I'm about to try something similar with morning glories and moonflowers. I'm using 8ft poles and spiral trellises, still not sure if the seeds will be best started directly in the ground at the base of the poles or in pots next to the poles.

I'll let you know what I do and how it works out. I'm on the other side of the river from you in Poughkeepsie...deer are curious and agile...how many steps do you have for them to climb? :=)

Hi,

I plant morning glories almost every year, and in my experience, once they germinate they are relatively low maintenance. The thing with them is that the seeds have hard coats, so just nicking each seed and soaking them overnight in water before you plant them helps give them a good head start.

I don't know how well they respond to being transplanted. I just sow them directly in the ground. Perhaps someone else on this forum might know.

Yes, they will twine around anything (including each other), so you'd probably want to give them a nudge for them to go where you want them to go. One of my favorite varieties is the Star of Yelta, which has purplish-magenta flowers. The standard blue (Heavenly Blue?) ones have bigger flowers and leaves though, and I believe the moonflower does too although I've never grown them myself.

If you save seeds you'll get a whole bunch of them in Fall, so you won't have to buy seeds again next year. I'm on my 5th generation of Star of Yelta and they still look as good as the 1st. Back when I lived in southeast PA I had a neighbor whose morning glories just reseeded themselves every year (but of course the winters are much milder down there).

Thanks so much earthycrunchy! I wish i'd known about nicking the seed for the moonflower but at least we now know why they may not been growing. we only got 4 plants out of 15. my 10yo also planted purplish ones (Star of Yalta?) and they're coming up fine-almost all are up. I figured we'd get plant them in the pots this weekend and see how the do. (we started them indoors b/c nights were still in the 30's 3 weeks ago but we couldn't wait anymore). we are both SOOOOO excited to get these babies going!!! and glad to hear there's been success in our neck of the woods.
And thanks for the info re: seeds in the fall. I'd hate to think i'm pressing, but could you save me an hour on research and give me a quick lesson on how/when to find seeds and your best method of storing them for the next year?
btw- bklyn2pok- we've got only 2 stairs so i'm sure the deer could manage but i'm hoping all the lush grass i plant this year will keep them AWAY from the mgs :)! if not, i've got a bottle of deer spray ready for em! I'll let you know how my plants do and if I run into any trouble. earthycrunchy if you have any other advice for us novices, i think we'd both appreciate it.

Hi tristate,

Harvesting/saving the seeds isn't anything complicated. After the flowers die they develop small round seedpods. Just wait for them to dry a bit (the pod will get kind of papery). Pop the little black seeds out and there you go. I'd say any container will do - I find those single-serve yogurt cups make great seed containers.

Your instructions are so simple, I actually believe we can do this!

It's also a good idea to keep the seeds over winter in the fridge - just label your container and push it towards the back of a shelf, and they'll be good to go in the spring.

I used a heat mat for germinating MGs this year, and they all sprouted within 2 days !! So, I may be putting them out in the ground a little sooner than I thought this year :-)

I did moon flowers a couple years ago, and they do have very nice flowers and great viney foliage, but don't forget - you'll only see the flowers at night - and mine never seemed to open until 9PM or so, sometimes later.

thanks again philomena!i have plenty of tupperware for this purpose. funny i was talking to a neighbor who moved to n.carolina and she reminded me she had mg's on her fence. she said that she never did anything- the mg's reseeded themselves every year. she didn't even know they were annuals b/c they acted like perrenials. i'm ok with whatever happens but realize the more i hear of them, the more i like them! btw-i'm planning on planting them next monday b/c they are alread vining in the seed trays and i'm afraid they'll get root bound. the weather seems more stable now.

Or easier yet and saves refrigerator space .....winter sow the seeds.Here's the link .Lots of explanations on the FAQ.Kareen

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter sowing

BTW- the vines are climbing so fast I think they grow overnight! My daughter has even marked the support pole to monitor how quickly they climb. We had a rough start (MD weekend freeze killed the seedlings so i had to start all over again in june) and I'm not sure they'll grow quickly enough to cover the whole pergola before the end of summer but they're about 3 feet high now. (Thanks for the winter sowing link though b/c I'm definately going to do it this way next year). We can't wait to see when they start getting flowers. I have noticed however that some of the leaves looked eaten and saw some earwigs crawlings around. Are these favorties of the bugs and can I expect them to fall on my head if the MG's cover the archway?

If you want to try a perennial vine--I have wisteria for you. From the four originally planted to climb my arbor, I have a lot of babies and volunteers.

I'm in Maybrook and the fall digging season will soon commence. Also have a drift of tall purple phlox that's up for grabs. You dig.

Dianne

Dianne, It's a nice offer but I hope you tell any takers that wisteria is horribly invasive. I could show you an old house site (a friend built a new house there) where the wisteria has completely taken over the woods surrounding. It grows very far underground and pops up everywhere, It tried to cover the pool and deck. Constant battle chopping it back. Of course, if properly cared for and pruned regularly, it can be quite lovely.