Morning glory flowers are known for their vibrant colors and trumpet-like flowers, which open up during the day and close at night or on cloudy days. They come in a wide range of colors, including pink, purple, blue, red, and white, with some varieties having multiple colors on the same flower.
Common Morning Glory
This plant is not cold tolerant, they close their blooms at night to protect themselves from cold and re-open when the temperature is much warmer, usually in the morning–thus they got their name 'Morning Glory.
Cut Back in Fall
For more detailed information on planting and growing morning glories, read our guide. In warmer climates where they are perennials, cut back in late fall or early winter so the plants are about six inches tall. Vigorous growth will resume again in the spring.
Under optimum conditions, the creeping vines can sprout up to 15 feet during a single growing season. They're landscape uses include growing along fences, arches and trellises. In addition, morning glories are known for creating shade on walls, cooling buildings and reducing cooling costs.
Morning Glory Information
Native to Mexico and Central America, morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea) is usually the fast-growing annual flowering vine that shows off bright trumpet-shaped mildly scented blossoms. The buds are tightly twisted and open when the sun hits during the morning, giving them the beautiful name.
morning glory, any of several herbaceous twining vines or shrubs in the genus Ipomoea (family Convolvulaceae). Several species of morning glories are cultivated for their showy trumpet-shaped flowers and attractive leaves.
The morning glory earned its name from the fact that its beautiful, fragile flowers unfurl in the morning. However, as we all know, beauty is often fleeting. Such is the case with the morning glory. The flowers last only a day and begin fading about two hours before the sun dips below the horizon.
Morning glories are technically perennials, returning year after year in zones where the temperature doesn't regularly dip below 45 degrees Fahrenheit, like USDA zones 9 – 11. They are grown as annuals in zones 2-8. They die over the winter, though they can drop enough seeds to regrow the following year.
They can be troublesome if not controlled, but it's easy to keep them from getting out of control. There are a few types of morning glories you can grow that won't be invasive, especially in the cooler climates.
Once sown, morning glories bloom from early summer to the first frost of fall. With slender stems and heart-shaped leaves, their trumpet-shaped flowers come in colors of pink, purple-blue, magenta, or white.
Morning glories, also called Ipomoea, are amazing flowers that hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees all adore. They are unique and at the same versatile. They can be planted in many ways, such as in containers, a hanging basket, a trellis, or your backyard fence.
Yes, some species of morning glories are toxic to dogs.
Those most poisonous to dogs are referred to as Ipomoea violacea and Ipomoea carnea. The lysergic alkaloids present in the seeds of these plants are particularly harmful for dogs, and should be treated with extreme caution by pet parents.
Morning glories do best in soil that is moist but well-draining. A neutral soil pH of 6.0 to 6.8 is best, but morning glories will grow just about anywhere. However, they do bloom better in soil that is not too rich in organic matter. You can always amend the soil later if the vines look like they are struggling.
Phlox subulata 'Purple Beauty' (Creeping Phlox) is a top choice for an easy-to-grow, ground covering addition to a rock garden, perennial border, bulb garden, or slope. Covered with lovely lavender-purple flowers for 4-6 weeks in the mid-spring garden, this butterfly favorite is also deer resistant and salt tolerant.
The corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) is the largest unbranched inflorescence in the plant kingdom, boasts a powerful stink, and blooms for just 2-3 days once every year or two. The bloom can grow up to 8 feet tall! This plant fascinates visitors of all ages.
Passion flower (Passiflora incarnata) is a climbing vine with white and purple flowers. The chemicals in passion flower have calming effects. Passion flower is native to the southeastern United States and Central and South America. It's been traditionally used to help with sleep.
In fact, morning glory contains d-lysergic acid amid in its seed. This chemical presence in morning glory is potentially lethal, and from personal experience I can attest to its long, painful hangover. Transdermal patches are now widely used for administering nicotine and birth-control medications.
Likewise, morning glory is considered by many to be a weedy plant, since it shares a common name with some plant species that are very difficult to control. As a result, gardeners are reluctant to plant it which is unfortunate, since properly located it can be a very attractive, useful plant.
Morning glories also self-sow readily so they will surprise you each year as new plants pop up in different parts of the garden.
Bush morning-glory is a drought tolerant, long-lived plant. Keeler (1991) estimated that life expectancies of established plants could be 50 years or more.
Why Wild Morning Glory Is A Problem. Morning glory can, like other vine plants, choke out and kill the plants that you actually want to cultivate. It also grows very quickly; the plant's creepers will take over an entire corner of your garden in just a few days.
They thrive in hot weather and in sunny spots, and bloom prolifically through the summer. Their unfailingly cheerful flowers open fresh every morning. They only last for a day, but you will not miss the ones that fade, because a morning glory vine will produce more blooms than you can ever count.
It makes an excellent container plant either outside in the garden or indoors in a conservatory or porch. Grow this versatile climber on a range of supports – either free-standing obelisk-type supports, a trellis or next to an established shrub or conifer so the morning glory scrambles through it.
There are two common types of insect pests affecting morning glories; both are sucking pests. One is the cotton aphid and the other sucking pest is a spider mite. Cotton aphids come in many colors.