Three years ago, while visiting Antibes, France, which is on the southern coast, I saw what appeared to be a very large mass of blue morning glories covering a high fence at the front of a home. I have never seen morning glories grow in such a fashion before. I paused at the front gate to take some pictures. Here is an individual flower. The hour was about 10:00 AM and the temperature in the high seventies.
Here is a photo of the whole planting. Is anyone familiar with this kind of growth in morning glories in a Mediterranean climate? Do they grow like annuals or perennials? What is required to maintain them? Do they have to be replanted?
Here is a final view that shows the mass from a closer distance.
Cibarius
Hello Cibarius, First - Welcome to the morning glory forum - hope you stay with us and visit more.
I'm no expert at ID, but your vine looks like Ipomoea indica - http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/54966/ .
Unless someone else chimes in who's certain, you could also ask the Plant and Tree Identification forum at - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/plantid/all/
Your photo does great justice to this flower (if it is I. indica) - not for nothing that the Washington Post garden columnist Henry Mitchell, who adored it, called it the Blue Dawn Flower. To winter it over in Washington, DC, he would dig up his plant, put it in a 30-gallon plastic bag and store it down in his basement with barely enough water to keep it from turning into dust, and then revive it in spring, for summer planting outside.
This message was edited Aug 9, 2009 12:12 PM
it is indica. i can take photos of mine that just look like that. indica is one that will take over if you let it.
indica goes crazy here to like that only one i know of that does go crazy and even where i am at with not much water it still thrives.
Hi Cibarius! Beautiful photographs of the morning glory in France.
It appears to be Ipomoea indica, also known as "Blue Dawn". It is a perennial unless the roots are killed by freezing temperatures.
I am currently growing this morning glory and it is beautiful. The one thing that I noted about it is the long throat. To hand-pollinated it, I have to really send the paint brush down it's throat while trying to see down the tube as well. It does seem to hold it's bloom for most of the day. The bloom turns purple as the day wears on ...
This is taken at 1:30 in the afternoon in full sun and heat of Florida in August! I'm pretty impressed myself!
I am growing mine in a pot because I don't want it to get out of hand. I plan to prune it back when it gets too thick. Mine does wilt if the pot gets too dried out.
Here is mine; first bloom today.
I have seen this species almost everywhere sunny in Europe. To get it to bloom to the max it needs to be starved and the roots constricted.
Over the winter the roots need to be kept bone dry, however cut it back don't be tempted to grow on last years growth as it seems to turn woody and take ages.
I was looking up more information about I. indica and came across this website:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=IPIN&photoID=ipin_003_ahp.tif
This webpage shows that this species comes in other colors of blooms. I love the red from the Virgin Islands! Too bad we don't know anyone there to get seeds for us! LOL! Apparently there is a wild pink one in the Everglades of Florida! I can honestly say I've never seen it here in Florida.
This is cool. An I. indica topiary! http://www.logees.com/images/R1952-2-Large.jpg
The red one is amazing unless it is a nil; I find the wild nil hard to tell apart from indica maybe that's me. Here is the one from the link (drool)
The corolla (from the USDA site not my photo) looks like SOH (double drool)
Apparently there is a white version, I know the pale versions and shimmery ones are on the Hodnik website,(Eith Piaf) they do set seed because I was lucky to have some sent to me from a man in France which are a cross between them; they have yet to bloom however.
Wow, I appreciate all the response! I had a feeling that my subject line would draw attention. Thank you beckygardner for the compliment. I try to photograph blossoms with dramatic, shadowy lighting. It took me a while to get this one posed. I was worried that the mansion owner would send his security out to run me away. Actually, I saw no home owners on that street in Antibes. It was a very quiet Sunday morning except for the long distance runners who came by in a herd huffing and grunting. The only place we could find to eat was a sandwich stand where I had crusty French bread with ham and dill pickle spears. I have been trying to duplicate that meal ever since (without success).
Cibarius
Cibarius - LOL! Oh yes! I know what you mean about duplicating a recipe and never quite getting it right!
You really took some nice photos of the I. indica vine and blooms! I do love that side pose that you got in the first post. Do you grow any MGs?
This year I applied for a permit to introduce cuttings of 5 color variants into this country, and my permit was denied. They told me I could only get them out of Canada, if I could find them up there instead of Europe.
The USDA considers them a very invasive specie. I think that is less correct than to call it very aggresive. All the energy it saves, by making few to zero seeds, goes into the adventitious rooting character. Cuttings will root in water literally in just a couple days. Frank
what are the laws like regarding importing I indica into Canada?
Becky asked if I am growing any morning glories. Yes, this is my first year doing so. I am cultivating Crimson Rambler and Grandpa Ott in a container with a tall trellis. So far only one blossom in a hundred has been Grandpa Ott. All the others have been like the one in the picture. I have been careful to keep these plants in a container to guard against invasion. I will be gathering up all the seeds also - just to keep them from getting loose. Do you think there would be any interest in them as trade material? What are they likely to produce?
Cibarius
Cibarius - Nice Crimson Rambler blooms! :-) They will likely grow true to the current blooms/vines with some seeds producing variations. The thing about I. purpureas is that they produce an abundance of seeds as well as volunteers. Those are the seeds that are also readily available in the stores. So they are very easy to obtain. Folks that have never grown MGs before usually start out with these cultivars and species. If they like what they see, then the interest for other species of MGs grows. I. purpureas are always a great species to start with because they grow and bloom in all kinds of climates and conditions. Usually with great success! My very first MG was Grandpa Ott's! I loved it! But the I. nil vines/blooms is what got me totally hooked on growing MGs and JMGs! :-)
You should consider growing some I. nils next year! The blooms are quite a bit larger than the I. purpureas and come in a nice selection of colors and patterns. If you would like seeds from a few different I. nil cultivars, dmail me. :-) I will share some for postage. :-)
Thank you for the offer. I am definitely interested in selecting something unusual to grow next year. Please tell me something- I am now beginning to harvest some wild MG seeds. How do I know when they are ready to remove from the plant? Can I take them while the pod is still greenish? Or must I wait until they dry on the plant? I am trying to prevent any from falling to the ground.
the pod must be a papery brown http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j7ArxGGiwNM/RXIGuxNF3pI/AAAAAAAAAAM/e8hm9TqhHro/s400/pods.jpg&imgrefurl=http://cc-calendula.blogspot.com/2006/12/closed-for-winter.html&usg=__NJU8xP4HAyPJlPHxowZRoZ6fZFQ=&h=400&w=297&sz=18&hl=en&start=8&um=1&tbnid=N0STXYAN2XT8YM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=92&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmorning%2Bglory%2Bpod%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
if you squeze it while still brown and it doesnt pop then they arent ready. pods easily burts open when ready.
while still GReen the seeds are still forming. I have notcied on a few they pop quickly but most of my mgs if i keep an eye on the pods i usually have time to get them before they burst open.
you can also put stuff on the ground to catch them like a towel or something. also hear d people putting panty hose on the seeds. i never have done either.
if i miss them they are easy to pull up if i dont want themm.
Marie is correct about how to tell when they are ripe. Most of the time, I am able to collect mine without many falling to the ground.
You can also use mini organza drawstring bags to place over the seed pods. These have worked quite well for me. Oriental Trading Company sells them as well as many local craft stores here.
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/search/processRequest.do?requestURI=searchMain&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&Ntt=wedding%20drawstring&N=0&Ntk=all&searchTerm=wedding+drawstring&BP=10678&cm_mmc=google-_-Wedding+-+Adlucent-_-Drawstring+Goodie+Bags+%28Search+0-25%29-_-a601bab5f23248b48995cd734911c24b&ms=search
There are places in Florida where Blue Dawn covers the tops of large areas as shown in your photo. In fact, it's the only plant that I've ever seen grow up and over kudzu.
