Oops! I meant to say 13 to 15 blooms per night. ~Scott~

I tried moonflower mixed with cardinal climber this year, but didn't have any moonflowers sprout. I scored each seed and soaked them in boiling water for a day, and they still didn't come up. I'll try again next year...glad it worked so well for you!

I'm envious too ...... planted MGs and Moonflower last year. Soaked, nicked and planted ever so carefully. MGs went wild, bloomed beautifully, but turned out to be major Japanese Beetle food. Then they rusted badly and I ripped them out mid-summer. Moonflowers never did appear - I was so disappointed.

I'm glad you have the perfect place for them - toast them with a glass of wine for me! And welcome back!

I have grown them every year for several years along with Morning Glories without nicking or soaking and always end up with fantastic germination rates using any old kind of dirt.

The Moon Flowers don't come up the same time the morning glories do. They need the soil to be warmer and if you plant them at the same time as your Morning Glories a lot of the seeds will rot and you will get poor germination rates. What comes up will generally perform poorly as well. They usually sprout when my peppers do so I have made a habit of planting them when I plant the peppers. Alternatively, if you wanted to extend their growing season you could always try sowing in trays with heating cables. They also need to be planted deeper. I put mine down about an inch.

I have also found with both that if you plant them directly in the ground and water everyday until they germinate (as opposed to seeding in trays) the vines are thicker and the leaves get bigger. The bugs seem to love them but when they grow to their fullest the damage isn't as apparent.

The best plants have always come from the plants resowing themselves after the end of the season. If you want them in a particular place there is no need to pick and store seeds for the spring. Just let them go to seed and clip a vine with lots of seedpods and crush it over the spot you want them to grow. You don't need to bury the seeds or anything. One year we had one random plant grow by our deck and that one plant eventually covered an entire 10 X 10 deck. With the moon flower seed you'll have to walk over them to kind of stomp them into the ground a little and cover them with a little mulch. You don't need much though.

If you do let them go to seed be very careful not to shake the vines around too much and do not compost the vines. You may want to pull the vines and let them die back right where they were growing. They do have wonderful germination rates and if you are not careful you will have them growing in every flower bed and container plant in your yard. They will become a nuisance quickly under the right conditions. I'm pretty careful with the ones I grow and I always end up with volunteers in strange places. I have pulled a few hundred up this year but they do uproot fairly easy when they are small and once you pull the vine it is gone.

Anyway, that is just my experience with them. I'm not an expert gardener or anything. I've just developed a love affair with my vines. :)

-Tina

I LOVE my moonflower vine - cannot be without them. On an arbor by the garage
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on the landing off the back porch - perfumes the back porch and familyroom
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Lynne

Gorgeous. Since we moved I don't have a deck anymore so nothing but the chain-link fence to climb on. Your bottom photo makes me want to build a deck so I can't plant them around it too.

~Can~ plant them...(duh)

I love moonvines. I have some but got a slow start so I probably won't have seeds this year.

I had one two years ago on my front fence. It was so pretty, but something (deer?) ate the blooms so I crossed it off my list and am staying with clematis and jasmine.

I think they are gorgeous! Lynne...your vines are so amazing!

Cameron

Great photos! You do capture the essence of these wonderful bloomers Lynne. My seeds came from a former....friend in Arkansas and have blessed me with loads of seeds every year since. I start mine in 3 inch pots so I can transfer them to a particular spot in my garden. I soak the seeds for two days but I don't score them. I get different germination rates from year to year. I agree with you about warm soil. You can't start them too soon.

It's great to see so many fellow admirers. On my next post I will talk about my "happy garden", maybe even put up a few photos if I can figure that out.

~ Scott ~

I love moonflowers but didn't plant any this year, so appreciate the pics! I miss them and will have to plan for some next year if this dratted drought is over!