HU-120274311 I wouldn't worry about the fact that the dandelions went to seed. There are seeds everywhere, whether they come from your lawn or a lawn half a mile away. An interesting fact is that the best time to kill dandelions is after they have gone to seed. The plant expends so much energy producing the seedhead that it is left weaker and more vulnerable to the herbicide. Also, many spring dandelion blooms can be avoided by using a herbicide in the fall to kill off the dandelions actively growing in the lawn at that time which will prevent them from being around to bloom in the spring.

Hi Strouper....I was thinking of trying the osteospermum next year from seed. Tell me, when did you start them? You didn't winter sow them, right? I guess you are right, that some annuals you don't have to deadhead, but you might want to. I, for one, am one of those people who if I have the energy and time would love to pull off every ugly leaf and dead blossom. I will even go under the plant and pull off dead or pale yellow leaves that you can't even see. That is just the way I am. So, I guess what I was asking was, if there are any plants that will drop their blossoms and not leave a mess and still keep blooming without deadheading. If they look ugly with dead blossoms on them, or if the blooming comes to a stop when you don't deadhead, then it probably won't do me any good. As for portulaca, did I mention yet, that I discovered my portulaca bloom just as well without deadheading? I haven't pulled one blossom and every morning they are covered with new blooms and you can't see the old blooms through all the flowers. I also have them along the street in the front, so I am not up close and personal with them for it to bother me if they did. Everytime I have walked over and looked at them up close, they look great to me! That has been a very happy discovery this year. I saw an island display outside an office building recently and it was the prettiest I had seen in awhile. It had petunias, next to million bells, with geraniums here and there, and gazanias with that silver foliage all around the perimeter. Might have been a few other things I am forgetting but it was very well done and I liked the silvery leaves all around the perimeter. As for my Pentas, I did buy them late at the nursery, so I am wondering if they just got pot bound and stopped growing and it took them awhile to acclimate themselves. They are maybe not even double the size that they were when I put them in and only now are just starting to show more buds. I always thought they were late bloomers anyway, no? Yes, the Pentas are in the only area I have that is full sun. From morning to sunset. I did look up that Evolvulus and it is very pretty. I haven't seen that around here yet. Also haven't seen any 1/2 price annual sales yet either. I have a few pots that could use a refill. Vera...... you have more energy than 2 people! [g] becksyard.....your zinnias sound very interesting. I didn't know you didn't have to deadhead. I like neat mounds too. I will have to see what colors they have available when I order more seed. I have never tried the shorter zinnias and would love the mildew resistant varieties. Butterfly magnets too. I have a couple of places I can think of putting them. Plus heat resistance, quite a combo, sounds like a perfect plant. :-) Can they be winter sown too? I will have to try the shorter ones next year. Karen...I find that too, that depending on how much sun they are in, most annuals perform differently. I have two large pots on each side of a gate that faces west. They are shaded for a few hours in the morning but then they are the last place the sun hits. I have nicotiana in them by mistake. I lost the labels and thought they were petunias when they were seedlings. [g] They are doing okay, but I am watering twice a day sometimes. I think the nicotiana would like a different position better. So I need to figure out what to put in those pots for next year. I don't want to do portulaca there, which would work well, but I need something fuller and about the 2ft range. It sounds like the profusion zinna might be one possibility. Here is a link that might be useful: Evolvulus

Good for you!! Volunteers/freebies are always welcome......at least if they are actual flowers and not the kind of weeds that spread like wildfire if you look the other way for a day or two. :) I always purposely leave the seed heads on a lot of my plants. I try to deadhead the ones that are extremely prolific, but don't always get to them either. I do it over the summer, but try to leave them in the fall so that the birds can eat them over the winter. That is why people are always asking why I have so many plants to give away.......especially 'rose of sharon'. I must have given away a hundred of them or more over the last couple of years. Thats not counting the ones that I didn't let get too big. Once they reach about four or five inches, I can't throw them away, so I let them grow a bit bigger and give them away. I figure the greenhouse that is a few blocks from me has been wondering why their sales of 'r of s' has gone down! LOL! I guess your clue as to the fact that it was a flower should have been that it wasn't growing out of control, but behaving and not growing too much. Your patience (forced or otherwise) really paid off!

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