Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory

I planted some of these outdoors about three weeks ago. They are already close to being ready for the wire trellis I am making for them. I started a few seeds and they have all germinated. How far apart should these seedlings be thinned? In the Plant Files, it looks like a beautiful flower.

I have a question. Why is it that Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory isn't mentioned in the 2001 edition of Sunset Western Garden Book? I may be overlooking it so if anyone would correct me I would appreciate it. I was looking under Ipomoea purpurea.

Thanks,

Chuck

I don't have my copy handy right now (not sure if it's the 2001 edition anyway), but do they have a generic listing for I. purpurea? A lot of times they won't include a ton of individual cultivars but will just have an entry for the species. They also don't cover 100% of all the species in a given genus, I have tons and tons of plant in my garden that aren't listed.

Thanks for answering back, ecrane3!! I was kind of surprised about the omission as this is the first time that I have had a plant that wasn't in this book (at least that I know of).

We are going to Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden in Claremont CA tomorrow. It will be my first time there. They advertise that they have 86 acres of California native plants. I hope it is as spectacular as they say it is. I am hoping that I will be able to find some of the species in the Garden Book.

Thanks again,

Chuck

Trust me, there are plenty of plants that aren't in there, if they covered every single plant you could grow in the west, that book would be at least 500 times as big as it is now!

I've never been to Rancho Santa Ana but I've heard good things about it and this is the right time of year to visit gardens full of CA natives. You'll have to take lots of pics and share afterwards!

Chuck, I received a Grandpa Ott's MG at our last plant swap. It boomed within a week and is now triple in size. I think I'll use a "wire" trellis or chickenwire and paint it to match my stucco fence.

Here's the first bloom. Has bloomed twice again in the last week. I only got the cutting on 4/21!

I was looking for info on MG's, G.Ott, and wondered if you pinch them. I have been pinching most of my annuals, something I have not done enough of in the past.

Tammy,

I haven't pinched mine at all. Tendrils are coming out everywhere and there are about 4 new buds ready to bloom and another 4 or so just developing. I've never tried growing seed. This small cutting I received is doing beautifully without any help from me.

Arizona Robin,

I am sorry for not responding sooner. I took your advice and used chicken wire. The MG's are now about three and 1/2 feet high on the chicken wire. I only used five feet of chicken wire and a roll of ten feet was only $4.95 at Home Depot. Many thanks for you suggesting it.


Thanks again,

Chuck

Oh, Chuck! Can you show us a pic??? I'm having extensive concrete work done out back and can't plant mine until maybe next Wednesday. :-(

This is a photo I took about a week ago but never could figure out how to upload it to Davesgarden.

There is another coming

Thanks,

Chuck

Hope this gives you an idea of what they looked like a week ago. Now I am just waiting for them to bloom.

Thanks,

Chuck

Oh, she's loving that chicken wire, Chuck. Can't wait to see how it fills in more. I'm going to Lowe's in about 10 minutes for new front Malibu lights and chicken wire or a trellis. I'm afraid, VERY afraid that I'll fill up my trunk with "just have'ta have" plants. We'll see. lol

This is a little more filled out than last time...LOL.

Thanks,

Chuck

Wow, Chuck. He's just going to town! I only planted mine in the back of a bed that gets mostly shade until the vine grows higher. It's a'twining great! I'll take a pic again as soon as I can walk on my deck again.

The blooms are beautiful and the hummingbirds are going wild over them...LOL. I wanted to check on something that I heard or read somewhere. This was that Passiflora vines will grow down the other side of a fence whereas Morning Glory vines will grow back the same way they came. Is this true? I can't remember where or when I saw this.

Thanks,

Chuck

I planted mine I think on May 20th with the the new trellis. I didn't realize I took a photo of her 2 days ago and after looking at that one and the one I just took, it must grow 2 inches a day! I also had 4 blooms this morning. Too bad they don't stay in bloom longer.

Dear azrobin,

I agree 100% about the blooms being short lived. I had four blooms yesterday and I was about to take a photo but then I was distracted to weed some part of my yard and forgot all about the photos. This morning there I am with digital in hand and only two blooms. Not even worth it...LOL. Seriously though, I am going to photograph it again tomorrow.

Your trellis is beautiful. How do you attach it to the stucco? If I ever found out how to do this, I could double my passies and morning glories...LOL.

Thanks,

Chuck

It had 6" stakes at the bottom. I haven't attached it yet, but I have those metal disc cups that I put adhesive in and just stick them on my stucco wall. Wait 24hrs for the glue to dry, paint it the same color as my fence and use a twist tie on that little hoop outwardly facing the trellis. I use them to attach my vines to my stucco wall also. The kit comes with the discs, adhesive, gardeners green stretchy tape and I pick up an pack of those 6-8" twist ties. I had a thread here about it. I'll see if I can find it.

Dear azrobin,

Did you find that thread? Is it a kit that you can buy at HD? I have been afraid to put trellises on the stucco on my house because I thought that it would require some heavy-duty drilling. I didn't want to drill on my stucco.

Thanks,

Chuck

Uh-oh. I must have posted to the wrong thread. I had several windows open earlier. Let me see if I can find it again. Ugh!

Ah, here it is: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/721137/

Hi! Azrobin,

Thanks for the link. It really made it sound easier. I will try it next payday...LOL. Here is a photo of the Morning Glory blooming. Sorry about the lightness of the photo but I am taking an online course for my digital camera and after class yesterday, I couldn't get the camera back to the original settiings....LOL. I guess I am going to call SONY.

Have a nice day!!

Thanks again,

Chuck

At this rate that chichen wire will be filled in no time. Looking good!

This morning I placed a few discs by my Cecile Brunner and behind my MG trellis to secure it. I just came in from painting them my stucco color. I can't attach anything until the glue is dry tomorrow. Here's mine today. It's already higher than the top of the trellis and I'm training it to hit the parts that haven't got twiners yet. Next, I'm going to try a criss-crosss pattern to fill in all but the sun.

Wish I had room for more MG's but once my yellow hibiscus comes back it will top the fence and be at least 4ft wide - I hope.

Wow! What a beaut Chuck! I raised mine from seed and planted them along with Moonflower vines about three weeks ago after the danger of frost was over. I like to plant the two vines together so there are blooms to see throughout the day. They're just getting established now. I have my fingers crossed that I'll soon see those beautiful blooms in my garden too!