Morning glory question

I just bought a Japanese Morning Glory much like the one in this link (http://davesgarden.com/pdb/go/72360/index.html). The garden center says that it dies back completely in the winter. But I'm a bit confused. Does it die to the ground in winter and needs to be cut back to ground level or does it just lose it's leaves in winter? What do I need to do to take care of it in winter? We are in a frost free zone, but it does rain quite a bit throughout the winter and gets to about 40F.

I really appreciate any help you can give me with this as these flowers are stunning and I don't want to kill it :-)

-Julie

Julie, if it's Umi Sea, it is an annual that dies after a few months. If it puts on seedpods, collect the seeds and plant again next Spring. Also, there is a perennial variety called Ipomoea Acuminata (Blue Dawn) that dies back in the Fall, but comes back from the roots in the Spring, if your zone is a warm zone.

I just noticed that you said you only got to about 40 deg. in the Winter, so it should do fine for you. It might even leaf back out somewhat from the vines, if it doesn't freeze. It sometimes gets down in the low 20's here and mine comes back from the roots.

This message was edited Oct 22, 2004 4:49 PM

Hi minigrannie,

Thanks so much for the reply :-). The GC says this one is perenniel but dies back in winter. Do you think I should cut it to the ground when winter starts, at the beginning or spring, or not at all? In winter, would you cover it with anything to keep it warmer and drier? Thanks. :-)

-Julie

Mine is growing on an arbor out in the open. I don't cut mine back until Spring when it starts coming out, so that I know if I need to cut it back all the way to the ground or just down to the part that is leafing out. Here's a picture of mine.

put it in a warm sunny window and dont over water it. i have had some survive over winter by doing this and not letting them freeze.

the only blue i know of thats a perinnial is the blue dawn flower which is a mg. now if thats what it is it will come back with some care.

minigrannie, that is fabulous looking!

minigrannie, that is sooo pretty! Thanks for the pic :-) I've got mine in a sheltered position in the garden, but where it will still get plenty of sun. I dont' have any way to overwinter it indoors, so it will have to survive the winter or get replaced come spring LOL. Fingers crossed.

imzadi, this is a dark blue MG that I do know is perenniel because I've seen the one in the GC growing for 3 years now - always in the same spot. It's not fully outdoors, but not really indoors either (under a mesh tarp that keeps the GC from getting blazing sun all day, but let's a fair amount of sun in none-the-less). So it doesn't get rained on or suffer from heavy winds. But it isn't replaced each year. I never paid attention though to whether or not they were cutting it to the ground in spring. I'll have to ask them what they do, although their conditions aren't really that of a nromal garden. I'd take a photo if mine had flowers, but it doesn't. I'll try to remember to take my camera with me the next time I go to the GC.

-Julie

Julie, if it's a perennial, it is like mine, which is the Blue Dawn (Ipomoea Acuminata). The annual morning glories all die back naturally after blooming, even if the weather is warm.

Yep, I took a look at the pics of this one on the PDB and I'm pretty certain it's the same as the one I bought. Thanks for helping with the ID :-)

-Julie

Thanks, Salvia_Lover and Vossner.