Morning Glories 2010 #11

Gosh I wish it were morning so I could see what has opened LOL .. I can't stand it when it is dark.

Off the subject of morning glories for one sec.... has anyone ever seen english ivy in bloom? Mine has bloomed two years in a row and it is even more loaded this year. That is crazy!

Debra - Nice garden areas and beautiful plants! Lookin' good!

This is what I am referring to as far as planting the MGs further apart because this is what Dany's MGs looked like as they got bigger:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7090666

A Morning Glory Jungle, perhaps? :-)

That is why I can't and don't grow but a few each year. I just grow out the seeds of cultivars that I get that are new (and sometimes unusual & rare) mixed in with some of my all-time favorites.

English ivy has blooms? please post photos, never even knew. Learn somet'n new everyday.

Look at this stuff! LOL

someone said English ivy? no, I haven't seen it bloom, but few vines drip so well with fairy lore and mythology as that one. I seem to recall reading somewhere that it takes a decade or few for it to bloom, but once it does, then it will rebloom pretty faithfully. Further, if you take cuttings of an English ivy that has bloomed, then if that cutting roots, it'll bloom within a year, as opposed to waiting a decade or few.

I don't know if there's anything on ivy in this website or not, but it looks like a fun place to hunt for enchanted aspects of ivy: Myth*ingLinks - http://www.mythinglinks.org/home.html . There's a quote at its beginning from Tolkien that I like that looks like a good recipe for finding what matters among what doesn't:

"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places;
but still there is much that is fair;
and though in all lands
love is now mingled with grief,
it grows perhaps the greater.
(J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring)"
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image: ivy & fairies & stones in the twilight - date in the 1800s
by John Anster Fitzgerald - http://www.lair2000.net/fairy_pictures1/Fairy_Pictures1.html

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g'night All
karen

WOW! I love that quote and that picture. I am collecting seeds this year from that Ivy. I have a topiary started on the back patio and it has mgs in it also. It looks good so far, now to get my form.

Emma, I agree with Nicole, it is a very impressive set-up, amazing really. Wish I could grow
that many but I just can't, feeling my age and more. lol

oh my, Debra - how beautiful! - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7971970

I tried growing it for a few years on the north side of a teetering outbuilding that was all that stood between us and some rather rowdy neighbors (they've settled down marvelously now and are quite pleasant). But an unusually extreme winter did it in grrr.

It was in one of Christopher Lloyd's books that I read about how taking a cutting of an ivy that has reached the flowering stage will result in a dependably blooming shrub. I don't know how tall that could get, but Lloyd was growing his like an evergreen woody plant, kept pruned to a rectangle maybe 3 - 5 feet tall. You could look down on the ivy flowers with both feet on the ground.

Debra, you've inspired me to try again. I have a dry shady area under walnut trees growing up on the other side of our property line and a tall wooden fence that needs softening. I've been wanting to plant some woody plant in there in a half-moon formation that would have the flavor of an enchanted grove. The holly is decidedly unhappy in there. But perhaps I could do a half-moon of obelisks with ivy trained up and around them...??? The mind boggles when you consider what a huge variety of ivy cultivars there are...

Thanks, Debra - I was looking for ideas

karen

I know wacha mean, Jackie, about feeling one's age. My mind just won't get with the program, though - perhaps it's more fun this way :)

karen

Thanks Jackie,
Taking care of this many vines is not an easy job, but I so enjoy it.

Too funny Karen - they will probably get me because I can't run that fast . . . lol

For anyone interested – Last recap:
I have about 300’ of Fence Area only that I have MGs currently planted. This does not include MGs on many Trellises/Cages/Stands/Pots/and several areas growing on Lattice throughout my property. I have 42 Pots total, but more than 42 MGs in those pots as most have two/three/four and only a few with only one vine. As of this date, I have 599 plants in the ground + 42 Pots [which is actually more than 42 MGs] + 42 seedlings that are ready to plant on or before the weekend = Total of 683 Morning Glories [Which doesn’t count the many volunteers on the fence in my alley, or quite a few Perennial MGs in Pots that is not in the above pot count] PLUS, other seeds that I am just starting to germinate that will be grown this year. My total amount of MG vines that I anticipate growing this year will be over 700, depending on how many of the JMG seeds that I start that I just got from Japan. Many of these will be planted in pots.
End of discussion please about my Texas Asagao Plantation.

Debra, your plants always look so healthy and pretty, and Yes, you do have a large yard. Just wait until you retire. . . lol
Wow, Debra, I never knew that English Ivy produced Blooms. How amazing is that, and very pretty.

Ok, logging off Daves for a while. I have some very busy days ahead of me taking care of all of my MGs.

Emma

Karen, I promise you it's more fun this way. lolol

Wow, Emma, you gave me some great idea's for trellis's not only for some mg's but other vines as well. I think I'm going to start some more seeds to plant up the South East side of the Greenhouse, that way they'll get a little afternoon shade.
haha...good thing my horses need this !! or I'd be eyeing that too !

Debra - That's awesome that you have a blooming English Ivy! WOW! Reminds me of my bloom flush when my Sweet Autumn Clematis blooms! Do yours have a scent? My clematis smells like vanilla. Heavenly!

Looks like my Silver Wolf blooms must have plenty of nectar as the sugar ants seem to love them!

Becky & Emma, which i nil do you have that produces the largest blooms?

Bluespiral, that is very interesting information on the ivys. They are quite invasive here. In our last house, it was overgrown and when we cleaned up the island and pulled one off the tree, the vine itself was so big, my husband could swing from it (and he did try). :)

Debra, thanks for posting photos. That is so cool!!!

Karen, please remind me and I will send you some tip cuttings from the blooming ivy here.
My sweet autumn clematis gets trimmed back since it travels the south fence, it smells good, I agree with that Becky. I have not sniffed the ivy blooms yet, too many bees to stick my nose in it.

I have been rooting tip cuttings of alot of stuff right now.
I need to cut the stictocardia, I just do not have the heart.

Nicole - I would have to say the the White Moonflowers (I. alba) are the largest between 6-8" in diameter. Most of my I. nil blooms are between 5-6", but I occasionally get a large 7" bloom on some of my vines. The I. purpureas are the smallest that I grow which are 3 - 3 1/2". I. indica is a nice size as are the tricolors. But I am also interested in dwarf vines for growing in smaller containers, especially hanging baskets. :-) So it's an individual preference thing. The bigger ones show up the best, IMHO, but they also wilt the fastest.

MG are such a fleeting bloom. I can see why so many people grow Clematis instead. Clematis seem to be relatively disease and pest resistant too and are perennials. The blooms on the clematis I have are quite large, except for the Sweet Autumn Clematis vines. Anyone who wants to check into other vines, you'd be surprised at what you would find and might really like growing! I'm a big Passiflora fan as well. I love vines! All kinds!!

Me too! Becky, the tag on this vine says it's a shibouri x grey lady and has BG on it, so this bloom came from your seed you sent me.

This is tagged "plum grey smoke: from BlueSpiral, she sent it to me the first fall I came to DG. Thank you for that, I can't remember if you had said on the package it came from Emma, most of yours did say that. This vine is growing in a tall pole holding a small coconut coir shell of potting mix, and this plant is about 5 inches tall in it and is in full sun.

found the tag for this one, it is hannafubuki, but this one also came from BlueSpirals seed . I have one from Becky planted on the other side of the patio in a small pot and it is tagged as well.

I used the paint brush on this huge gigantic bloom ( there were four of them this am) since it looked like the critters flying around it did not light on it.

This light blue is still a favorite so far this year.. I could not find the tag.

I am waiting for Liz's beautiful lav beauty to show up. in the mean time, this one is nice..
this is rebecca, and she sure likes to put on a show.

This lobelia has already drawn the hummer baby from last year this am.. it is fun to watch him from this window I sit at..

becky - Which Clematis do you grow? I thought they wouldn't do well here, and you are father south than me. ( we used to live in Palm Bay and would go camping at the Sebastian Inlet Park.

Here is a fun one that opened up. Alas, it has not a name, maybe I should call it Steve?

Debra and Jackie, did you try growing the Orihime seeds I sent your way? Just wondering how they are doing if they are flowering for you yet.

Joseph, I am pretty sure I planted some, just have to go look at all the pots to see it. I check back in with you after my findings. I planted the dark blue unknown from you for sure, in three spots.. :)

Joseph, there are tons of sds I haven't planted yet. The lovely Orihime
is one of them. I am still planting sds for winter blooms maybe even late fall
blooms. I have a couple of yours planted but don't know if they germinated.
I will try to get the Orihime planted and a few others.
Becky, gorgeous Silver Wolf.
Debra, glad to see your blooms really off to a good start, some beauties you are growing. That pale blue is still one of my favorites this yr, really special.

Sunsmiles Pink. Picked up this nice little glory for 1.00 at my
local farmers market.

Joseph, what beauties! I agree, that looks like a Steve. :-)

Emma, I can just imagine what high you must be on, walking through your plants every morning. I usually can't wait to see what is flowering... I showed my DH your vines - he tends to not see why I grow so many (and mine is not worth mentioning compared to your numbers). Can't wait to see more of your flowers.

Elsa

patootie,
I love the Sunsmiles, I have blue, lavender, and purple.
I had them in hanging basket's and some seeds "got loose" , I'm letting them grow and meander around on the ground.
I'd love some seeds of the pink if you get them, I have seeds of the other colors if you'd want to trade.
mj
Sunsmile purple

mj,what a beauty! I'd like a few of those.

I have some very unusual crosses (all by Mother Nature). While my camera was charging a rainstorm passed through so I missed the picture taking chance but here is a verbal description. Looks like a white base with pale pink center and pink star rays crossed with a purple streaked and resulted in a purple streaked with pink rays and splotches of pink speckling. I hope more buds open with this trait.

Debra - Some beautiful blooms you posted above! I've got an unknown large blooming solid light blue growing this year. I think mine came from the seed swap and was a seed from the packages that Dany donated to everyone. Large bloom and very pretty, indeed!

Joseph - Nice blooms.

Mittsy - Check your seed swap baggies. I think you might have a baggie of seeds marked either Sun Smiles or Kawaii. Those will be the mounding MGs that work great in pots or hanging baskets.

Jackie and MJ - Nice Sun Smiles blooms!

My current vines are about gone, but today they all put on a nice bloom flush. Ratty looking leaves with lots of blooms! LOL! Such a sight to see! I thought my Sidare was about ready to be pulled out and tossed, but it has grown another side vine and today it produced several blooms. The blooms were really neat. Here is two blooms growing next to each other off the same vine stem. Love this cultivar!

Here is my NOID blue bloomer (seed from Dany's mixed blues packet).

Diluted Fuji no Muraski bloom. Typical bloom like last year.

Diluted Fuji no Muraski Cross. Love the sky blue color and wide white rays/stripes. Reddish hues showed up in this photo on the stems because of sunrise being pink. Love how the sunlight affects some photos.

MJ - To answer your question ... I think you can grow most clematis here. You just have to give it some shade in the dead heat of summer and be careful not to over-water the roots. I've had very good luck growing several different cultivars in Florida. And they survived the cold winter we had this year, too! :-)

Becky, I can do the afternoon shade or even intermittent sun/shade...
I think I'll pick one and give it a try.
off to do some research...
Thanks !

MJ, will be glad to share sds from the pink with you. Please don't worry about
sending me any sds, I've got such a stockpile, will never get them all planted.lol
Lovely blooms Becky.
From a sd from my mutant not last yr .This bloom deformed but I think
it looks something like the mutant. I'll know more after it makes a few more blooms.

Cocoa Chocolate