Hey, I have a few morning glories growing and believe I have answers to many of your questions.

You will not have to train the morning glory to climb the chicken wire. Just put it in reach of the vine. It seems they have minds of their own and will find it themseleves.

not sure if you should sow in winter outside but I did inside and I actually have a vine growing and flourishing in my room.

I got my seeds online from www.horizonherbs.com Heavenly blue. Sprouted in a week and are still going strong.

I also have the one in my room potted. its in a 1 gallon pot with a mix or organic potting soil/ peat moss.

This is TRUE FACT. Morning Glories for the first few months will seem just to be invasive clinging vines. After it is well established about 3 months or so, you will probably notice. Where are the flowers? Well Morning glories when nourished do not like to flower. No idea why but quit watering for 1-2 days and you will almost instantly see buds. then continue to nourish after you see the buds and you will have a flowering morning glory.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

sdpa - Sara -

The answers that you receive from different members may vary based upon theior personal experience...

Copy and paste the url/addresses that are not automatically hyperlinked into your browser to see the pages...

Here is what I have to share in answer to your questions...

"1. If I put chicken wire / mesh around my downspout can I train the MG to grow up the downspout?

The MG's will climb it but if it is the slippery aluminum the chicken wire will definitely help

"2. Can the seeds be winter sown? Or, am I better off starting them indoors in the spring?"

Most people sow in the Springtime after the ground has warmed up a bit but starting them indoors early will usually give you larger plants than if you wait until the weather is warm enough to direct sow outdoors...

If you wanted to spring for a heated mini-greenhouse and overhead light setup that would be ideal

Small electric greenhouse
http://www.burpee.com/product/seed+starting/small+electric+greenhouse+-+1+greenhouse.do

Park table top flourescent overhead light 24" with stand
http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=6879&PrevMainPage=textsearchresults&scChannel=Text%20Search&SearchText=light&OfferCode=TH1

Park 48-inch Folding 48" flourescent Light Set
http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=6809&PrevMainPage=textsearchresults&scChannel=Text%20Search&SearchText=light&OfferCode=TH1

"3. Where is a good place to get MG seeds? I love the color of Scarlet O'Hara and also Mt. Fuji Mix."

The Real OLd Fashioned Scarlett O'Hara with solid throat and/or tube is very(!) difficult to find and despite what any merchants advertisements claim...you will most likely get a bloom that looks most like Wine & Roses with a white throat...
Wine & Roses
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/126682/

The Mt.Fuji is one of the youjiro types which are an an interspecific hybrid of Ipomoea nil and Ipomoea purpurea...

I'd recommend the
Maisugata
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/106236/
Chiaki
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/137871/
Yaguruma
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57867/
and
Sayaka
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/114631/

youjiro because although the flowers tend to be a bit smaller than the Mt.Fuji series these youjiro have more I.purpurea in them and tend to grow longer,faster and produce more blooms...

Ebay has alot of merchants offering various Morning Glories although the accuracy of the descriptions will vary with the knowledge and dependability of the merchants...

I can recommend the following merchants as both knowledgeable and reliable..

jmglvr
http://myworld.ebay.com.sg/jmglvr/

gwgerris2
http://cgi.ebay.com/Xiongs-Fabulous-CHINESE-MORNING-GLORY-seeds_W0QQitemZ170152100048QQihZ007QQcategoryZ75624QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

"4. I like the idea of growing them in a pot (like Filix does). What size pot/bucket do I need?"

I've grown full sized MG's in containers as small as 4"x 4" but larger containers of about 1/2 to 1 gallon will produce better results...IMHO...

"5. What else shoud I know that I have not asked?"

Join the MG forum at Daves and find out as there is always more to learn about this Family of plants...

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/floramanana/all/

"6. Can I put a potted MG at the base of my hedge and have the MG grow throughtout the shrub? We have a lilac hedge between our house and our neighbor - it's pretty when the lilas bloom and then a nice green throughout the summer in to fall - wouldn't a MG look great on it!!!!??!!"

If there is enough getting through the lilac to provide for the MG's...you can try some MG's in containers at the base of the plant and in hanging conytainers at various location on the lilac...make sure you have a water resevoir on the bottom of the containers as they may dry out quicly and need to be watered frequently...

Some links where I shared on the nutrient aspect of Morning Glories...

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg080802299604.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg0522311832703.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg0820082610882.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg071108225028.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg04092751814.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg0523321916949.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg0317360012541.html?9

Hope that helps...

TTY,...

Ron

Here is a link that might be useful: Morning Glories and fertilizer...myths and reality...

Hi Sara, welcome to the wonderful world if morning glories!!

I second all that Ron said and the 2 eBay sellers he recommends are wonderful!!

I fell in love with morning glories a few years ago when I saw my first blue silk, boy are there so many more out there!! Dave's is a wonderful place to learn about all the different types. There are some very knowledgeable people there, and more so, very generous and friendly!!

I have a few seeds I can share with you that you may like I can send some pics of them. Mine are open pollinated so you may very well get a cross, but they will still be lovely I'm sure!! Email me if you are interested.

Ron & Ronnie:

You both have mail. Please let me know if you did not get my email - I think it did it correctly but....

Sara

I grew morning glories for the first time this year (just a basic pink and purple mix, and heavenly blue) ALL winter sown. I had more that I knew what to do w/! IMHO, morning glories and sunflowers are the 2 easiest plants to ws. But I have no experience w/ Japenese MG's, they might be different.

I will definantly be looking for new varieties to try this winter!

Ron is probably the morning glory guru and knows more about these plants then anyone I've run across. I've traded seeds and plants many times with Joseph (gwgerris2) and have always been extremely pleased so I'm sure his ebay selections are also top quality. You should check out the seed exchange forum. Lots of people have extra morning glory seeds, especially this time of year.
Karyn

Sara I didn't get any mail as of today...