How to Grow and Care for Morning Glory Vines
Ipomoea species
             
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 vines that grow fast and attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
I already have yellow, orange, and red Honeysuckle, but they don't grow very fast."
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Morning Glories
Since Honeysuckle vines don't grow fast enough for you,
I suppose that Clematis plants or Passion Flower Vines would be too slow as well.
If you want to cover your fence FAST, the best choice would probably have to be Morning Glories.
Morning Glories are very fast growing plants, that depending on the species, may be annual or tender perennial vines with light green, heart shaped leaves.
They produce a non-stop show of large, blue, pink, purple, red, or white trumpet shaped,
sometimes fragrant flowers from early summer until the first hard frost.
Each flower only lasts for a single day or night.
The Moon Flower, Ipomoea alba is a night blooming species with fragrant white flowers.
Moon Flowers may also open on overcast days.
Morning Glory flowers will attract both hummingbirds and butterflies to your gardens.
They may die in the winter, but Morning Glories readily re-seed themselves each year,
and will rapidly cover your fence the next spring. |
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Growing Requirements for Morning Glory Plants
Morning Glories should be planted in an area where they will receive full sun for most of the day.
Provide a trellis, arbor or other structure for your Morning Glory to climb on at planting time.
Morning Glories thrive in conditions that won't support most ornamental, landscape plants.
The soil shouldn't be too fertile nor kept too moist because these conditions tend to
stimulate production of
lush foliage but with very few flowers.
Fertilizing should be kept to a bare minimum for the same reason.
Propagating Morning Glory Vines and Growing them from Seed
Perennial species of Morning Glory can easily be propagated with
stem cuttings taken during the summer months.
Prior to sowing, Morning Glory seeds should either be scarified
by gently nicking the hull with a file, or the seeds can be soaked
in room temperature water for 24 hours to soften the hull.
Sow the seeds 1/2 inch deep and up to 8 ft. apart in the garden
after all danger of frost has passed in the spring.
Start your Morning Glory seeds indoors, 4-6 weeks before your last killing frost. Morning Glories resent transplanting, so for the best results, plant the seeds in 3" peat pots which can be dropped in the garden without disturbing the roots.
Maintain a temperature in the growing medium of 68°-86° until germination, which only takes 5-7 days. |
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Morning Glory Vines
Photographs are courtesy of Diane and Dodge
Heavenly Blue
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Sunrise Serenade
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