Ipomoea Purpurea Common Morning Glory
COMMON MORNING GLORY
A wall of blue flowers – this seems an impossible achievement for an ordinary keen gardener. Yet the common morning glory makes it all so simple! Choose a fence or wall, preferably facing east, or south if need be. Fix vertical strings at a distance of about 6 in from one another. Provide nutritive soil at the foot of the wall or fence. Soak the large black seeds in tepid water for 24 hours. Then sow them directly in the garden, or in a large pot or other container. The seeds may be covered by over V2 in of soil. The seedlings cannot tolerate frost and snails love them. If you have succeeded in averting those two threats, guide a plant towards each of the vertical strings and pull out the remaining plants (or give them away). They do not mind being transplanted. This also makes it possible to sow them indoors earlier in the year and then plant them out later on, which also reduces the risk of fatal damage being caused by snails or frost.
Once they have started up the rigging, the plants will continue to climb aloft at top speed and then come into flower by the end June. New flowers, ll/4-2 in wide, in shades of blue, purple, pink, white, or combinations of those colors, will open daily. The flowers’ throats are always white – a characteristic difference between this plant and the very similar Ipomoea tricolor, which always has a yellowish throat. The flowers often open in the evening, but otherwise do so at night or in the early morning. They fade in the afternoon of the same day, and around midday in hot weather. As long as you keep the plants growing by ensuring that they have enough water and nourishment, there will be many new flowers every morning. The leaves, too, are highly decorative. They are heart-shaped, pointed, and often three-lobed.
