It is way too early for MGs. They don't hit their stride in the northern areas like ours until July - August and a number of northern growers don't even get blooms until August - September. Plus they do need warm soil and air temps to do best and that has been lacking just about everywhere until recently.

If you are trying to have a "vine house" for Father's Day, forget it. :-( You could have tried some sweet peas as they might have really vined pretty good by now, especially since they love cooler weather. Then have other vining plants seeded to take over when the peas were done.

However the one vine that I found grew very quickly and could take the wacky weather was Scarlet Runner Bean. I have some that I put out early along with Cardinal Climbers, MGs, Moonflower vines, and Hyacinth Bean vines. The CCs distintegrated (I sowed some more seeds and aren't sure if I will ever see these), the MFs and HB is going slowly, the MGs are just barely getting started BUT the SRBs have grown amazingly through the cool below normal weather and withstood winds and other adversity. I am definitely sold on them plus they are edible.

As for your hideout, I don't know what to say but you could still try creating one by letting it grow out for rest-of-the-summer fun, but no amount of fertilizing or watering will get you what you want out of the MGs in 2 weeks. :-( By July, probably.

Thanks for the reply. I figured they just needed time. This is my first year gardening and dh is teasing me that I have a black thumb because none of the seeds we planted (we planted some wildflowers too) look like flowers yet. Silly man- summer has just finally arrived here! And how! it is 93 today. At least I can tell him to have patience and we don't have to take the teepee down just yet:)

Is it too late to plant any of the other vines you mentioned? Or should I just wait for my morning glory?

Thanks!

Ditto this, However the one vine that I found grew very quickly and could take the wacky weather was Scarlet Runner Bean. I have some that I put out early along with Cardinal Climbers, MGs, Moonflower vines, and Hyacinth Bean vines. The CCs distintegrated (I sowed some more seeds and aren't sure if I will ever see these), the MFs and HB is going slowly, the MGs are just barely getting started BUT the SRBs have grown amazingly through the cool below normal weather and withstood winds and other adversity. I am definitely sold on them plus they are edible.

Moonflower vine is a very fast growing vine. I have this and the Purple Hy. Bean growing on a trellis. Doing great. My scarlett runner beans are doing good too.

Hey Red Queen, why not just try to make a tee pee out of old sheets or such? A tee pee is great fun for kids, and they probably won't give a hoot as to what it's made of. Just a thought. Have fun! :) Arum

Arum - LOL!

RedQueen - if you direct sowed now, they would probably take off now that the soil is warming up. Go for it!

RedQueen, I'm in SW Michigan (zone 5) and I did MGs for the first time last year. I didn't plant my seeds until about now, and the first month of growth was SLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But once they got up to about a foot tall, they REALLY took off.

Suggestions:

For fast growth and foliage, you *DO* want to water them. Then once they are established, cut down on the watering and they'll flower more. But for little "babies" that aren't to the flowering stage yet, if they don't have enough water then they won't have what they need to grow.

Once they are growing strong (sending out tendrils), you'll want to watch them EVERY DAY if you want to get complete coverage for the teepee. These things grow like the dickens once they get going, but they're not very smart about *where* they grow. You'll want to direct them to the bare spots on your teepee each day so they don't just start growing on each other or heading back down towards the ground. (Learn from my mistake, please!) The vines are very forgiving of your manipulation, too -- I've unwrapped them where they had spiraled around each other a dozen times and directed them to where I wanted them to go, and they just kept on going. But it takes a LOT more time to unwrap them than it does to just direct them in the right spot in the first place.

In my experience, Grandpa Otts isn't the fastest/strongest grower. I found that the Mixed Colors seeds grew faster than the other varieties I had last year (grandpa otts, tricolor, and heavenly blue).

Good luck!

I have to agree that I doubt the kids really care what their teepee is made of, or even if it is anything more than bamboo and string.
They can learn about growing things as this process unfolds and learn that things don't just happen....society is too full of instant gratification as it is.

They are going to have the best teepee in the world (their view - maybe yours, maybe not) by the end of summer that they will remember forever (and it won't be remembered as a shack either).

As for the cousins? If they are older (or if it's the parent you are concernce about)....if the string really is willy nilly...perhaps it can be organized a bit and they too can understand a glorious work in progress. All the kids should have fun regardless.

Don't put too much stress on one litle detail. Enjoy this time when your kids our little and go have ice tea in the teepee sticks with them anyway. The best teepee I ever had was made of blankets and chairs and the best time was when mom served dad and I under my liitle tarp (How did he fit under there?)

I like the sheet idea. You could even dye the (cotton) sheet/s tan like animal hides and have the kids put their handprints and paint designs (petroglyphs) on the sheets!

Thanks all-
I think we will make another teepee (out of a sheet) with the cousins and let them decorate it themselves. It will be loads of fun I'm sure. I know the cousins (and their parents really) couldn't care less if the teepee was made out of paper bags. This is my first house and my first summer of gardening. It is also the first time our family has visited us here. I've been planning this teepee since Februrary and I was just a little disappointed that it won't be ready in time for our out-of-town family to see.

It won't be too long though. We've had temps in the 90's for a few days and I've taken your advice and let dd water her plants suckers every day. Those MG's are really taking off! Maybe I'll post a photo in August:)

Happy Summer!