Morning Glories: Moonflowers, 0 by Niere

Niere wrote:
I would love some input from someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to moonflowers, as I certainly don't qualify. :)

This year was the first time I have ever tried moonflowers. I started them by seed and they seemed to do very well. I was then working on hardening them off and accidentally left them out all night one night last spring. Of course we had a frost and the seedlings weren't too happy about it, but they survived. A few days later I left them out too long in the afternoon and they proceeded to get sunscald. The little troopers still hung on, and after a few weeks I felt they were finally doing well enough to be transplanted into a half-oak keg with a trellis. After transplanting them they proceeded to do absolutely ZERO, and of course now I know that they really don't take to transplanting so well. I also made what I am guessing was a crucial mistake, in that I removed many of the "initial" leaves from the seedlings because I thought they looked too damaged to be of any use. I think doing that was a major mistake because the little guys just didn't have enough surface area to really get themselves going.

So...

finally the little guys started to grow, and they've really taken off the past few weeks. My question is--I'm in what I think is Zone 5--is it too much to expect to get a bloom from these plants before frost (typical first frost in my area is mid-September)? The vines are now getting to be in the five to six-foot range and I'm not seeing ANYTHING on these plants that look like little mini-flower buds, the way you typically see them on Morning Glories.

Also, as a side note, I've noticed that some of the leaves on some of the vines seem to have quite a bit of diversity. some of them are the typical heart-shape, some appear to have one regular "heart" side and have a two-lobed other side and some of the leaves are very long and "arrow" looking.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!