Cold weather and MGs

I had started this thread, but the post disappeared. Grrrr ....

Being new to growing MGs, I don't know what to expect now that the weather is cooling down. The temps here have suddenly gone from 80's high, 60's low ... to ... 70's high, 50's low. I've noticed that the vines are growing slower and the seed pods are taking longer to ripen now. I also noticed that the flowers are NOT wilting as fast.

Can someone tell me what to expect with my vines now that cooler weather is here?

1) Do the vines bounce back if the temps warm up again?
2) Will the seeds continue to ripen as long as it doesn't freeze?
3) Will the I. nils just shutdown on the vine growth since they prefer warmer weather?

Here is a photo of Hannahabuki. The interesting thing is that the top flower is today's bloom and the bottom flower is yesterday's bloom. It seemed like the blooms got so cold they froze in mid-bloom or something! Though the temps are not freezing here. Just nice cooler temps.

This message was edited Nov 5, 2007 10:57 PM

Becky - LOL @ 70's being cooler weather.

Ü

Joanne - Actually I was referring to the 50's at night. I know the MGs don't mind 70's during the day! LOL! Of course, your weather in AB is how cold now??? Brrrrr ...!

LOL, yes Becky, don't remind me, I think our high was -2C here today (about 28F, I think)...

My Morning Glories had to tolerate a lot of nights around 50F; our summer evenings can be fairly cool...

Oooh! That's COLD!! I have thin blood from living in the southern part of the USA. I'd never make it in AB!!! LOL Did your summer MGs do okay in the 50's?

Yes they did fine; especially Star of Yelta, Crimson Rambler, Flying Saucer and early in the fall Sunrise Serenade was wonderful...

Are those all I. purpureas? Did you grow any I. nils during the summer?

I believe they are all I. purpurea, except Flying Saucers which is I. tricolor.

I grew Cameo Elegance, which I think is a nil, but it didn't bloom; it was beaten by hail pretty badly though, so that might have set it back. I also had one vine that was supposed to be 'Candy Pink', which is a nil, but I never saw a bloom from it...

Joanne

Hmmm,
Unless this is Candy Pink. This is the one vine I grew in the ground. I can't remember which one it was...so many of the commercial seeds I grew weren't what the packet said they were supposed to be...

Well Becky, Florida is quite a bit different than Philadelphia that's' for sure but what I noticed with my Nils as we started to get cool was a bit of a burst in bloom, I think though that was just because it is fall and they were trying to produce as much as possible before the end. Some of the colors were off as with some of the flowers being smaller.

I think they may bounce back if you started them later in the summer but I do believe they begin to shut down just like any other annual.

As long as you don't get a freeze or a hard frost the seeds should continue to ripen.

We are in the 50s now during the day!! I'm coming to Florida to visit you and Paul!!! I figure a couple of months at each place should do me good!LOL By February I am a crazy person!!! I HATE the cold!!

LOL, Ronnie! I don't think I would like the dreary days of winter at all. I have to get my sunshine fix everyday. (No lie!)

I am growing new MG vines currently as the others die off. About half the vines I grew from seeds planted on August 1st are about done, but the other half of the vines look like they got their second wind and are sending more branching vines and leaves from the base of the vines. I was just wondering if the cooler weather will cause them to die instead. So far they are blooming and seem to be enjoying the cooler temps! LOL! And so am I! Much more pleasant to work out in the yard! :-) I forget the vines are annuals. Tonight was the first night in a month that the Moonflower vine didn't bloom at all. Hmmm ..... I wonder if I should use Bloom Booster on it? Or is it too dying back because of the temps?

Grow_Joanne - The bloom you posted here
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/Grow_Jo_1194355176_285.jpg


looks like

Akatsuki no Beni
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/84617/

Candy Pink has a completely(!) solid bloom...although I think the PF entry for Candy Pink could use some clarification...
I have only known "Candy Pink" to come from and produce light mustard colored seeds,the current PF entry was from dark seeds(based upon my private communication with the Laurrie who posted it)...

I'm thinking of starting threads devoted to particular cultivars with associated growouts to supplement and clarify what information is missing in the PlantFiles and/or for everyone's general reference...

TTY,...

Ron

Hey, I was just looking through the Plant Files, and I think the morning glory I posted above (and also in this post) might be Wine & Roses. Which would still make it a nil.

I did start some commercial "Scarlett O'Hara" seeds, so I bet that's where the Wine & Roses came from...

Joanne

Oooo,
We cross-posted. Spooky...

:)

Joanne - The commercial seeds I got for Scarlett OHara turned out to be Wine and Roses instead. Humph!

Ron - Good idea on the individual cultivar threads! :-)

I agree with Becky - great idea on the cultivar threads, Ron.

Becky - did your not-Scarlett O'Hara (aka Wine & Roses) look like my flowers? I actually kind of like them.

Joanne

Joanne - Yes mine looked very much like yours. I think there was more white on the throats on mine, but I honestly don't remember. And I liked mine, too! It's a pretty magenta color of bloom. :-)

Ron,
How would one distinguish between Wine & Roses and Akatsuki no Beni? To my eye, they look very similar. The main difference I see is that the A.n.B. appears to have much larger flowers?

Joanne Ü

Hi Joanne - The AnB would usually have a larger flower with some ruffling and variegated leaves as seen here
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/42810/

The " Wine & Roses" bloom usually has little to no ruffling and little to no variegation to the leaves as seen here
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/93108/

TTY,...

Ron

Thanks Ron!