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**** The Gardener's Forum ****]
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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