Hello! I'm new to this forum and have only one morning glory. This Bush Morning Glory is four years old now and she puts on this fabulous show every August. She overwinters very well, coming back each spring larger and taller. Thought I'd share a picture.
It's beautiful with so many flowers open at once.
Beautiful! May we see a full photo of your lovely bush, please?
WOW beautiful shot!!
Thank you all for the nice comments! Becky, I'll get a full shot tomorrow morning because as I write this, the plant is wilting in the sun.
As promised, here's a photo of the full "bush". As you can see, it consists of three long branches and not much more. I've tried to make this more bushy, but it tends to grow like this each year. This is a southern exposure and it gets a dose of full sun for most of the day. Although the flowers are stunning, the plant isn't that attractive. Any advice would be welcome!
Another shot.
Hi zone10 -
ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL COLOR
I would love to have some of your seeds and in return can send you seeds of mine as well as a Lavender Form [Or other MG Seeds]. My Pink Form is a bit more lighter than yours and it just blooms like crazy. I've been growing this one for several years and have only lost two plants.
You mentioned over-wintering yours?
Do you dig it up every year?
If you do, you don't need to as it is very hardy for your zone, as would the White Form be as well. Only the Pink Form is hardy in my climate. It does die back every year and returns ready to go again each spring.
Also, have you tried to cut your plant back? I would think it would bush out more if you would cut it in half. You can then root cuttings to have a 'group' growing together.
Here is a photo of one of my sets of 3 and as you can see they do bush out nicely. I am guessing they are about 9' tall, but will keep growing until our first frost hits. Then, I cut them back to about 3' and mulch them for the winter. The cuttings root very easily in water.
Emma
Here are the Trunks -
The Mother plant is in the middle and the two others are from 2007 cuttings that I planted in early spring this year, and they are all three the same height
Blooms from Pink Form
This message was edited Aug 28, 2008 2:18 PM
Bloom from the Lavender Form
Wow Emma, your plants look so healthy!. I sure wish mine looked like that. This plant overwinters well, but I live in a frost-free zone. The trunk looks similar to yours. I prune the plant in late winter each year but it still tends to grow in leggy form. I prune it very hard, to about 8" of the ground. I never considered rooting the cuttings ~ I'll try that next year. Maybe if I just had more plants growing it will look better. Thank you for the info and sharing pictures of your plants. I'll try to harvest some seeds and send them to you. If you don't hear from me in a couple of weeks, please feel free to put a bug in my ear.
Sue
HI Sue,
Thanks very much. I will look forward to growing your seeds.
I left out a step.
I do feed my new plants with Fish Emulsion when they first go in the ground as well as the Mother plant, and I also feed them throughout the year as well with FE. I also feed the plants regular fertilizer 12-24-12 only one maybe two times each year. I also alternate feeding them Bayer Advanced 2 in 1 Rose and Flower Care. This is the first year that I have used the Bayer, but all prior years the 12-24-12.
Very interesting that your plants don't bush out more cutting them back as you do. Maybe you could try the feed and see if that makes a difference. Also, cutting them back now may also do the trick, but only at least 1/2 their size or more. Then you can root your cuttings for more plants now. In your climate, they will take off like a rocket.
Emma
I never thought about it, but I haven't really fed this plant much. It's in a raised planter among other plants, so I'm sure it could use some food. I'll follow your suggestions and see what happens. Thank you again! Sue
You are welcome, hope it helps.
Let us know what happens
Emma
Man I might trade off my first born to be a Z10er!!!
LOL Ronnie. I'd like to sign up.
Yeah, I admit being able to plant just about any plant, at just about any time of year, spoils us here in z10, but I might check back with ya'll in a month when we're bakin' in 100+ degree dry heat and all of our non-succulent plants need to be watered three times a day :-) !
Or ya could be in zone 10 here and have to worry about hurricanes! LOL! No place is a perfect paradise! :-)
Good point Becky!
To all of you who are threatened by hurricanes, here's hoping you stay safe!!
Yes Becky stay safe and I agree, I guess the perfect paradise is right in our own backyard!!
When we got Fay here is stalled out and just dumped a LOT of rain and strong winds. I had a mess in my yard. I had to severely prune back 2 small Cassia trees/bushes that blew over and push them back into the ground. I thought they were goners, but I see new leaves popping out on the trunks and short branches. Didn't seem to phase the couple of MGs I have growing along the fence.
I will certainly try to stay safe. And anyone in Gustav's path, evacuate if they ask you to. Not worth risking your life to stay. I am keeping a close eye on Hannah. =:-O
Becky, it sure is eye opening to consider folks like you have to add hurricanes to their list of garden maladies. Makes aphids seem like nothing! What perseverence you have...replanting uprooted trees. Glad to hear your cassias seem to be on the mend.
Thanks! I think just about every state has some gardening malady that they have to contend with. We have a great year-round climate, but we also have the rainfall, humidity, hurricanes, and sometimes scorching heat not to mention ALL the pests! But many, many plants are very hardy here and hold up quite well through it all. I think it's a matter of finding those plants and nurturing them in your garden beds. Unfortunately, I don't consider MGs hardy here, but I still love and enjoy growing them even if they have a much shorter life-cycle here. I am very prone to having rust fungus in my area because of the humidity and rainfall that can be year round in Florida. I prefer to stay away from pesticides and other chemicals, because I love the wildlife too much to endanger their health. :-)
I sure enjoy all the plants and critters year round! :-) :-)
This message was edited Aug 30, 2008 12:09 AM
An update on my plant...
My Ipomoea carnea fistulosa is about 7 years old now and is doing well. It has formed a thick base above the soil, with several main stems. The photo shows this seasons growth. There are dozens of buds maturing, so I expect a grand show of blooms again this year. Each winter, I prune the plant to about 12" above the root base. We are in a frost free zone, so regrowth begins late winter/early spring. This plant seems to love the heat. We've had a fairly mild summer this year, with nightly lows in the high 50's, so I suspect that has slowed the green growth a bit. I have been surprised by it's tolerance for drought. It is possible there is an extension of the root mass under the soil, which may explain how it has gone 2-3 weeks without water. The leaves wilt midday, but perk up by morning as I guess is a characteristic of many MG's.
I think it's time I give this plant a little more attention for all it has rewarded me over the years. If anyone knows about the root system of this plant, I am curious?!
zone10 - Did you see this thread? http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1127131/
Becky, thanks for the link to the thread on this plant. I am such a novice at growing morning glories, I didn't even know what I had until this original post in 2008! Another MG member kindly asked me to post an update on my plant, thus this recent addition. So now I'm curious...Can someone positively ID my plant from these photos? From what I read, that may be difficult. It obviously isn't a bog grower and has shown no signs of invasiveness whatsoever.
I can't help you there. I agree that it may be very difficult to determine. Just enjoy it for what it is ... a beautiful blooming MG bush! :-)
Sounds good to me!
Hi Sue,
Here is a very old Ipomoea carnea growing in Mexico. No telling how old it is.
Great picture EmmaG! I hope my plant grows as old as that one.
In your zone, it very well may grow to be old
