ipomoea Ochracea

Got this from Jan this spring just starting to bloom it blooms late after noon in to the next morning

one more

Paul - Nice one!!!

How big are the blooms? This is one that I will be growing out in the Spring. Wonderful to see some yellow blooms! :-)

about 2 inches across

Thanks, Paul! Such a nice form and color! Very cheerful looking vine! :-)

if you have any extra seeds I would love to add this to my garden next spring I Love all types of vines :) its a besauty .
susie

Susie,
This only blooms during the winter months here. I don't know if it will bloom up there or not unless it is kept in a greenhouse.
Jan...

That's interesting, Jan! Maybe I should go ahead and grow some seeds out now? I didn't know how fast or slow growing this MG is.

I would love to try it in my 4 season sun room I know our winters would be to cold for it . but love the color :)

susie

when i get seeds ill send you a few paul

It's lovely Paul.

Yeppers, my vines are blooming now too. They usually start in September but they were late this year - they didn't start until November. These vines are several years old...they stay green most of the year but I do cut them back to about six feet when they are bloomed out and start to get bare. They should bloom up until around May if we don't get a freeze.

~ Cat

ps..there's a 10 foot tall pony tail palm under those vines...somewhere...and they've also latched onto my neighbor's oak tree :o)


This message was edited Dec 11, 2007 10:33 PM

There's a mix of ipomoea ochracea and ipomoea obscura growing together.

~ Cat

Holy Moley on this photo! http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=4286648 Yikes! That scares me! I looks like it would take over my entire yard if not kept in a container and kept in check! (Sheesh!) LOL!

Ha Ha Becky....they do take over my yard...well the east side anyway. I put in a 16 foot stock fence panel in to hold them back from the rest of the yard in August and you can see how quickly the vines covered that :o)

There's a chalice vine under there too...some branches are sticking out but the vines latched onto those branches as well and also crawled over my pride of barbados and are working their way towards a telephone pole on the other side of my back fence.

I call my ipomoea ochracea vine Audrey III :o) FEED ME SEYMOUR!!! ROLF!!!

Here's another photo of the east/north side of my back yard. The vines crawled over my back gate pathway and latched onto my baywindow security bars...and took over from there. (disregard the date/time stamp - I forgot to set it properly - the photo is from 12/10/07)

I just can't make myself cut them back just yet. I need to wait for them to seed out first.

~ Cat

Hi Cat,
Your's gets really carried away compared to mine. Perhaps the fact that mine is more shaded helps hold back the growth. Mine were also late blooming this year and have just started.

Good gosh! It's abducted your home!!!! I guess you can call the fire department to have them cut you out if it covers your entrances around your house! LOL! That is seriously frightening! My dh would out there with a blow torch probably burning the vine back to the ground. I can't believe it hasn't set seeds yet! HA! At what point do the seeds show up??? Reminds me of Jack and the Beanstalk. Only this is Cat and the Ipomoea Ochracea! LOL!

Cat,
Is that Hibiscus Acetosella in front. I'm trying to make out if I'm seeing maroon flowers.
Jan...

Jan...it is acetosella indeed...also called false roselle? It also blooms profusely. The seeds are vicious little pods though...these have fine needle like hairs - makes gathering those hibiscus seeds a real chore. I have to use gloves, pliers and an exacto knife :o)

Becky...they should start going to seed later this month...am just hoping I'll be able to tell the obscura and ochracea seed pods apart. Am sure I will as the obscura forms round pods and the ochracea sort of a teardrop pod. I never should have let them entwine together...but alas, I am notorious for never cutting anything back :o)

~ Cat

Cat,
put a tree type tag around the vines in random places while it is blooming. That way you can trace the vines when the seeds are ripe and will know which vine is which.

Yep the seed pods are a killer. I have the "Haight Asbury" and just harvested a few seeds. I'm curious if it will grow with the variegation from seed or if it's like others and revert back to the solid burgandy.

Cat
I seriously would not leave any windows open or unlocked. It's liable to carry you away in the night.

Anne

What zone are you in Cat? Are you on the border?

Jan...I have red twist ties on some tendrils at this time :o) The false roselle blooms start out maroon but some then turn a pinkish color.

Bynde...I'm on the southern border...about 16 miles from Mexico...and I work right at the border :o)

Anne...too funny!!! Some tendrils traveled along the brickwork of my house and onto my back porch...and through the doggy door!!! :o) I had to cut those back because the dogs ended up dragging tendrils in when they came inside. Your words were never so true!!!

~ Cat

Phicks & TexasPuddyPrints, have you two noticed any interesting inhabitants or visitors to your I. ochracea? On http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/796875/ , Gordon found out the potential number of flora and fauna that can inhabit us - just wondering about I. ochracea.

Here's a member of the moonflower's (I. alba) heyday in our garden last summer. Eventually, a predator wasp (or few?) laid its eggs in it and it was just covered in those white capsules of future wasps. I'll follow with a pic of the moonflower in bloom.

I. alba, the host -

(now, what's I. ochracea playing host to?)

I first planted i. ochracea for it's rarity and beauty. Then I got into lepidoptera and started planting specific butterfly and moth larval host plants to attract them to my yard. Now I get Pink Spotted Hawkmoths using it as a larval host. Which is great for me :o)

I raise butterflies and moths from either eggs laid on host plants or caterpillars I find. Have been doing that for several years now :o)

Too bad about the wasps getting to that caterpillar. Such is the way of nature.

I collect eggs and caterpillars and raise them in cages so they won't become parasitized. I also keep the chrysalids and cocoons in cages. Once the butterfly or moth ecloses I release it into my backyard to continue the cycle.

~ Cat

Sounds like a wonderful thing to do, Cat. Dusk has been a favorite way to end a day in past summers - fringed blossoms and unfurling tendrils sillouetted against the twilight sky of Lagenaria sicceraria while winged blurs hover at cleome and moonflowers. There are some great photos that capture "winged blurs" very clearly in the PlantFiles page for Ipomoea alba - how about someone capturing the Pink Spotted Hawk moth at I. ochracea for DG PlantFiles? To me, there are few things more beautiful than flowers with their visitors.

I googled Pink Spotted Hawk moth to see what it looked like, and came upon a website that is both an oasis of chatty information about this moth as well as a great portal to other gardening and horticultural blogs and links -

http://ourlittleacre.blogspot.com/2007/10/pink-tuesday.html

led to: http://rosecottagegarden.blogspot.com/

http://thisonething.typepad.com/morning_glories/ , led to:

morning glory links: http://thisonething.typepad.com/morning_glories/morning_glories_informati.html

Yeppers,

They are somewhat gray moths with pretty pink markings when their wings are opened. The caterpillars are quite voracious :o) I raised some a few years ago and one caterpillar could polish off six leaves in one day :o) OINK!!!

My vines have been running rampant for several years...so a few caterpillars don't even make a dent in them.

~ Cat

Well, bon apetit to the cat that can match kudzu chomp for clomp (Let's blame this one on Gerris' punster influence)

Karen

I bow to your superior punning, Karen, I am but the student and you, the master.

Very wise, grasshopper.

lol - it's Mistress!

You say tomato, I say tomahto...

How long would you say these take from sowing to blooming.11 months?...so granted the climate here is somewhat similar to Florida, if I sow now I can expect flowers at the beginning of next year. It will be winter here...

gofast,

The first year I planted Ipomoea ochracea they did not bloom until the second year. However, the seeds that fell from those blooms sprouted in March, grew and bloomed in September of the first year. Seems the original stock needed time to get acclimated to our climate?

All following generations have bloomed from seed the first year. These vines do not die out after the first year but continue to grow and bloom each year. I have vines that are five years old now. Of course, our climate has mild winters so they don't freeze back to the ground.

Mine started to bloom in early October and are still blooming. They normally stop blooming around late April, early May.

Hope that helps.

~ Cat

This message was edited Mar 9, 2008 11:13 AM

Mine are still Blooming

Thanks to both of you, I may just be lucky...having a similar climate to Texas here in Morocco...

puddyprint,
I started off with your seeds last year too and have three plants in a pot, they didn't bloom for me last year, but I'm so happy they are still alive too.. I'll be putting them into the ground this spring.

Gourd,

They really do much better if you can plant them in the ground. Have had some in pots and although they bloomed - their growth was stunted (have a bad habit of forgetting to water my potted plants - that might have been the problem).

I am currently harvesting seeds - so if anyone wants to trade for a dozen - am looking for butterfly larval host seeds or good butterfly nectar seeds in trade.

~ Cat

Cat,
I'll send you a d-mail tonight with seeds that I have. I don't know if they are butterfly larval host seeds or not. I'd like to get some from you in case I lose mine.