her morning glories better care than any other flower, and they didn’t seem to appreciate it.
To illustrate this, she pointed with her trowel to a bare spot. “What happened?” I asked. “Bad seed,” she replied, “same as last year—bad seed.”
Then I got the story. She had prepared the soil to a depth of 2’ feet, applied lots of peat moss, rotten manure, and commercial fertilizers, then fussed and fumed over her little seedlings.
This brought us to a discussion of what conditions morning glories prefer, and the following year my friend had morning glories in profusion. She planted the seeds where the soil was just average and used no fertilizer.
This is the secret. Morning glories resent rich soil and heavy fertilizing and, in fact, bloom most prolifically in adverse situations that many other plants could not tolerate.
Most Popular Annual Vine
I am safe in saying that morning glories are the most popular annual vine in the United States today.
They have heart-shaped, medium-green leaves and colorful blooms in great profusion and will twine around almost anything near them. As long as there is sufficient sun, they will grow anywhere.
The flowers stay open most of the day in dull weather, but on sunny days, they close up at about lunchtime. Flowering starts when they are small, and as they develop, they create a cascade of colorful blooms.
A few of my favorites are the following:
- Heavenly Blue, with sky blue flowers and yellow throats shading to white
- Blue Star, white flowers with bright blue markings in the throat forming a five-pointed star
- Mexicana Alba, the moonflower, which has huge white flowers that open at night:
- Pearly Gates has creamy white flowers.
- Cornell is a little slow to bloom but has attractive crimson flowers with white edging.
- Scarlett O’Hara has been cherry red and flowers for more than two months.
Start Morning Glories Indoors
Since morning glories are essentially hot weather plants, there is little to be gained by planting out of doors before frost is past. Still, it is often a good idea to start them indoors, sowing the seeds in individual containers as they do not take kindly to transplanting.
Plant bands or peat pots are good. Sow three seeds each, cover with ¼” inch of soil, and keep moist until the seeds germinate. Thin the plants as soon as the first leaves appear, leaving only one plant in each pot car container.
The seeds germinate irregularly, so don’t be impatient. Seeds planted inside about the first week in April will produce their first flowers on the Fourth of July.
Avoid Sowing
It is best to avoid sowing morning glories during the following time:
- Outside Maine until May 15
- Along the rest of the New England coast before May 1
- April 15 in the Middle Atlantic States
- About the last week in March in the Lower and Middle South
The same general pattern prevails across the country, with regional variations due to altitude, exposure to cold winds, or the softening influence of large bodies of water.
Morning glories have hard seed coats, so it is a good idea to nick the seeds or soak them for 24 hours before planting. Then, in the garden, sow three to four seeds close together and keep the ground watered until the seeds germinate.
Giving Support
Morning glories are so eager to climb that if you do not give them support, they will twine around the first thing in sight, including a hoe or rake, a brush, or another plant. They will grow 10’ feet or higher and bloom for at least three months or from midsummer to frost.
44659 by John L. Russell Jr.