For a really bright flower that lasts a good part of the day I'd say that Sunrise Serenade is a great variety. Loads of bright magenta flowers. My Blue Picotee is very pretty also and produces a lot of blooms but that one didn't really get going until fairly late in the season. There's many others that are equally pretty but I like these because they remain open for such a long time and the colors are so vibrant. I have lots of butterflies and hummers but they don't seem particularly attracted to my MG's.

Karyn

I fairly new to the JMG and I really the big blooms but as far as having loads of blooms the little red morning glory serves the purpose for the hummingbirds in my garden.

Karen, What is the size of the Blue Picotee?
Google search showed beautiful semi-doubles, right?

Any suggestions of a good place to get MG seeds? regular and Japanese?

My Blue Picotee's are about 3" with some being double but not all. On many of the blooms the inner skirt is barely formed and just sticks out like a little poof in the middle of the flower but they are still very pretty. I also have a Red Picotee but that's always bloomed as a single and doesn't produce nearly as many flowers but that might be due to location. I've received the majority of my morning glory seeds from trades.
Karyn

oxmyx, some of my most prolific have been knoila black, sydney, early call blue, double blue picotee which where about 2-3 inches and most of mine had a double in the center but looked nothing like the pics that you see for seeds for sale. Also chocolate silk, blue silk, flower shower and one that a trader sent me that had no name and she called it bold miss piggy and one called Emma's gift hat was bred by an old member of GW as well as any of the the Mt fugi series, gray lady and lavender mist.

I'll have some MG seeds on my trade list as soon as I've been able to collect the seeds. Most of them are still pretty green so I don't know how many seeds I will have of any of them yet.

I've posted pics on several threads of all the MG I have grown and bloomed for me. If you do a search for my name on the vine forum all the posts will come up.

I'd say the majority of my seeds have come from trades, but I have bought quite a few on e-bay as well. I only by from the following 2 ebay sellers and all the seeds I have bought from them have germinated true to seed and all that I've sown of them have germinated as well.

Ebay sellers I buy from are JMGLVR and 24-gordon-24. don't be concerned that 24-gordon-24 is a teenager. he's wonderful and has wonderful seeds.

Here's 2 pics of my double blue picotee MG. The actual color of the MG is a darker blue/purple, more blue than purple than the pic shows. my camera isn't he best, really need to get a better one.

Fran

Fran that's what many of my BP's do with the inner skirt not completely developing. I don't get too many that are true doubles with both skirts (whatever it's called on a MG) being fully formed. Oxmyx there's another very good seller on Ebay that also posts here. I can't remember his full name on Ebay but it's Gerris something. Hopefully someone here will be able to give you his full Ebay username. I've received some wonderful Japanese MG's from him.
Karyn

Fran those are very nice, thanks for the info Fran and Karen. I'll have a look see on Ebay.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everybody.

Helena, I'm always surprised at the varieties of little red MGs I didn't know there were. I knew about cypress vine, cardinal climber, and Noah/redstar. Yours with the different leaves was new to me - scarlet MG or red MG, ipomoea hederifolia... I will have to give that one a try too to see if the hummers prefer one over another. I also had a good time looking at your photobucket album - what a great collection of beautiful flowers! And what happened with the female hummer that somebody could be holding it?

I agree that Sydney is prolific... now that it's cooled off my one little Sydney is blooming quite well and setting plenty of seed for the swaps, plus the blooms that had been more lavender earlier in the season are more pale pink now. However, I like "pop" and "pow" rather than "awwww", for the most part (there are exceptions).

Thanks again for the opinions and input!

Terri :-)

Hi Terri, I'm a bit confused about the different little red MGs. I always thought the one I have were ipomoea coccinea. I am growing the yellow one for the first time this year ipomoea hererifolia var. lutea. I also have one that is a light pumkin color that has a broken ring of orange inside the star. I'm trying redstar and the true orange this coming year.

I have several pictures of hummers being held. One of me holding one feeding on the little red MG, years ago it flew inside our car & my hubby brought it to me to take a pictures before letting it go. I have two other pictures of a female Rufous being held by a hummingbird bander, the hummer was visiting my garden for a few weeks during the winter.
Hoping he'll show up again this year.

Helena

Well, I'm always prone to mistaking identity but I was basing my guess of the ID on the leaf shape (3-lobed is what I am seeing most of in the picture so I presumed that's what the flowers were attached to) and I didn't see any orange or other coloration on the flowers in the picture. The pictures on plantfiles seemed to indicate that Ipomoea coccinea has an orange throat and primarily heart-shaped leaves (it is also known there as scarlet star MG, orange MG, quamoclit coccinea, and mina coccinea - yay for complicating the issue with similar names!). I know there are always exceptions to rules, and even hederifolia has variations in the leaf shape.

Again, all I had known before were cypress, cardinal climber, and Noah so whatever you have is new to me and I like it. :-)

The hummer pictures I had seen were the female rufous. I'm jealous... this was our first year of hummingbirds and they'd fly away if we even came near the window their feeder was hanging outside of. At my mom's, her hummers don't care a bit about humans so I'm hoping that's just a "tincture of time" issue and they'll get used to us better next year. I'm planting a whole garden just for them, and one of the little red MGs will be part of it for certain. :-D

The leaves should not be used to determine the species......the flower color also varies within the same species and should definitely not be used to determine the species identity...the sepals and the behavior of the seedpod pedicels is a much more reliable key to the species

The PlantFiles actually very much uncomplicates things because the current legitimate botanical name is used for the main botanical entry and the list of synonyms is presented for reference as the old outdated names that are no longer botanically valid...which is what a botanical synonym is...too often people nmistake a botanical synonym as meaning 'the same as' which it most definitely does NOT mean...

The synonym only(!) refers to the old outdated name that is no longer botanically legitimate...

HElena - The small red MG you have posted above is most definitely Ipomoea hederifolia and is the same species as the IOpomoea hederifolia var.lutea...

The seedpod pedicels remain erect on I.hederifolia and reflex on Ipomoea coccinea...

Here's another link to the PlantFiles...

Look at the seedpods(!)...

TTY,...

Ron

Here is a link that might be useful: Ipomoea hederifolia in the PlantFiles

Ipomoea coccinea in the PlantFiles showing reflexed seedpod pedicels...

Here is a link that might be useful: Ipomoea coccinea in the PlantFiles

Thanks Ron, now I'll keep the names straight. I think a lot of other people are still giving them unknownly the wrong name. I do think that the true ipomoea coccinea is a prettier flower.

So one has to wait until the seed pod pedicles have reflexed (or not) to determine what one has with these particular vines? No wonder there is such confusion...

Re Plantfiles uncomplicating things, I am a medical transcriptionist and not a botanist; synonym to me *does* mean "same as," and there is nothing on Plantfiles (to a nonmember) to indicate their use of the term means otherwise. Thank you for the information.

I may have used the "wrong" technique to get there, but apparently I identified the flower correctly somehow(!) so there's some consolation. I still like it - if your photo is true to color, Helena, I prefer the bold, honest, uncomplicated, clear red. :-)

Terri, they'll always be mine and that hummers too. I've been growing them for 23 years just for them. I also grow the cypress vine but not the cardinal ones. If you like some seeds email me.

Helena

roflol - You mentioned

"So one has to wait until the seed pod pedicles(sic) have reflexed (or not) to determine what one has with these particular vines? No wonder there is such confusion..."

That's pretty much the way it is in order to determine the species correctly with regard to the plants in question...

"...there is nothing on PlantFiles (to a nonmember) to indicate their use of the term means otherwise."

Each scientific specialty often has a somewhat different definition for particular terms than may be the case for the same term as applicable in a more generalized usage...and some clarification is often discovered through simple trial and error...

So,since we are dealing within the realm of the botanical sciences I thought I should share on the clarification of the term...

The purpose and intent of my sharing is to help in providing accurate information about the plants and although I may comment on what I see as an error >the focus is on providing accurate information and is not a 'personal attack' on anyone...

There are many online botanaries that vary in degree of accuracy...my personal focus is to clarify identification of species often by verbal descriptions with links to clear closeups of relevant structures whenever possible and I do contribute photos to the PlantFiles...the aspects that I work on take alot of volunteered time and effort which I enjoy contributing to but the 'job' of working on the various botanical dictionaries and glossaries is someone else's 'department'...

It is beyond the scope of the PlantFiles per se to clarify every botanical term and a certain amount of pre-knowledge of the definition and usage of certain terms is definitely helpful regarding any scientific specialty...

Continue to Enjoy the Wonderful World of Plants...

TTY,...

Ron

OK, thanks... :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Erm, but why the (sic) for pedicles?

roflol - You asked

"Erm, but why the (sic) for pedicles?"

Because in over 4.5 decades of reading botanical literature I have never encountered pedicel spelled as pedicle...

The spelling pedicle has almost exclusively been used in the zoological sciences whereas the spelling of pedicel has been used almost exclusively for the botanical sciences...despite whatever generalized dictionary may have listed otherwise...

Do a google on each spelling and see what you get...

You asked...

TTY,...

Ron

Ron, you stated:

"The spelling pedicle has almost exclusively been used in the zoological sciences whereas the spelling of pedicel has been used almost exclusively for the botanical sciences...despite whatever generalized dictionary may have listed otherwise..."

I believe the key is *almost*. Even in medical transcription where human lives are at stake, we learn to get over ourselves and our personal preferences, and accept that sometimes words are also spelled differently than we learned them. I did check my spelling, and I got what I wrote. I apologize if it offends anyone, but "pedicle" is *also* correct.

Finally, I appreciate the useful information given here from everyone. There seem to be many bloom powerhouses to choose from that I hadn't been aware of. Thanks again!

roflol - Your spelling does not offend me and the only reason I called it into question is that if someone unfamiliar with traditional botany is searching for information on the topics mentioned in this thread and spells it pedicle they're not likely to find much...so its not so much *my* preference as it is the way the vast majority of material on the subject is likely to be referenced...

So,I just thought it would be more helpful especially to those new to the subject...

You're absolutely right when it comes to researching critical material and utilizing every legitimate and/or uncommon alternate spelling(s) if you want to increase your chances of finding every potentially vital bit of information...

Looking forward to whatever direction your seedpods take...

TTY,...

Ron

Definitely, Aomurasakizyouhatensibori purpurea, Heavenly Blue, Milky Way, Carmen/Kinolas Black, Gypsy Bride and Joyce Cobb. The reality check with the JP MG's is to plant at least three to five vines of a particular cultivar to get the effect you'd like, but they still are not going to climb like the purpureas since JP MG's are more "scramblers" than climbers. I have some Joyce Cobb seeds if you'd like....email me!