Mystery Vine! What is it?

[rebbetzin]

hmmmm,

We have tons of Morning Glories growing here in Tucson. I know the seed companies won't send seeds here, but.... I have had them in my yard for over 30 years. I have some pinks, that came from Greece during WWII that were given to me by an elderly neighbor, who gathered the seeds when she was a young bride in Greece.


I have deep purples, and a European Bush Morning Glory. That has huge pale lavendar flowers. (I would think the Bush type is not a problem to the Cotton Industry here. ) I don't see much cotton being grown along I-10 between here and Phoenix like it used to be in years gone by. Here is a photo of the Bush type Morning Glory

I have a new type of Morning Glory I got from a neighbor a couple of years ago. It doesn't put out seeds. In fact, it doesn't even put out any flowers unless it gets full sun. It has huge blue flowers, and grows from cuttings. I saw it recently in CA when I was there for a visit. The vines stay green all year. They do get frost damage. But they cover fences in no time. And they have a really interesting leaf.I grow it along a chain link fence that divided my yard. I will take a photo of them tomorrow and post it. The cuttings when put in water put out roots in just a couple of days.

Here is Spartacus standing by the fence that is covered by the Morning Glory vines,

it never flowers since it doesn't get enough sun. But, it covered the fence in less than six months. I will get pictures of the neat shaped leaves and hopefully the flowers from the vine that has grown over the fence to my neighbors yard.

 

[toots]

Your pics are beautiful. I love morning glories!! Not the wild tiny ones ,but the big blue ones. I think they are called "Heavenly Blue". They are the ones I have tried to order. Planted some seed that a friend sent me once 2 years ago, but the white flies were very fond of them too. A few purple blooms. Ahh, no blues.

 

[rebbetzin]

Your pics are beautiful. I love morning glories!! Not the wild tiny ones ,but the big blue ones. I think they are called "Heavenly Blue". They are the ones I have tried to order. Planted some seed that a friend sent me once 2 years ago, but the white flies were very fond of them too. A few purple blooms. Ahh, no blues.

I get Heavenly Blues once and while when out of state. But, they do not seem to breed true. They turn purple the next year.

I took some photos yesterday of the Morning Glory vines that put out big blue flowers but no seeds. They grow like crazy in warm weather.

Here is the flower

On the back fence, that is beyond repair!! I stapled up some wire fencing to keep the neighbor's dogs from coming in the yard. And two week ago I put some cuttings in the ground, pardon the concrete and railroad ties, those are to keep Spartacus from trampling the new vines... but these have grown this much in two weeks.

I will post the leaves in a bit, my husband has to get on line...

 

[rebbetzin]

Here are the leaves of this type of Morning Glory vine, I think they are very pretty and it gives you an idea of how large the flowers ar, since they flowrs are about the same size as the leaves.

This one is not as deeply lobed

They die back if they are not covered when there is a frost. When we have mild winters, they stay green all winter long.

Today I am making a roof of sorts over my "pallet potting shed" I made about three years ago. I am using a large piece of shade cloth. I think it will work nicely to keep the sun and some of the dust out of my potting shed.

 

[vfem]

You know, I just got a mixed morning glory packet of seeds. Are these annual or perennial? Will I need to replant, or will it sow itself? Also, are the roots invasive? It includes blues, violets, pinks, striped and whites. I would like to plant them on a fence at the end of my driveway, but its RIGHT in front of my septic tank. I'm tired of people running it over!

(Had to repair the entire tank the DAY we moved here because a friend road over it with his truck 2 times AFTER I said DON'T "My septic tank is right here" and I pointed at it too!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrr)

 

[rebbetzin]

You know, I just got a mixed morning glory packet of seeds. Are these annual or perennial? Will I need to replant, or will it sow itself? Also, are the roots invasive? It includes blues, violets, pinks, striped and whites. I would like to plant them on a fence at the end of my driveway, but its RIGHT in front of my septic tank. I'm tired of people running it over!

(Had to repair the entire tank the DAY we moved here because a friend road over it with his truck 2 times AFTER I said DON'T "My septic tank is right here" and I pointed at it too!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrr)

Most Mroning Glories are annuals, they VERY FREELY reseed themselves!! They do not have an "invasive" root system, in fact you will be surprised when removing old vines just how little there is for a root system for many very long vines.

They die back in the winter, and do not come back from the roots. I go out each year and gather seeds then remove the old vines and put them in the compost. But, if you leave seed pods on the vines, you will have to pull out morning glory seedlings wherever you use the compost.

You mentioned getting seed for striped Morning Glories, those would be interesing to see.

I'd probably wait until spring to plant them depending on your weather, they may not have enough time to flower now before cold weather hits your area. I have had some "winter over" if we do not get a frost, but they slow down growing once the weather cools off.

 

[vfem]

Thank you for the information. I will DEFINITELY plant them there next spring. Should I try to get seedlings and move them over when they harden off, or can I directly sow by the fence and just let nature take its course. I would prefer the latter, its more of a surprise to see what comes up that way, then now whats in each pot (I get really picky with color combinations).

 

[toots]

Oh my, I so enjoyed the pics! I love those glories!! I have a protected area under the eves of the house. Do you suppose that if I planted now that they might do okay this winter? I usually have luck with the geraniums in that same area. The Zinnas are still in full bloom but the glory seeds should be up before I pull the zinna stalks-right? Then they will have the fall sun. They would be on the west side. Would the east side be better?

I think that your winter weather might be a bit cooler than ours here in Gilbert. What do you think?

 

[rebbetzin]

Thank you for the information. I will DEFINITELY plant them there next spring. Should I try to get seedlings and move them over when they harden off, or can I directly sow by the fence and just let nature take its course. I would prefer the latter, its more of a surprise to see what comes up that way, then now whats in each pot (I get really picky with color combinations).

They are easy to transplant when they are still very small, maybe three or four leaves, after that you have to be very careful of not damaging the roots at all. They don't transplant well for me anyhow once they are established.

I sow them directly in the soil and they are up in a week or so.

 

[rebbetzin]

Oh my, I so enjoyed the pics! I love those glories!! I have a protected area under the eves of the house. Do you suppose that if I planted now that they might do okay this winter? I usually have luck with the geraniums in that same area. The Zinnas are still in full bloom but the glory seeds should be up before I pull the zinna stalks-right? Then they will have the fall sun. They would be on the west side. Would the east side be better?

I think that your winter weather might be a bit cooler than ours here in Gilbert. What do you think?

I have found they need full sun to have flowers, if you only want vines, they do ok in the shade as a green vine with maybe a couple of flowers here and there. But to have really nice bunches of flowers you need lots of sun...and a good deal of water. They seem to love the heat, and slow down growing when it gets cold.

Mine do best on the West, or South sides of the house. They grow EVERYWHERE and ANYWHERE a seed happens to fall!!

My favorite thing to do is to plant a couple of Morning Glory seeds when I plant sunflowers They make the sunflower stalks pretty once the sunflower leave have turned dry and brown.

Got to go... lots to do yet... it is Yom Kippur tonight!!