Gardening with Gary

Gardening Advice from an Expert

Morning Glories

Q. I live in central Kentucky. Several years ago I planted Morning Glories. They were beautiful and I just loved them. Last year I tried to plant again but nothing came up. This year I replanted in the same area as the first year. I have gobs of vines, but no blooms. We have had a very wet summer this year, plus, I have watered the plants when they look wilted. What would cause these plants to just produce vines? Our soil is basically clay but I've tilled in top soil. Please help me understand this.

A. I have been deluged with problems in gardening when before there was none. The season has been weird all over the US, with maybe my state being OK. Rain is heavy in areas, temperatures are severely hot in some, and drought has been terrible in still others!

I would like three things. Try them again next spring. Buy some good leaf mold or compost and mix into the clay [I gardened in it for years!] to a depth of two feet. Add peat moss if you like, or even dried leaves.

Look around to see if there is something which you can prune to give the spot more sunlight, or choose a brighter location to grow them. True, they like woodsy shade, but flowering is greater with morning sun. Mine in total shade did little blooming. Give them a good 4-5 hours of light, but never the hot afternoon sun.

Feed them once they have sprouted, at 1/2 strength. Then feed them every two weeks with a general food as Rapid Grow, Scotts, Hyponex or Miracle-Gro. Food is essential for good flowering. Drench them well when watered, so that it seeps way down into the root system.

If the soil feels moist to the touch and they are wilted, do not water. It could be rot from the heavy rainy summer you had. The clay has poor drainage and that is why I want you to dig deeply and amend it as above. The heavy water has ruined them this year, but I want you to come back next summer and tell me how nice they are blooming!

Crissy writes~ Thank you so much for answering my last question. I have another one for you. (I warned you I'd have a lot of them . . . I'm such a beginner!) A coworker gave me a start from a plant she is calling a moon bush. It is not a climbing vine. It has grown on a very thick stalk about 3 foot high. It has large, white, fragrant, trumpet shaped blooms that open in the early evening and last almost exactly 24 hours. What can you tell me about this plant and how to care for it? Will it come back on its own next year or do I harvest seeds from it to plant?

A. Ipomoea purpurea or I. quamoclit [Cypress Vine, Cardinal Climber] is the Morning Glory vine which comes in blue, red, rose, pink or white. In this same family is I. alba, the Moonflower Vine or Bush. All are vigorous and useful for fast coverage. Morning Glory is often considered a weed, but many cultivated varieties are available. Cypress Vine has delicate fern-like foliage and small red flowers. Moonflower is grown for its large, fragrant, white nocturnal flowers. It comes in a vine or bush form and is quite hardy, but shade-loving. Keep well-watered and protected from bright direct sunshine and wind. Stake if needed for support. Feed every 2-3 weeks with a general garden fertilizer. It readily reseeds itself, that is, the original plant dies after a hard frost and does not return the next spring, but seeds formed and deposited on the ground may very well sprout and make the plant appear to be frost-hardy or perennial. It is not. You may collect ripe brown seeds in the pods and save in a cool, dark, dry place in an envelope and then sow the next year directly into the garden after all danger of frost has passed. The seeds may be started earlier inside in trays and then transplanted outside when safe.