I think they're very pretty!

I know this thread is old and inactive but it gave me some ideas and I wanted to share my experience. I planted a punch of seeds (Ipomoea purpurea (mixed) mid/late march. Separated seedlings after they got true leaves into 4 inch pots. after they had 6-8 leaves I put one in a cupboard to cut its light exposure to 10 hours or so for a week to 10 days. Kept another on heating mat for a 4-5 days and/or provided supplemental lighting. One pot was sent outdoors. End of a couple of weeks the one with limited light exposure had buds the rest did not. After another couple of weeks in the south facing window (default location) all were sent out on the balcony where they get 2-3 hours of sun if it's out. The weather has been pretty irregular, 23 one days 10 the next and mostly rainy. The buds on the one are holding up but the cold exposure outside has slowed their development into blooms and wind has been trying hard to kill them. Anyhow, got them back indoors today. None of the others have recognizable buds yet. Will update when the one with buds blooms. Bottom line if one grows in a pot and limit daylight (like for kalanchoe or poinsettia, but not for weeks, just days) to the seedlings, one could get at least Ipomoea purpurea to start blooming early. Whether, the blooms, once initiated, will stop after a while, I am not sure. Will update how this goes. I know this was not a rigorous experiment but take it for what its worth. I started more than a couple of dozen kinds of seeds and this was obviously not top of my list.

Hi David - Thanks for your reply and feedback. This reply is a combination of responses related to what was posted on another thread here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg0721424814478.html?6 and what has been posted on the current thread. I have placed Daves original statements in quotation marks to indicate that is what Dave stated and / or asked. I'm glad to reply to your suppositions and your inquiries... "I suppose I should be sorry for touching a nerve." No reason to be sorry , because whenever I see over-generalizations posted regarding Morning Glories , I will post to offset with accurate info and I have specialized in Morning Glories for over 5 decades. I've traded and shared with people all over the world and own 2 groups devoted to all MG's....and I am very familiar with the peer reviewed literature... I would suggest that you would need to look at sources other than the UMN plantfinder as many if not most are available and I did previously mention ebay as a source... Try ebay for instance or use google advanced search http://www.google.com/advanced_search Do a search of members trade lists here: http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch-search.cgi Did you only check the University of Minnesota site or did you also check other sources like ebay or members trade lists ? Most would be available from those who have a particular interest in MG's , like many species or cultivars that are not offered by the Big Companies , those who belong to the plant groups often trade / share seeds amongst each other. "...the fact is, the reason many non-Ipomaea smitten gardeners do not grow them, is because of their tendency to self-sow." The choice of species and the particulars of how the plant is grown is a primary consideration, because tropical species will not survive cold wet Autumns or Springs and plants grown in containers on a smooth hard surface are much less likely to be problematic. The self-perpetuation of any plants from seeds is certainly higher from plants grown in the middle of what is essentially a soft ground area and where it may be difficult to hand pull out any possible volunteers. Here is my reply to the list I posted and availability... Ipomoea alba - one of the easiest to locate Ipomoea albivenia - - plants are becoming more commonly available in the US Ipomoea carnea - ebay or JLHudson Ipomoea lindheimeri - ebay Ipomoea lobata - commonly available Ipomoea macrorhiza - commonly available from MG traders Ipomoea pandurata is often self-incompatible - ebay or traders Ipomoea turbinata - now back to Ipomoea muricata - very common amongst seed traders Ipomoea ochracea - seed trading circuit Ipomoea setosa - common amongst seed traders Ipomoea wrightii - ebay or seed traders Merremia aegyptia - ebay or seed traders Merremia dissecta - ebay or common amongst seed traders Turbina corymbosa - ebay or seed traders JLHudson, Seedsman http://jlhudsonseeds.net/ "I'd rather put my trust in a nationally known retailer with a reputation to protect than someone random bloke on ebay. A nationally know retailer to protect what (?)...their self-interest... Did you know that MOST nationally owned big plant merchandizes are already owned by either MONSANTO or one of it's subsidiaries and Monsanto is the biggest threat to the environment that there is... http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50865/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=8967 Ron says - For The Permanent Record: The Vast majority of large seed sources do not have their Morning Glories accurately identified. There are MANY Universities and Botanic gardens which do NOT have their Morning Glories accurately identified , although I have communicated with many sites over the years (including the USDA, e.g. ,about 25% of the species on their public site were mislabeled) ) assisting them with identification issues... "While I was discussing this aspect on another thread, might as well continue here. Seems morning glories (from an outsider perspective, but I have > 20 years experience of serious horticultural experience) have the curse of low expectations." I would say that Morning Glories are cursed by myths as the cause of any 'low expectations...also depends on what your expectations are... "Merchants assume people just want seed strains, many of which do self-seed to some degree of agressiveness, instead of known clones of rare species that are not likely to spread. In any case, if the true Heavenly Blue, as mentioned above, doesn't spread... I want one. But I'm wary of growing it from seed or getting a seed grown plant." "Which seems to be the main one addressing non-weedy morning glories. Surely these can be rooted though? Seems like many offering seeds is just inviting the possibility of cross contamination with species whose seeds have better viability, and the eventual artificial selection of something that is likely to be weedier. " The Ipomoea cross the species barrier with great difficulty... The only hybrids known by human assisted / hand cross pollination are : 1) Ipomoea sloteri (an auto-tetraploid) in section Mina 2) 3 species within section Pharbitis = Ipomoea hederacea , Ipomoea nil and Ipomoea purpurea 3) The ONLY known open pollinated inter-specific hybrids are all within series Batatas (species all extremely closely related to Ipomoea batatas)... Anybody claiming otherwise (no matter who it is) , likely needs to be acquainted with objective facts... Here is a great site devoted to Morning Glories: http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/Asagao/Yoneda_DB/E/menu2.html "There are species which will NOT survive a cold wet Autumn or Spring (Ipomoea tricolor)" it seems like you are hedging your bets. Are you saying if I plant this vine in spring, even though it will bloom all summer I will not have a problem with seedlings around and under it? No, not hedging my bets at all...the Ipomoea tricolor doesn't start to flower until the mid-summer and by the time any seeds are ripe , it will be almost time for the weather to be too cold for any self-sown plants to grow very much. Choice of species is important and obtaining your seeds from someone who accurately identifies their species is also important. I have made myself available for several decades to people who are looking for identifications and I am still available...before or after you obtain any plants or seeds... "So, apparently the name of 'Heavenly Blue' has been degraded from a cultivar to a seed strain. In that case can you recommend a source for the true, sterile 'Heavenly Blue'? Are there any other sterile morning glories? For that matter feel free to recommend your "top 3 varieties that are not sterile, but unlikely to self seed in normal conditions". For example when you say this: "There are species which will NOT survive a cold wet Autumn or Spring (Ipomoea tricolor)" it seems like you are hedging your bets. Are you saying if I plant this vine in spring, even though it will bloom all summer I will not have a problem with seedlings around and under it? It's very windy here, I cannot possibly gather every seed that might germinate. The people who owned this house ten years ago had (probably bog standard) morning glories in one small area only, thankfully. 10 years later I still pull up around 5-10 seedlings a year, down from scores. " Ipomoea seeds are eaten by mice, chipmunks, squirrels , birds , particularly grainivorous birds like partridges, pigeons, doves, quail, grouse, pheasant and songbirds... You might have a species growing which was given to you by the birds... Ipomoea tricolor "Heavenly Blue" is not sterile, nor are any other cultivars of Ipomoea tricolor like "Blue Star" , Flying Saucers", Pearly Gates" or Wedding Bells"......that myth probably arose from some sellers realizing that it rarely successfully self-sows...and if you are having problems with a species of MG successfully self-sowing after 10 years , it isn't Ipomoea tricolor... Thread addressing at least in part as to whether Ipomoea tricolor is sterile or not http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg04092751814.html You want recommendations on a MG that should not be problematic as per any aggressive self-perpetuating in your area... The epithets followed by an asterisk are the top 3 as you requested , but all of the others would also qualify Convolvulus cneorum - clones - - perennial can be over-wintered indoors Convolvulus sabatius - clones - - perennial can be over-wintered indoors Evolvulus glomeratus - most are self incompatible clones - perennial can be over-wintered indoors Ipomoea alba - moon-flower that tens to flower very late in the season - usually grown as an annual Ipomoea indica* - most are clones - perennial usually grown as an annual - can be over-wintered indoors Ipomoea nil* - large japanese asagao types , especially the double forms - annual Ipomoea setosa - doesn't like cold - annual Ipomoea tricolor* - won't survive cold - annual Ipomoea wrightii - doesn't like cold - annual Merremia dissecta - won't self perpetuate in cold areas - annual Stictocardia beraviensis - most are clones - perennial can be over-wintered indoors Turbina corymbosa - won't survive cold - perennial can be over-wintered indoors The reason the forums exist is so we can share information. Should you locate any source offering MG seeds or plants and you want to post it on here for feedback , I will do what I can to assist in an accurate ID... regards, Ron P.S. - davidrt28 - I noticed that you don't have the function enabled for members to send you a private message via your homepage link ... You might want to consider enabling that option...or , I invite you to send me a private e-mail message so that I can share something which I cannot post in the forum... http://www.gardenweb.com/auth/nph-logincheck.cgi?action=public_profile&user=/ron_convolvulaceae This post was edited by ron_convolvulaceae on Sun, Jul 13, 14 at 16:27

Finally someone who knows morning glorys!! i took some seeds from my neighbors morning glorys that come up every year. i also buy plants from my local nursery that are annual here in my MN climate. today i finally planted 4 morning glory plants that i bought but could not plant because of the weather. i had them outdoors when the temps were 50 degrees or higher during the day and then brought them in. i planted 2 heavenly blue plants and 2 mixed colored plants and by 6pm tonight the heavenly blue plants were practically dead with the leaves 100% limp. the mixed colored plants are doing just fine so i am wondering why this is? also, the leaves on the HB and the mixed ones are different. in addition, the morning glorys that keep coming up (from my neighbor) have different leaves also!! i too am clipping this post. thanks for any info you can provide me with!!