If I could do it over I would think twice about planting MG. Yes I too was once a lover of these beauties. The first year I had billows of plants growing over an old picket fence. They kicked in around August and didn't stop until frost. Heavenly blue, everyone stopped to admire. The problem is 4 years later I have MG coming up everywhere. I spend more thime removing these beauties from every inch of my gardens, about 1 acre, even out in my lawn. But, in repsonse to your question I agree with other post. Don't feed, don't run water everytime they look droopy and be patient they will come. My advice to you is to make sure you remove all the dead vines after frost to ensure MN and birds don 't scatter everywhere.

I'd go ahead and put them in the garden if you have some mulch. We got low temps last night, and I probably could have left everything alone, but I'm new and anxious! It's the frost, not the cold that does damage. Put them in the ground and if you are in danger of a frost later pile mulch on them for the night. That's what I did to my young shoots last night. Since it's a climbing vine, just twine/twist it up into a little mound and put mulch over that. A little mulch that covers the whole plant will protect it from damage. Then you just brush the mulch away. We'll probably all learn that we can leave things alone, just like these experienced people do, but right now I sleep better if I have them a little protected! They all seem so delicate that I'm sure I underestimate Mother Nature's tenacity all the time.

I have grown the Heavenly Blue variety for the past two years. Those seeds do seem susceptible to frost, so I tend to plant around mid May (2 weeks or so after my last frost date). I didn't get any blooms until late August last year, and they really took off in mid Sept and went strong until our first fall frost. I have yet to see a bloom this year but am expecting the same. Some morning glories (the pink and purple ones I believe) will reseed aggressively and may bloom sooner.

The same thing has happened to mine. I'll try to post a pic for better observation on my behalf. This is my first time with Morning Glories but I've loved them since I was a child. I started them from a seed using the elementary school method of putting them in a zip lock bag along with a moistened paper towel. They grew to about 1 to 2 inches before I planted them. I unfortunately put them in seed starting potting soil and just came to realize that the pots didn't have any drain holes. Ugh! Therefore by reading your comments I must assume that my soil is just too moistened for these Morning Glories. Thanks for the help!