I kept mine cut back, but only for the sake of space, not necessarily to shape them. However, the plants didn't seem to notice, as they continued to be beautiful. I have also found it's almost impossible to kill a Moonflower plant. Moonflowers, simply, will take up a lot of space. Next year mine will be farther from the house.

I was just wondering the same thing! I grew mine from seed this year and they didn't start flowering until late August and now it's getting cold here in MA so I don't think they will last much longer outside. Also, how do you overwinter you EEs? I am anxious to do this too since there are some amazing specimens at my local garden center on sale but I don't want to buy them and see them die next year.

I have grown various species in the Family of plants Convolvulaceae for over 45 years...I have traded seeds with people from all over the world since the early 70's... I have never seen nor heard of a dog or a cat eating any part of any type of Convolvulaceae plant...documented animal toxicity has been related to vegetarian grazing animals,like cows,sheep and goats, that may sometimes ingest some of the more toxic species that have become intertwined with the usual plants that they graze...even then very large amounts of vegetable matter are required to be eaten over a prolonged period of time to result in animal toxicity as the leaves and stems contain little alkaloids in comparison to the seeds... There are many types of plants that are variously toxic to both animals and humans,but MG's are nowhere near the top of the list...Daturas,brugmansias,foxglove,hydrangea,oleander and a few hundred other commonly grown garden plants on tradelists have foliage and flowers that are much more toxic than the Morning Glories that are sold in stores... The seeds of Morning Glories are not visually interesting to animals(or children) and are very bitter to the taste...any animal or child tasting the seeds is realistically much more likely to immediately spit them out,than to continue eating a very unpleasant material... The fungicide sometimes used to coat the seeds to discourage 'teenyboppers' from attempting to get high,often causes more physical distress than the untreated seeds...it takes at least several hundred(!) MG seeds properly(!) prepared(!) to experience any sort of a 'high'...simply chewing the seeds is not sufficient as the chunks of raw material are poorly digested and absorbed... The swollen immature seedpods and pedicels of Ipomoea alba and Ipomoea turbinata(muricata) are eaten in Asia as a vegetable... Ipomoea nil and Ipomoea hederacea seeds have been used in traditional folk medicine as a purgative and as aids to birthing during labor and as with other Morning Glory seeds,they contain naturally occuring tocin related alkaloids that make you puke(!)... There are no scientifically serious documented deaths of animals or humans from ingesting Morning Glories as compared to a very large list of other common garden plants. Scientific facts should be distinguished from over-reactionary 'fuzzy' thinking...there are many substances that animals and humans can potentially become seriously ill from,but realistically(!) speaking,Morning Glories isn't one of them... My experience is that Morning Glories are very safe to grow as garden plants,especially in comparison to the many other plants that are intentionally grown and occur naturally as volunteers all around us... Hope this information helps to reduce any well-intentioned misunderstandings and 'mindless' repitition on the web of misinformation related to Morning Glories and actual or potential toxicity... TTY,... Ron

No need to worry. Just plant the seeds. They'll figure it out.