Don't think it would be in Leicester. I've grown Heavenly Blue occasionally and find that it is not usually a long & warm enough summer to get a dependable display, let alone allow a self-sowing problem.

I agree. In the UK they just don't get the long, hot growing season they need to flower spectacularly, unless you position them really carefully (against a warm, south-facing wall, for example). Also, I've found that you have to be really careful not to plant them out too early or they just go into shock and refuse to grow. It's a shame, because they are so beautiful, and I keep trying every year, with saved seed. I also sowed Ipomoea 'Murasaki Jishi' from Fothergills (I think?) this year. I am promised dark blue flowers with wavy edges. I wonder whether it's worth saving seed each year of just the strongest plants that have actually produced a decent show of flowers, i.e. selecting ones that cope better in our climate. Or maybe it doesn't work that way?

I wouldn't bother growing them at all in Yorkshire unless you have a baking sunny courtyard or a conservatory.

Mine have voted with their feet (roots?) this year and rotted off in the propagator without germinating.

I grew Knowlians Black one year but you can't beat the Heavenly Blue IMHO.

Thanks folks for all your help.

It's funny that the seed packet does not give the same information as this group. It shows lovely blooms and implies wonderful value. Perhaps the packet should say ;- if they don't rot in the propagator, they probably will not flower, so don't bother if you live north of Watford. If they do flower - they are invasive, so cut the flowers off!

My experience of Morning Glory is Grandpa ott is very reliable at flowering much more so than Heavenly blue. We sell around 75 of three types each year heavenly blue, flying saucers and Grandpa Ott.
Grandpa Ott will self seed in the garden but it isnt invasive because it isnt a perennial and so can be controled very easily

I have some mixed colour morning glories that regularly self-seed along a trellis in a sheltered spot, but I find that most varieties need a bit of love and care and some luck with the weather. I don't usually start the seeds off until about now and I plant them out in mid-July. Unless the weather is unusually warm, they just sit and sulk if you plant them out before then.

Heavenly Blue is reliable for flowering. Last year, I also grew Flying Saucers,white and blue stripes, a breathtaking sight.

The one I have trouble with is Ipomoea quamoclit.
I've never managed to get it to go higher than about 18 inches and it seems very shy of flowering. Has anyone else tried it and been more successful?

True Ipomoeas ('Morning Glory')are tropical plants that are very sensitive to cool temperatures. If night time lows get much below 10C. young plants develop pale or creamy blotches on the leaves and all but stop growing. Should low temperatures persist for any length of time, they give up completely and die. In more northern parts of the UK they are best protected until early to mid June and in a cool summer, may not succeed at all. The most reliable is the relatively old hybrid: 'Heavenly Blue', but there are some newer, fabulous colours.

As to growing the 'Star Vine' or 'Cypress Vine' - Ipomoea quamoclit, it is even more sensitive to cold temperatures when young and needs a very warm sunny spot to really get going. I would certainly grow this on for several weeks under cover before planting it outside in late May or early June.

I think the confusion about the alleged 'rampancy' of Ipomoea lies with it being distantly related to our common, native bindweed - Calystegia sepium, which is a terribly pest in the wrong place. Some folks tar the entire family with the same brush and forget or are unaware that true Ipomoea is tender to very tender in the UK and incapable of becoming a 'weed' in any sense of the word.

Our native bindweed is a beautiful plant. It's a great shame that it such a thug.

I have grown I. quamoclit aka Mina lobata. I started the seed in a heated propagator at about the same time as my runner beans ie mid-May and then planted them out in large pots with a bamboo teepee. They grew to about 1.5 metres and flowered reasonably well but were not very spectacular. However, they were a lot more successful than my sweet peas as they didn't get eaten by snails. Also they do not need sunshine to open like the usual MGs.

MGs are rampant in their preferred climate. I have seen them draped across entire streets in southern China as they climb along the electricity poles and wires.

As to the commmon white bindweed, if it were difficult to grow I'm sure we'd all be cosseting it as it is a really beautiful flower which stays open even under grey skies. The one which plagues my allotment is Calystegia sylvatica great bindweed, which was actually introduced as an ornamental, I believe. Has anyone grown these in pots so they can't spread? I think they'd look great.

Another reason for Morning Glories being considered invasive is that they are agressive vigorous weeds ... in the southern United States! If you can provide 90+F and ten hours of strong sun every day then you too will have a thug :)

I've grown Heavenly Blue indoors in pots and had them flowering in March, but they won't grow to their full potential without being able to spread their roots. Oh, maybe you were asking about bindweed?

Flora, Ipomoea lobata is a different species to I. quamoclit. The former has broad, lobed, typically Ipomoea-like leaves and one-sided spikes of tubular flower with somewhat inflated bases that are white going to yellow with reddish-range at the tips - hence the common name 'Spanish Flag' or 'Fire-cracker vine'. It is a more vigorous and easily grown plant than I. quamoclit, which has very finely divided, feathery leaves and scarlet flowers that flare at the tips. Ipomoea lobata grows relatively easily in the UK and will flower in dappled shade, although it performs best in full sun. It does not seem to be anywhere near as cold sensitive as quamoclit or any other Ipomoea for that matter and I've even had seedlings pop up in the garden here in Torbay after mild winter.

I thoroughly agree with you about Calystegia - if it wasn't so invasive, I'm certain it would be heralded with awards. There are a few highly ornamental forms - a wonderful double, a semi-double which is even better and several nice pink or pink striped varieties. I grew a very fine, wild collected, candy-striped form for a few years in a large pot on a tripod of 6ft. canes and it looked magnificent, causing considerable comment. Sadly they all tend to possess the same thuggish tendencies as sepium, but I can't help admiring them. Last year, I found a very fetching, cream marbled-leaf form of the field bindweed - Convolvulus arvensis and managed to get a cutting to root. It has returned this year, albeit weakly and it may be safer to plant out, but only time will tell. If it makes up well this year, its pink and white saucers against the creamy marbled foliage will be quite a sight later on.

Davepoole thanks for putting me right. I was suddenly plagued with doubt after I posted and now realise that my memory is not as good as I thought and I should check before relying on it for names. I am interested to hear about your experiments. Again, I think that if the common field bindweed were not a 'weed' it is easily as pretty as the other convolvulus we grow. eg 'tricolour' which never worked for me.

My I.Quamoclit gets attacked by Red Spider - the feathery leaves have no resistance and you can't squash the mites. Also, the merest hint of a chill or draught and they turn chlorotic - out of eight plants, I am down to the last two, hoping they can risk outside in a week or two.
Has anyone tried the pink and white ipomeas called rose feather (or something similar) - Plants of distinction sell the seeds and possibly Fothergills, I think?

I have tried growing bindweed in a pot. Would you believe it, the so and so just died?

I do find it very ironic that I'm digging up the bindweed that persistently attacks from the field behind my garden, then hurrying into the greenhouse to tenderly cosset my morning glories.

I have thought about introducing the pretty little field bindweed to my garden as ground over, but I've never quite dared.

merilus ......DON'T

I'm sure you are right, campanula...but it SO pretty!

I wonder how the convolvulus would behave in the States.

Someone send someone some seeds. (Note no friends should be involved.)

Hi! I'm in Northern California and I just recently (last May) planted some Murasaki Jishi morning glory seeds in my back garden. I planted 25 seeds and three came up! Two have survived and they have lots of green leaves. They are on an east-facing wall. They are about 1 meter tall. I am PATIENTLY waiting for flowers. I'll let you all know if I get some. Other morning glories around here grow up telephone polls and all over bushes. I'm hopeful.

Hi, again. The Murasaki Jishi seem to love September! The vines are producing 4-6 flowers a day. The flowers are smaller than I thought, but they are beautiful! I took a picture of one, but I'm not sure how to post it on this web. Does anyone know how to do that?
Thanks!

The common morning glories like Heavenly Blue grow well in my part of Sweden so I suppose they will do alright in Yorkshire. I would be surprised to learn that our summers are colder.

Thanks to all you who have replied. I did plant out my seedlings, which grew several feet tall, with pretty flowers. But overall the display was thin and disappointing. By contrast other annuals and perennials did very well. Cosmos, grown for the first time, grew just as tall with 100 times as many blooms.