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Growing Requirements of Morning Glories

Ipomoea

April 5,1998

DrScream2 wrote:

Hey, I would need to what are the best vines for covering a fence. I have a 9 foot, chain-link fence in my backyard, and I would like to cover it with vines. I am interested in flowering vine that grow fast and attract honeysuckle. I already have Yellow, Orange, and Red honey suckle. But those don't grow too fast.

Since honeysuckle doesn't grow fast enough for you, I suppose that clematis and passion vine would be to slow too. If you want to cover your fence FAST, the best choice would probably have to be morning glories (Ipomoea). Morning Glory is a very fast growing annual vine, which comes in blue, pink, purple, red, or white blooms. The flowers will attract both hummingbirds and butterflies. The vines will die with the winter freezes, but they will re seed themselves each year, and rapidly cover your fence the next spring. You could use the morning glories as an interim plant until your honeysuckle has grown sufficiently.

My neighbor claims I recently destroyed her 4 1/2 year old morning glories that were growing on a common chain link fence. I apologized and tried to explain that we only removed the vines that were covering our fence & front yard & that if we inadvertently pulled up her morning glories I would be more than willing to replace them. My question is, how long will it take for a morning glory take to cover an area of approximately 9'x12? I would appreciate your opinion. Thanks, Bill

You didn't say where you live, but it must be in a tropical jungle because the last time I checked Morning glories were an annual plant. They just don't live to be 4 1/2 years old. They will die back with any frost and readily reseed themselves the next year. Morning glory vines grow very fast, and will reach 10 feet or more within the first two months after the seeds sprout. A packet of seeds planted along the fence line would easily cover the 9'x12' fence within that time..... I'm sure that the seeds are already in the soil there from the previous growth, but if you feel obligated to do something, you could go ahead and plant some fresh seed as soon as the frost danger has past. They should be planted in full sun. The soil shouldn't be too fertile or moist because those conditions tend to stimulate production of foliage instead of flowers. Fertilizing should be kept to a minimum for the same reasons. After all danger of frost is past, sow the seeds 1/2 inch deep and 8 apart. You may also start the seeds indoors in 3-inch peat pots four to six weeks before the last frost is due and then plant the pots directly into the garden when you can be sure they won't be killed off by a late frost. Success is unlikely if the seeds are started in flats because morning glories resent transplanting. Prior to sowing, the seeds should either be scarified (slightly nicked with a file) or soaked overnight in room temperature water to soften the hull.

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