What is morning glory? Planting and care, photos, plant features - let's look at all this, see what varieties you can choose for your garden. Some are so perfect that whenever I admire the delicate funnels of morning glory, a stone flower comes to mind that was created by Danila the master! The bindweed family, which includes morning glory, has about four thousand varieties. Among them are annuals, perennials (about 500 species), shrubs, vines and even trees.
What is morning glory
Ipomoea is a decorative and unpretentious liana. Its other name is farbitis. Many people call this plant a bindweed, which will certainly become a bright decoration of your gazebo, hedge, arch or pergola. It can reach five meters in length. In our gardens, an annual or perennial liana, which is also called the flower of the morning dawn, is most often planted. This poetic name was given to Ipomoe not in vain; her gramophone buds were one of the first to open, in the early morning, when other flowers had not yet awakened from sleep.
Depending on the variety, Ipomoea flowers can be double or ordinary, the colors are the most diverse - blue, violet, blue, burgundy, pink, white, red, pale lilac, two-tone. As mentioned above, morning glory is unpretentious, grows very quickly and braids any support offered to it. Long flowering is another advantage of this flower, from the first days of summer until the onset of cold weather it will decorate your garden.
Every day a new flower blooms. He does not live long, sometimes until noon, sometimes until evening. And long flowering is achieved due to the huge number of flowers and buds.
Ipomoea, photo:
Growing morning glory is possible not only in the open ground, but also in an apartment, especially on balconies and loggias, where she will feel great.
This plant is very often used in landscaping. Its bright beauty, excellent survival rate and rapid growth help in a short time to change for the better the appearance of the arbor, porch, fencing and other garden elements.
Morning glory leaves are also noteworthy and decorative - large, lobed, heart-shaped, rich dark green in color.
In landscape design, Ipomoea is often used for many years, but annual varieties can also be found very often in summer cottages, flower beds, flower beds, flowerpots, and also in the form of living carpets. The plant prefers sunny places, good watering (especially in summer), does not like drafts, but still grows normally even in windy places.
Ipomoea has an interesting feature: the buds open in the morning and close in the afternoon - this factor is due to the sensitivity of the plant to light. If there are cloudy days, then the flowers may not close at all, but remain open until dusk.
Favorite varieties of morning glory
Of the total huge number of varieties of morning glory, approximately 25 species are used in the culture. Let's look at some of them.
Ipomoea purpurea (Ipomoea purpurea)
This is one of the most famous varieties. In favorable conditions, the length of the shoots can reach 8 meters. The flowers are large, 5-7 cm long, can be red, white, pink, blue, maroon, purple. The variety has both ordinary and terry varieties. The most common varieties are: Yalta Star, Milky Way, Scarlett O`Hara.
Especially interesting is the Ipomoea purpurea variety Paradise Stars - it is an abundantly flowering plant reaching three meters in height, with buds of different colors, thermophilic, photophilous, characterized by long flowering.
Purple morning glory, photo:
Ipomoea ivy (Ipomoea hederacea)
Liana in length can grow up to 3 meters. The shape of the leaves is three-bladed, resembles ivy, hence the name. The flowers are medium in size (about 5 cm in diameter), mostly blue, light blue in color, but there are also red and pink. It blooms in mid-summer (July) and continues to bloom until October.
Ipomoea ivy, photo:
Ipomoea nil (Ipomoea nil)
Also reaches three meters in length. It blooms from July to mid-autumn.
The flowers of this variety are surprisingly decorative: contrasting two-tone, with a fringing of different shades, with an unusual color (pink-brown, bright orange, creamy pink, variegated golden). The shape of the bud can be star-shaped, with terry edges, with rounded petals.
Ipomoea Neil, photo:
Ipomoea kvamoklit (Ipomoea pennata) or cypress liana
This morning glory is an unusual variety with openwork finely divided foliage and small star-shaped flowers. The branches of the quamoclite reach a length of five meters; flowering begins in July and lasts until September. This is a very spectacular plant, with saturated green foliage and bright red multiple flowers. Kvamoklit unpretentious, quickly growing.
Kvamoklit, photo:
Ipomoea blue (Ipomoea heavenly blue)
Sometimes this variety of morning glory is also called "Glorious Morning." She pleases the eyes with sky-blue flowers from mid-summer until the onset of the first frost. The flowers are large, in diameter can reach 10 cm, shoots grow up to 2 meters. This thermophilic plant, which prefers sunlit areas, loves watering, but he does not like waterlogging of the soil.
Ipomoea blue, photo:
Moonflowers Morning Glory (Ipomoea noctiflora)
An amazing night flower that blooms in the dark and closes its buds with the onset of morning. The shoots of this plant reach three meters in length, the flower itself is about 10 cm in diameter. It begins to bloom in mid-July and continues until October. Delicate almond fragrance is another plus of this snow-white flower.
Ipomoea moonflower, photo:
Of course, there are a lot of varieties of morning glory, they are all beautiful in their own way, each of them has its own fans. Through the efforts of breeders, more and more new hybrids appear, striking in their beauty and personality.
Today on sale you can freely buy a variety of varieties of morning glory in seeds, and on the relevant forums - cuttings or seedlings of the species of interest to you.
Ipomoea - planting and care in the open ground
The most common method of propagation of this plant is self-sowing, in which morning glory sheds seeds after they ripen. With the onset of spring, the sprouts of young morning glory hatch and stretch to the sun. You can also buy seeds of the desired variety, and then, according to the rules of sowing, sprout them and sow in the ground. You can even just sow the seeds directly into the soil, digging into the hole about 2-3 cm - a positive result will be. The distance between the pits should be approximately 20 cm, 2 or 3 morning glory seeds are placed in each recess. You can safely begin this process in the second half of April (in the Kuban) or in May (the middle zone of Russia).
Ipomoea seeds of different varieties, photo:
You can go in a more complicated way and sprout seeds for seedlings. To do this, they are germinated and planted in peat tablets or in containers with suitable soil.
When to plant morning glory on seedlings?
In March, pre-soak the seed in warm water (for 24 hours), and then place it in tablets or in separate cups with soil. If some seeds do not swell after such a daily bath, then you can use a needle and prick them, and then put them back into water for a similar period of time.
The method with seedlings is more suitable for cold regions, since full-fledged young plants are planted in the soil, rather than tender seeds. Seedling care is simple, seedlings can be observed already on the 10th day, watering is carried out as the soil dries up (a little warm water). In the room where the seedlings are located, the air temperature should not be lower than + 19 ° C.
In the last days of May or in the first week of June, already grown morning glory can be transferred to the open ground.
How to plant morning glory?
Try to carefully remove plants from containers, with a large lump of earth, as this culture does not respond well to transplantation. The distance between the holes should also be approximately 20 cm. After planting, pour flowers with warm water, when they actively grow, establish a support near each plant (if you did not initially plant morning glory near the support element).
Seedlings of morning glory, photo:
Propagation of morning glory by cuttings
For individual varieties of morning glory, propagation by cuttings is recommended. In this case, the shoots are cut, fragments with two internodes are selected, cuttings are cut so that the bottom of the cut is located 1.5-2 cm below the nodule. After selection, the cuttings are placed in water. 5-7 days after the appearance of the roots, they can be planted for permanent residence in open ground. Within a week, the stalk is completely rooted in the ground.
How to care for morning glory?
As for care, it is quite simple and does not include any special requirements. Ipomoea annual, as well as perennial, grows well on any soil. The main thing is to provide it with regular, but not too plentiful watering (so as not to rot the roots). This plant does not need additional fertilizing. However, if you really want to, then a complex mineral supplement can be added along with water during irrigation, at a time when morning glory is actively growing. To make everything look aesthetically pleasing, remove damaged or dried shoots. Periodically loosen the earth, remove weeds. The most important thing for morning glory is a reliable and strong support for growth and further weaving.
Ipomoea photo:
In the open ground, as well as at home (on the balcony or loggia), there are no special differences between the requirements for growing this flower. All actions are similar, water the plant and provide it with support, then the morning glory on the balcony will feel just as fine as her relative in the summer cottage.
Pest control
As for pests, the most malicious enemies of this plant can be considered spider mites and aphids. In the early stages, aphids can be removed by spraying the leaves with a strong soapy water solution. The spider mite gives up its position from ordinary cold water, however, these methods work at the very beginning of the pest invasion. If the parasites attack the plant in full force, then you need to fight them with the help of systemic insecticides, such as Karbofos, Aktellik or Fitoverm.
Morning glory in winter
With the onset of winter, morning glory should be carefully dug up and moved to a volumetric pot, which should be brought into the room or in the basement. In this case, the ground part of the plant, of course, is cut off. If your region does not have very harsh winters, it may well overwinter in the open ground.
Here, in principle, and all the nuances relating to this plant. With minimal labor costs, you can create unprecedented beauty at your summer cottage. You will definitely enjoy morning glory! Planting and care, a photo of this flower and all the above information, I hope, will help you to strengthen your choice of options for decorating a summer cottage, gazebo, fence or other garden element.