Last year's crosses, this year's vines/blooms! (Part 2)

missingrossie, your blooms are really pretty.

MEAG- YES! Everyone at DG has treated me well and helped me so much ---- BUT ----- I think the morning-glory-growing may become an affliction!! This morning - I was late and rushing and still I had to hit the deck to see what was happening... Morning Storm --(I thought) -- was a hot pink --- but today had a lovely purple flower with these wide bands (like a pinwheel) of even a darker purple. NOTHING like the first bloom. I just can't wait to see what my morning blooms look like. I keep thinking.."did I plant two different seed types in this pot?" but I was very careful.

helen - thank you. I think I can get better with the photos - it is just those darn mosquitos.

This message was edited Sep 16, 2008 2:28 PM

Dorothy - I love your LYK blooms! Wow! Very pretty! It seems to have the paint brush strokes on the ends of the petals. Quite lovely! The LYK seeds that I am growing took the longest to germinate. Which I found most interesting since the seeds were fresh! All the other seeds I planted had been trades from last year, so the seeds were older than LYK.

Correct me if I am wrong ... I sent you Moonflower, Gray Fog, Morning Storm, Sunrise Serenade, and the solid or blizzrd purple MG seeds?

When do you take the above photos ... early morning or later?

Photos both early morning and afternoon. Grey fog was afternoon so especially fragile..but it is like thin thin paper anyway.
The moonflower still has not done anything (it is pure white right?)
Sunrise Serenade -- I don't have a baggie for that one. What I did was to take your labels and place inside one zip loc baggie and then another zip loc baggie...and tape to the front of each pot. No sunrise serenade. When I get home I will look -- it could be that it just hasn't bloomed. There is one pot that did not and I think it is the moonflower. I had no extra pot so it is shared with a huge pot with a tomato plant. The kaleidescope --- the photos do not do justice. First, it is strong - thick creamy flower --like a magnolia or calla lily --opposite of Grey Fog. And, the 'rays' coming from the throat are fantastic with the LYK --they glow. I will take more shots when another pops up. I am still just getting a few on every vine but it looks like more buds are forming.

Very pretty blooms missingrosie

gee, I have missed so much. I love these pictures............makes my day!

Gail - So sorry to hear your MGs bit the dust after moving them to shelter from Ike. Can you start new seeds? I am very glad to hear that you didn't get any damage ... except for when your vines were moved. I've finally got more MG vines coming up and can't wait for blooms.

Dorothy - Yes ... the Moonflower is a huge white bloom with a wonderful scent. They took forever to germinate for me here in zone 10a. What zone are you in? Maybe I didn't send you Sunrise Serenade because it is an I. purpurea. If you get any seeds from your LYK, please... I would love a couple to grow myself. Your LYK blooms are just gorgeous! :-) :-)

You got them!!! ---providing I do get seeds and if I
R E C O G N I Z E them for what they are !! -- If I squeeze the blooms (gently side to side) once they go limp/fade will it help to pollinate? Can one flower pollinate itself? If not I will try to get out a tweezer and hand pollinate as Ron describes. I fear that with it being late Sept it may be late to get all this accomplished...but it really doesn't get cold cold until Nov --rarely before. I am in zone 7a. Yes the LYK are really beautiful - I can't wait to see what others look like....but I have to say that the Grey Fog are my favorite. To me ...I think if you split the shiny pearl -like inside of a sea shell away from the back...that is what the Grey Fog flower is like...so very fragile and a beautiful shimmery pearl grey lavender.

Dorothy - Ron will kick me but ... I just use a small, fine, soft paint brush and gently brush the inside of the bloom for a second or two. If there is pollen in these blooms, that will help fertilize them so you will get seeds. :-) Worth a shot anyway. I found that my LYK were sterile. I had to use the pollen from other MG blooms to pollinate each bloom to get seeds. That is why all the seeds are producing different vines/blooms. Be brave! Go for it!

Becky - I'm not going to 'kick you'...if you find that you have developed a technique that works for you then use it...

I will mention though,that the bristles on a bumblebee are angled backward on the bee so that there would almost never be a direct 'head on collision' or 'stabbing' of the stigma by the pointy tip of a bee bristle,it would brush against the sides of the stigma with the side of the bristle and any pressure is directed sideways,so the pistil can absorb any excessive pressure by moving sideways...
there is more of an opportunity to 'jab' the stigma with the points of a hand held brush with a force that is directed downward onto the stigma surface (and the pistil does not yield as easily from a direct downward pressure onto the stigma) and so that is the reason I usually recommend caution and being gentle when using a brush...practice yields experience...

There is a very important difference in the way the bristles of a bee would exert pressure upon a stigma as compared to the manner in which the bristles of a human hand held brush could tend to exert pressure...the less than gentle 'bumblings' of a bee are naturally and substantially different than the 'bumblings' of a well intentioned human wielding a hand held 'tool'...

I have personally caused damage to a stigma and observed it turn dark from the degrading enzymes and seeing that first hand,I subsequently learned from that experience...for whatever it's worth...

Everyone develops their own technique...

TTY,...

Ron

Well, there goes my idea of just given the flower a gentle squeeze to mix all the parts/pollen together. I'm going to give LYK a small injection of the grey fog - and vice versa.

I don't ever hybridize but my friends who do say that they use those small expensive makeup brushes..............you can certainly jab with those...........

I just use a small, fine, soft paint brush. I've had very good luck getting seeds that way. It just happens to work for me! Everyone has their own method of fertilizing blooms. I use that method on many other plants besides just MGs. So far, so good.

Hey Gail, any new vines growing in your garden? How ya doin?

Nah................can you believe I am still fighting the shingles? The neurologist blocked three nerves under the ribs in the back and that helped so much..........but I am not making any progress with the pain at the middle and end of those nerves. I am going to turn into a druggie..........still taking hard narcotics everyday several times. Thanks for asking.........just staying in the house and working on my 8 gro light stands of gessies and anything else I can find to propagate..................

Today was most unusual. A good friend's grandson died of cancer at age 25 so I had to go to the funeral and I kept telling myself that it wasn't about me..........so I joined 500+ people at our church with not one tooth in my head .................and I had to wear a sweater over my blouse to cover up all the Lidocaine patches........I thought I would never get home to take my clothes off and put my pjs on.............

I am going to wait until early spring.........we hardly have a winter so I don't have to wait too long to have morning glories on every piece of fence wire I can get my brother to put up between now and then............I still have all of these wonderful seeds people have given me. Syrunami and I have become big buds because my dentist is in San Antonio and she lives there. I love to propagate but don't want the african violets.........so we make a good team.............we meet in the parking lot(LOL)

But I do love watching everyone else's pretty flowers..............

If there isn't any reason why you can't take it
turmeric (a spice - india - used in curry etc., gives the yellow color to mustard) is available in a capsule. It has been shown to be anti inflammatory - it is a minor thing in comparison to hard drugs to fight pain --but maybe it will help you. Can be found in a health food store or health food section of whole foods and other health oriented supermarkets. You might want to give it a try.

Thanks for your suggestions............gail

This is one of the 2nd generation seeds/vines that I am currently growing. This is the first bloom. Looks similiar to the original vine. Photo is a bit washed out from the flash. It has mostly light blue and deep pink (magenta) colors.

This message was edited Sep 26, 2008 10:32 PM

It's beautiful Becky and it looks like a large bloom.

Jackie - Awwwwwww ... that is where the deception is ... small blooms (3-4") ... always! But they make up for size by the amount of blooms! LOL! I believe that is the I. purpurea trait (youjiro) that this vine exhibits. Though the flowers seem to exhibit the I. nil traits in colors and patterns. LOL! Such an interesting vine! I genuinely do enjoy it! :-)

Becky, I'm happy if I get a 3 inch bloom. lol

Here's a photo of one of the blooms today on this 2nd generation grow-out. Very similar to the mother vine! :-)

Another smaller bloom below the one pictured above.

Look what my first blooms looked like this morning from a volunteer seed that must've dropped into the soil/pot where I grew this vine last year!

This is the first blooms last year: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=4749891

And here is one of the blooms close up. Is that not the coolest thing????!!! I can't believe this vine is starting off just like it's mother vine! I'm so excited to get another vine of LYK this year! Whoo hoo! So apparently, some of the blooms had pollen and self-fertilized! :-)

wow becky that is awsome! all of these are just beautiful! everyone have a great day! I hafta go gather seeds from my mg curtains out back..

Gorgeous bloom Becky.

hey becky .. sure would like some seeds from some of your flowers there.. I have like amillion seeds from all mine.. can't let them hit the ground or I will be pulling them out forever this spring next.

joeswife - Send me a dmail with your mailing info and what seeds you are interested in. :-) I don't have any seeds yet for the ones I am currently growing out. But I do have seeds for this vine. As well as other seeds from my April grow-out. :-)

Hey Becky, I coulda swore I mailed out a package to you today..:)

oh maybe not.. someone else in florida I think sheese been sending out seeds everywhere!

Debra - You know, I went back and checked my dmail and sure enough, we were doing a seed trade. Some MG seeds from me for some butterfly and hummingbird plant seeds from you. I was going to mail it out today, but got word that my son and his girlfriend were coming over, so never made it to the post office. The bubble envie is all sealed up with a nice variety of MG seeds. I do believe I put some LYK seeds in there for you. :-) They will go out on Monday at the post office. Let me know when you get them and let me know if there are any LYK seeds in the envie. If not, I will send some out to you! (Though I am quite positive that there are some in the mix in that envie!)

I, too, send out a lot of seeds almost every week, so sometimes can't even remember who I am sending what to. LOL! You are definitely getting some this week!

PS - I don't always connect the DG screen names with real names which is why that ... even with the envie all ready to go, I didn't connect that it was for YOU! LOL! Until I went back and read my dmail and saw your real name and mailing info and matched it up with the bubble envie in my purse! LOL! Some days it just doesn't pay to get outta bed ... lol

Becky.. I don't kow about you, but I am pooped today from all day in the backyard project. I am glad it was you that package went to! LOL

Deb, Becky has sent me seeds on many things. MG's...brugs...I truly thing that Becky is one of the most generous seed givers on DG. Becky, your MG's are amazing and I often wonder just how many plants you have girl! LOL

Louise - You are too sweet! Seriously ... I enjoy igniting in others ... my joy of growing plants by sharing with others. And I am paying it forward because of all those wonderful DGers who have been so generous to me! :-)

Y'all should see the Brugmansia plants that Louise grew from the seeds I shared with her! She has had tremendous success with them! :-)

I do have a LOT of plants! Not all at one time though ... many are annuals and some perennials! But my gardens are definitely lush now after 4 years of gardening. A new hobby/past time for me! :-)

Speaking of lush areas ... here is one corner of my yard near my backdoor. This area used to be bare and sandy. It looked absolutely awful. Now it is beautiful! I love looking out the french doors to see this view. This is where I often see hummingbirds, too. I am soooo addicted to gardening now! I just wish I had the funds to do all the ideas I want to do. This recession is killing my short-term gardening plans! (sigh)

Oh my ever lovin gosh! That is such an oasis! So lovely and tropical. Your plumie there is huge! Great pic Becky! I will send pics of the brug babies as soon as they flower. My seven foot tall one has y'd. I am still collecting your seeds too! Just waiting on the spanish flag. Deb, if you trade with Becky you will have some amazing plants!

Louise - The Plumie is a cutting that a DGer shared with me a year ago. I am amazed at how tall it got! And it's still a young plant. The flowers are a deep pink. Really pretty when blooming, which it is getting ready to do again! I can't wait to see your Brug blooms! :-)

I love vines of all kinds and they seem to like my yard for some reason. Here is my east fence with all the Passiflora vines growing on it. This was taken a month ago. You can't even see any white from the fence now at all! These were grown from seeds someone at work gave me! :-)

I am a freak for vines. It's my weakness ... I have a lot of different vines growing in my yard especially along the fence areas. Clematis, Mexican Flame Vine, Honeysuckle, Coral vine, Passiflora, Pipevine, Morning Glories, Cross vine, Moonflower vine, Gourds, and Scarlet Runner Bean. And I grew Hyacinth Bean last year ... both purple and white blooming varieties. I just can't seem to get enough vines! LOL! All were grown from seeds or small cuttings! LOL! And all came from trades! DG traders ROCK!!!

Wow you have done an amazing job taming all those vines! Mine looks more like a jungle. I agree...Dg is the greatest bunch of gardeners! I have never met more generous people...nor better enablers for addictions!!! LOL

And here is the area in between the two above photos. It does look like a jungle on that side of my yard. I can't believe that 4 years ago it was just sand and some weeds there. We built raised beds and filled with good soil. After 4 years, the soil has become very rich all along that area of my fence. It's just a matter of amending the soil and patience and the miracle of Mother Nature. :-)