Vertical Beauty: The Magic Of Morning Glories

by Jim Binnings, CCMGA Master Gardener

Like many suburban gardeners, I have a small yard to garden in. Last year, I looked around my backyard and realized my yard was full of raised beds full of assorted vegetables, small shrubs, and annual flowers. I read an article by a landscape architect who suggested going vertical when you could no longer go horizontal in your garden. On a whim, I put some tomato cages in a bed and planted Grandpa Ott's morning glories in late spring. Within a month I had vines growing all over the tomato cages. I had showy two-inch blooms in two months, deep purple with contrasting magenta stars and throats every morning. And once the bees found them, I had a real bee magnet growing.

DIY Arbor and Self-Seeding

Fast forward to this year and I have built a DIY arbor from scrap wood I had in the garage in that bed and have created a space to go vertical. The morning glories have self-seeded, and now I am working on wrapping the twining vines around and up the arbor. They have already covered the ground around the arbor and are starting their morning show of blooming. Here is some information on Morning Glories.

Morning Glory Basics

• The morning glory is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae.
• The was first known in China for its medicinal uses due to the laxative properties of its seed (Source).

Varieties and Characteristics

Morning glories are day bloomers without a noticeable scent and can be found in many colors ranging from white to red, blue shades or streaked patterns. Several varieties are so dark as to appear almost black. The standard old-fashioned favorites, a mix of several species of Ipomoea such as purpurea, tricolor and Nil, include These varieties are vigorous and easily grown.

Popular Varieties:
• Pearly Gates: White with blue shades.
• Crimson Rambler: Deep bright pink.
• Scarlet O’Hara: Cherry red.
• Grandpa Ott: Very dark, smaller blooms on a less rampant vine.
• Blue Star and Flying Saucers: Streaked shades of blue.

Planting and Growing Tips

• Starting from Seed: Scar the hard seed casing with a file before planting.
• Planting Time: Plant in late spring when there is no chance for a late-season freeze.
• Soil and Watering: Tolerate average to poor soil but prefer well-draining soil.
  Appreciate regular watering.
• Sunlight: Grow best in full sun (at least 6 hours) but can grow well with a little shade.
• Growth Habit: Aggressive vines that can grow up to ten feet in a season. They easily re-seed and bloom from early summer to the first frost. Vines will die back after first freeze.
• Things to note:
  • Do not over-fertilize morning glories, or there will be too much foliage and too few blooms.
  • Keep the ground moist until the plant has started growing.
• (Source)

Morning glories are aggressive vines and can be too aggressive for some folks. I mentioned writing this article to a gardener friend, and she commented, "...is there something good about morning glories?" haha.

Interesting Facts

• The dreaded perennial hedge bindweed is part of the species Calystegia Sepium and is not part of the morning glory species, which is Ipomoea Purpurea.
• However, Sweet potatoes Ipomoea batatas are in the morning glory family. Anyone who has dug up Morning Glory roots can see the similarity.

My Creative Process and Future Plans with Morning Glories

Besides growing beautiful plants, part of the appeal of gardening to me is the creative process. Once I decided to go vertical, a whole new world of plants opened up for me. Now, I am curious about vines and want to learn more about them. Who knows where this raised bed with its DIY arbor will go? At the moment, it has Grandpa Ott's morning glories growing. I like how quickly the morning glories covered the soil with pretty heart-shaped leaves. I will spend this year watching, learning, and cutting back (I am already trimming it) on this beautiful vine. I look forward to going out and seeing the big, beautiful blooms every morning now. And what in the plant's genes causes it to close its blooms in the afternoon? By the end of the year, I am sure I will have a better understanding of morning glories and what I might do next year. I have read that a fun thing to do is plant two types of morning glory vines together and enjoy the different colors and flower sizes as they climb whatever structure they are growing next to. And like the Grandpa Ott racing up my arbor, my gardening vision, skills, and plant knowledge are also growing, and that is a good thing.