Wayne Schmidt's Morning Glory Page
(Note: if your monitor is set to 72 ppi then the flower pictures will be the same size as the actual flowers.)

Introduction:

Like 1,000,000 other homes in southern California, my backyard is enclosed by a 6-foot tall concrete block wall. Though functional, it's unattractive and reflects scorching heat and light onto plants growing close to them. A quick and inexpensive solution is to cover the wall with a flowering vine. Although there and many perennial vines that would serve admirably, I decided to try Morning Glories.

Before rushing to the nearest garden center to load up on packets of morning glory seeds, I browsed cyberspace to find the best varieties. I was disappointed to discover that in spite of their universal popularity there is remarkably little detailed information available on them. There are dozens of sites that provide generic descriptions of flower color and size and how high some species can climb but I couldn't find any that describe how well a particular species preforms as a wall cover, how long the flowers remain open, how good a climber it is or how well the flowers cover the plant. Hence this page.

On it you will see full-sized, true color pictures of the flowers for each variety I've grown as well as pictures of how well that species works as a visual barrier. Also included are comments about the pros and cons of each variety. The page began late in 2009 so this first season I'll only be reporting on three varieties. But, I have big plans for 2010 and will be reporting on at least 16 other varieties. So, if you don't see what you want this year, please be sure to check back around May of 2010 for many more morning glory reviews.

All of the Morning Glories featured on this page are grown in my high desert location in southern California with summer highs typically around 100-degrees, humidity 12-percent and night time lows of 66-degrees. My morning glories are all grown against an east facing wall so I would suspect they open earlier and fade sooner than if they had been against a west facing wall where they'd be in shade all morning. Although heavily amended with shredded leaves and peat moss every year, my arid soil remains slightly alkaline, around 7.2. Bed depth is a good 18-inches and fitted with a drip system. The morning glories are planted 6-inches from the base of the concrete block wall so their roots come in contact with the wall's cement footing, consequently their soil will be slightly more alkaline. The plants trail up concrete reinforcing cloth (1/8-inch diameter wires welded into a mesh with 6x6-inch squares) that is 6-feet tall. Although many varieties of Morning Glories can reach 20 feet tall, mine are all trained to be only 6-feet high. This is done by simply letting the vines droop forward rather than trimming off the tops. Most of the flowers are produced on the highest tendrils so cutting the tendrils would significantly reduce the number of flowers.

Note: After one season of growing morning glories on the wire mesh I gave it up. It took an hour of hard work to clean the Bright Eyed Girl vines off a single panel. It would take a ridiculous amount of time to clean out an extended wall of morning glories on a permanent trellis. I have elected to use a disposable mesh with 7-inch holes for all further tests.

For the comparisons on this page, I'm growing five plants for every 5-foot wide trellis to compare how well each variety hides the block wall behind it.

 
Getting Started: Planting

Morning Glory seeds are very hard tear-dropped shaped seeds that are usually dark brown or black, though a few varieties sport buff-colored seed. They vary in size from 1/16th inches long all the way up to 1/2-inch.

Quarter-inch long Scarlet O'Hara morning glory seeds on the left, eighth-inch long Star of Yelta on the right

Because they are very hard, most references suggest soaking the seeds over night or for 24 hours prior to planting, supposedly improving the rate and speed of germination. I have my doubts because as the photo below shows:

Soaked Star of Yelta seed on the left, unsoaked on the right.
(Enlarged to show detail.)

Most of the seeds swell so much they practically explode. I tested this technique by soaking twenty seeds of each of five different varieties of morning glories and planting in line with 20 unsoaked seeds. Three days later the seeds had germinated.

 

Crimson Rambler seedlings. The left half was unsoaked seeds while the right half was soaked seeds.

Germination rates were the same for both soaked and unsoaked seeds, about 75-percent, and the speed with which the seedlings apeared was also the same. The other four test plantings demonstrated the same results. For myself, I'm going to skip soaking the seeds if for no other reason than it makes them harder to handle.

However you prepare your seeds, plant them 1/2 to 1-inch deep and keep moist until they sprout. After that, time waterings according to what they plants tell you: if they start to wilt, water. I've experimented with both light and heavy watering schedules and morning glories appear to adapt to whatever they are given. But note, they get to be large vines with comparatively small root systems so I prefer to water regularly and deeply. Germination takes 7 to 10 days in early Spring but only three in the heat of summer. If given good soil and favorable conditions you should be seeing your first flowers in two months, though it'll take three for the plants to produce full displays.

All the references I've read suggest thinning seedlings once they are 1 inch tall to 12-inches apart. My problem with this is that a 1 inch plant is so small it would easy for a cut worm to nibble it off. I prefer to let mine grow until the are at least three inches tall. That way if one gets savaged by a cutworm there are many more left. Thin too early and cutworms might mow them all down.

Another problem I have with most references is that they warn people that morning glories don't like having their roots disturbed. Half of the Mt. Fuji morning glories in my garden were dug up and moved to different locations without a single one being lost. As long as normal precautions are taken, my experiences suggest that transplanting morning glories is no more problematic than any other annual.

One thing to be aware of if your morning glories are going to share a bed with other bedding plants is that after three months they will bunch out from the wall even if the trellis on which they are growing is right up next to the wall.

Bright Eyed Girl morning glories

As the photo above shows, they extend a good two feet over the bed. This was an important discovery for me because next year I plan on filling the bed with RANUNCULUSES and training 12 different varieties of morning glories up the wall behind them. Needless to say any bedding plants within two feet of the wall would be covered, so I'll only be planting the outer 18 inches of the bed with flowers.

By far the most interesting thing I've been following during the morning glory comparisons for this page is their flowering patterns. While their name suggests they flower mainly in the morning, I've discovered that when they flower is most strongly determined by air temperature, enabling many varieties to remain open all day long in cool weather. Some varieties can open when the temperatures are in the fifties while others wait until the air warms up into the 60s. Some close as soon as they hit 80 degrees while plants right next to them stay open above 90. Strangest of all, when cool Fall temperatures arrived in my backyard several varieties seemed to reset their flowering temperatures. Plants that were reluctant to open flowers below 60 degrees were suddenly greeting me first thing in the morning with beautiful displays even when the air temperature was a brisk 45 degrees. Another effect of cooler weather is that flower size is half of what it was during summer.

I haven't experienced any significant insect or disease problems with the varieties I tested do date.

And without further delay... on to the reviews: Note: My reviews and recommendations are based on how each morning glory looked in my garden. Soils and weather vary so don't take these as universally true.

 
Morning Glory Variety Reviews:

Heavenly Blue

One of the most popular morning glories. The extremely refined flowers average 3-inches in diameter and are a clear sky blue. They open shortly after temperatures rise above 60 degrees and remain open until 2 PM unless air temperature top 105 degrees. If morning temperatures are in the 50s, they remain closed until the air warms up.

Although it's by far the best climber of the first three morning glories on this page, I rate Heavenly Blue as a poor wall covering because it has a tendency to drop leaves off the bottom half of the plant. Although the individual flowers are attractive, their subtle coloring doesn't make them very eye-catching from a distance. Add to this the straggly look of the plant's crown and I have to recommend skipping this variety.

Bright Eyed Girl

Although only 2.5-inch across, the shockingly bright magenta color and brilliant white "eye" make this flower a real eye-catcher. It's one of those flowers that's so pretty it evokes many double-takes and is hard to look at without feeling the itch to smile.

Note: the brilliance of the flowers is much greater in person that this photo suggests.

Bright Eyed Girl is an excellent self-climber and covered the trellis with a solid mat of attractive, heart-shaped leaves. It produces a large number of flowers that open even if the temperatures are in the 50s, providing a beautiful view to welcome the day. Unfortunately the flowers fade as soon as air temperatures hit 90 degrees, around 10 AM in my location during summer. (Air temperature seems more important that sun light intensity in determining when morning most glory flowers start to fade.) On days where the temperature remains in the 70s, the flowers may stay open all day. I recommend Bright Eyed Girl to anyone wanting a solid wall of green with beautiful morning flowers.

Bright Eyed Girl morning glories produce heart shaped leaves typical to most morning glories, though larger than most.

Mt. Fuji

Available only as a mix of blue, magenta and purple with distinctive white stars and a solid pink, Mt. Fuji morning glories produce beautiful four to five inch diameter flowers. Unfortunately, there is a high price to pay for this beauty. The plant is a terrible climber. I had go out every day to twist the vines around the trellis. They simply wouldn't climb on their own. They prefer to sprawl over the ground. Combine their poor climbing ability with extremely rapid growth and you have a real challenge to control this variety. On the other hand the flowers can be beautiful and last all day on the plant, many opening late in the afternoon. Countering this is the fact that only one quarter of the flowers open as shown in the photos above. The petals of Mt. Fuji morning glories are extremely thin and fragile, particularly the magentas. Very few open cleanly. Most, particularly the magenta ones, end up looking shredded, like the following:

Typical Mt. Fuji magenta bloom

There are at least three times as many flowers on the plant than visible in this picture. Most of the flowers are produced deep inside and are difficult to see. The plant covers the wall well, but only with a lot of training. Unlike the typical heart shaped leaves of most morning glories, Mt. Fuji produces deaply cut lobed leaves. Plants bearing blue, magenta or purple flowers also have white mottlings on their leaves.

Plants with pink flowers don't have these markings. Many seed companies push the varigated foliage as a bonus. In fact, the mottling is difficult to notice from anything over ten feet away and almost completely vanished from my plants by the time they were three months old. I don't know if this was the result of age or high summer temperatures. A big problem with the foliage is that the vines are thick and very tough, making their removal from the trellis extremely tedious at the end of the season.

With all the negatives you might think I'd give these plants a very negative review. Yet Mt. Fuji morning glories offer a unique capability that may redeem them to some growers: they make excellent cut flowers.

"Excellent," at least, in comparison to other morning glories. Cut as soon as they open and placed in bud vases the flowers will last up to 18 hours inside. As the image above shows, they make a striking display. The only caution is to avoid dripping water on the petals. The color washes off.

If you want a hands-off climber that covers a wall with flowers I'd have to recommend staying away from Mt. Fuji morning glories. But, if you don't mind a lot of training work and you want a few very attractive flowers you might want to give them a try. If so, I recommend planting them thinly, one plant ever two feet, and place the trellis very close to a wall so flowers are forced to face outward. Since they require a lot of hands-on care in training, space the vines as openly as possible so the flowers can be seen.

Coming Soon:

On 19 August I planted five more varieties: Scarlet O'Hara, Grandpa Ott, Star of Yelta, Crimson Rambler and Blue Star. The first frosts don't hit here until mid to late November so I should have enough growing time left in the season to report how these varieties do.

FALL UPDATE!

It is now 25 September and the first flowers from the 19 August planting are opening. That's only five weeks from planting to flowering. The first flower to open, on 24 September, was a Star of Yelta. The vines were barely 2-feet tall. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a phto of it. On 25 September the first Grandpa Ott opened and I was able to get a picture of it so the Fall report will begin with it.

Grandpa Ott

At five weeks old my Grandpa Otts were barely 18-inches tall when the first flower opened. It was a nearly black, velvety purple with a bright center and measured only 2.75 inches across. Although it's far to early to pass judgement on the plant as a whole, I would have a difficult time recommending this variety. The flower color is extremely somber while my preference is for bright hues that elicit smiles, like those of Bright Eyed Girl. Grandpa Ott is an excellent climber and like most morning glories only needs a nudge toward the trellis to get started when it first starts growing.

Star of Yelta

I have to confess that Star of Yelta and Grandpa Ott look nearly identical to me. Star of Yelta flowers may be very slightly larger and a touch lighter but side-by-side I doubt if I could tell the difference. (The photos depict much more difference than in real life.) The plants are identical in so many ways that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they were the same, but sold under two different names. Assuming they are two different varieties, my preference would be for Star of Yelta. It appears to grow slightly faster, the flowers are a little larger, it produces more of them and they have a more circular shape. However, these differences are so subtle that they may be the result of plant-to-plant variations rather than true varietal differences.

On cool days, some flowers may remain open over night, providing a doubling of your flowers the next day. The picture below of Star of Yelta flowers shows that the ones that survive the night are faded (the floower on the right) and tend to be a little shirveled.

These hanger-on flowers also close up very early on their second day.

Star of Yelta plants fillin nicely to provide a solid wall covering.

Crimson Rambler

I found Crimson Rambler virtually identicial to Bright Eyed Girl. Although the flower in the photo above is slightly smaller than those of the Bright Eyed Girl shown earlier, that's because it was taken after the weather cooled and as with many morning glories, flower size had deceased. The plant appears similar as well, though it hasn't had the chance to mature to the same size.

Scarlet O'Hara

Different from the heart shaped leaves of most morning glories, those of Scarlet O'Hara are more lobed shaped. This creates an appearance suggestive of ivy. Although not obvious from this picture, Scarlet O'Hara leaves are a slightly lighter green than most morning glories. I'm not impressed with this variety's climbing ability. It's better than Mt. Fuji, but not by much. Expect to have to help many of the runners wrap around a trellis once a week. Although these plants produced many buds,none of them opened. Since air temperatures remained in the 70s and 80s and four other morning glories flowered, I suspect Scarlet O'Hara may be a variety that requires a certain number of daylight hours to bloom. I'll try this variety again in 2010.

Blue Star

Blue Star produces large numbers of huge, pale blue flowers. As attractive as they are, they suffer from the same problem of Heavenly Blue, they just don't project the bright, exuberant color of Bright Eyed Girl.

Blue Star plants are unusual for morning glories in that they produce almost no side runners. The plants grow upward as single vine, creating an open look that doesn't work well as a wall cover. They grow extremely fast and when planted as a low screen tend to flop over unattractively. Pinching the tips produces top-heavy growth so I recommend pinching early. Where this plant might be useful would be at the end of a covered porch where a green barrier is wanted that is open and airy. An early frost killed this specimen before it managed to show its full potential. The flowers are so large and the enormous number of buds suggest the plant could be beautiful so I'll be repeating it in 2010.

That's all for for 2009! The following is a list of the 2010 varieties for which I already have seed:

Pastel Star
Chocolate Rose Silk
Cardinal Climber
Sun Smile Pink
Flying Saucers Blue
Carnevale Di Venezia
Candy Pink
Cameo Elegance
Yellow
Sun Smile Red
Sun Smile Blue
Sun Smile Violet
Tie Dye Blue
Andersonii
Blue Picotee
Akahigezaki Hige
Mini Bar
Split Personality
Chocolate

Until next time... good gardening!!!

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