The post about controlling this plant by clipping the leaves is most interesting. My feeling is that morning glory tends to become very dominant becasue it seeks to give away its leaves. If the gift of the leaves etc is accepted then the energy of the root is fulfilled and future growth kept to more reasonable proportions.

Morning glory gets out of control in environments where healing is really needed. Ripping up this plant only makes matters worse. If you seem to be in a bind, destroyiong that which seems to bind you obnly exascerbates the apparant problems. When morning glory is appreciated then "bindweed" is an opportunity not just a problem.

love from,

charly.

Searches on google implied zones 8-11 depending on species or author, maybe one reference to zone 7. Here in Montreal QC Canada (Z5) I see "perennial" morning glories. I cannot imagine that there is much microclimate effect based on where I saw them growing (on the edge of an open lot right next to the sidewalk).

(I do see Bindweed et al. too, but I think what I am talking about are what one usually calls morning glory... does anyone have pics?)

They come back with such vigour and regularity along certain fences that I would be hard-pressed to believe that they are just self-seeding. I have planted them in containers on my balcony, so no invasive worries... ditto for the datura...

So how hardy are they? Any thoughts about overwintering these indoors?

I live in California.

The back of the seed packet, recommened that I sow sweet pea along with morning glory.

Does any one have any experience in this? I thought that sweet pea requires rich fertilized soil while morning glory needs poor soil conditions.

While the idea seems fasicnating, I was wondering whether indeed that was realistic. Also I have heard some horrow stories about morning glory taking over the garden.

If I plant them as annuals, do I still risk morning glory taking over my garden?

Good luck,
Tanya

This is a beautiful blue, heavily and long blooming, truly perennial morning glory. The flowers are a deep blue as they open, and gradually fade to pink as the sun warms them, and finally curl up and disappear usually by afternoon, to be replaced the next morning. On cool, or foggy days, the blue will last a lot longer. But where we are, such days do not happen until late October.

Some caveats are required here. It is a big and strong growing vine. It will not please you if your intended spot is small. A shed, a back fence, a porch, these are in the proper scale for this vine. Another caveat regards frost. Frost is a very good thing for I. indica because it kills the tops back to the roots. Without the benefit of some frost, it will not stop, remains evergreen, and has taken over entire blocks of backyards in San Francisco. For us, the sharp frosts of winter knock it back to the main crown, and it is therefore an excellent deciduous vine. The crown is hardy as long as the soil itself does not freeze solid, and has survived 16F here.

A third caveat is that it makes, in addition to the twining, upward growth that produces the flowers, another kind of vine which grows exclusively horizontally, has slightly different leaves and makes no flowers. About mid summer, these horizontal shoots start out rapidly, and keep going. It is wise to trim them off around the crown each month or so. We have seen them grow 40 ft or more in a season in a straight line from the base of the plant.

Despite the cautions, it is one of our all-time favorite plants. It grows easily in any soil, with any exposure, and produces flowers of the most exquisite deep blue.

With your morning glories I would suggest picking up a piece of Lattice from the store and attaching a couple of posts to it so you can stake it in the ground. You can weave a few of the vines inbetween the lattice to give it a start upward and perhaps train it to find it's own way skyward and away from your other plants.

My morning glories have successfully killed 1 arbor vitae and are working on my rhododendrons. It is in partial shade and extremely hot late afternoon sun. I used to like them when I saw them gracing a fence, now I want to start a fire whenever I see them.

I will be heading out with a paint brush and some round-up very soon!

Cheers!
Tracy

I do remember the beautiful blue flowered morning glory as a child and it is nothing like the bind weed.

It is far too integrated with my plants to poison even very carefully. So I just keep pulling the young plants. There are fewer now then a few years ago, but it persists. At least it isn't growing thickly any more. And if you miss a sly one in a deep corner of the garden, just keep an eye out for the small trumpet shaped white flowers.

If it is morning glory and you don't let it flower, it will be gone a couple of years. If it is bindweed, it may never completely go away (the seeds are viable for decades). Just keep pulling the new shoots.

I've read about a perennial morning glory that is not the weedy bindweed, but from what I've read, it only is perennial in the far south US (and, of course, more tropical countries). So I suspect that most of us with a perennial "morning glory" are seeing bindweed.

By the way, I read in a thread "somewhere" that a gardener has had success against bindweed by cutting (not pulling) the vine and pushing a can into the soil around it, cutting off all sunlight. I might try that. I have LOTS of cat food cans. LOL!