Morning Glories, Love or Hate...

Here's the problem.  I love morning glories, but I hate their viney tendencies.  Is it too shallow of me to be a fairweather friend and curse them while they cloak my tabebuia tree, but sing their praises when the tree is covered in delicate blooms?  You tell me.

Anyways, allow me to show the pleasant side of my morning glories.






I have a variety of blooms in the garden ranging from dark indigo to "heavenly blue" to huge luminous moonflower blossoms.  While they messily cover everything they can get their tendrils around, they are good for recreating the "jungle" look in a short period of time outside the tropics... and isn't that what I'm all about after all?

While they do reseed, I usually have no problems pulling up the seedlings when I see them.  After the flowers wane and the seed pods are numerous, I'll be sure to collect some seeds before hacking the vines back to the ground. Morning glories aren't exotic or unusual, but they are cheap and readily available.  I've bought seed packets before just because I was itching to plant something and nothing else looked appealing.

They're also tolerant of different conditions, and in my experience, even soggy soil.  If you have a wet area and need a vine, a one dollar seed packet isn't too much of a risk.

My verdict:  Give them a shot, and give some for the kids to plant.  They're fast growing and fun, not to mention rewarding.  Now if only there were some interesting new varieties to play with...

Have any of you succumbed to these plain janes?
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10 comments:

  1. I do like Morning glories. The flowers are delightful and I love it when they wink down from the tallest tree. I know they can become a "pest" I hate to use this word for such a wonderful plant who just gives and gives, only asking for the tallest tree to climb up! I love the photos.

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  2. This is a fun plant to have in the desert....it doesn't mind the heat at all.

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  3. I love our morning glories that grow all year, BUT they do take over, climbing every which way. Still, I wouldn't be without them, I love their
    heavenly shade of blue. :-)

    Have a great weekend ~ FlowerLady

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  4. Your photos are just beautiful. I love morning glories but haven't planted any this year. I may have to get some going. I really like the 'heavenly blue.'

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  5. This phobic gardener would never, ever plant that vine in my garden, but I do enjoy seeing them in the wild or on our beach walks. They are gorgeous flowers! Love the light in your morning glory pics!

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  6. Titania:
    Yes it can be a pest. My mom really does like them though, so I might as well learn to love them for now!

    rohrerbot:
    Now that you mention it, they don't mind the heat one bit! I'm sure they would look really pretty in the desert!

    Flowerlady:
    I think I've given up on not growing them, and I might as well enjoy them!

    Floridagirl:
    I thought of you when i wrote this! I also love the beach morning glories... not only are they beautiful but they also stabilize the dunes. They are also great for native xeriscaping her in fl too!

    Aaron:
    Definitely messier than passiflora, but I suppose at least they are annual... I still like passionflowers more!

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  7. My neighbor planted them along the fence that is covered in white jasmine...also sharing the fence is a red passionvine. I have a love/hate relationship with all vines!!!

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  8. For shade in SW FL I've planted morning glories in that luscious ruby color and moonflowers They grow so well in the sun, thus giving us shade on our south facing lanai, that I have to be real careful they don't get out of hand.

    I prefer these cheap annual vines and don't feel bad about pulling them up for the winter sun ,to any other shade producing vine. And each year I have the option of changing colors and designs!!

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  9. We had them growing up, in the desert, i always loved them....your pics are lovely
    We also had 4 O'clocks the bloom opened at the time indicated : ) they were shade loving plants....the crummy clay soil where I live makes some plants hard to grow...I need to learn more about working my soil : )

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  10. I have a love-hate relationship with them, mostly because all I ever see around here are the common "weedy" ones like 'Grandpa Otts.' Although, this year I grew out some older seed and have a nice pink/chocolate colored one that I'm trying to pin down an ID for a blog post.

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