Floridata: Ipomoea tricolor

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#630 Ipomoea tricolor
Common Names: morning glory
Family: Convolvulaceae (morning glory Family)

Get link to this Profile or click for data record #630

This is the popular 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory. Click to download a larger version (800x600).

Description
Tender perennial vine with large, heart shaped, bright green leaves and showy, trumpet shaped flowers ranging from light blue to dark purple. These can be up to 6 in (15.2 cm) in diameter. They open in the morning and last for one day. The vines reach at least 10 ft (3.1 m). Many cultivars are available, the best known being 'Heavenly Blue'. In warm to hot weather, a young plant or seedling can grow prodigiously and cover an arbor, fence, trellis or other support in record time. The plant is ideal for a quick, temporary screen. In the space of one growing season, vines can become thick and cord like.

Location
The morning glory, Ipomoea tricolor is native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central and South America.

Culture
Light: Full sun preferred for most prolific flowering.
Moisture: Morning glory enjoys moist to moderately dry, well drained soil.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 10 - 11. Morning glory is a perennial in Zones 10-11, but this frost tender vine is also widely enjoyed as an annual in temperate zones.
Propagation: Seeds (soak or nick before planting), tubers, or rooted cuttings.

Usage
Morning glories are usually grown as an annual vine. A row along a fence line provides a quick, if temporary screen. More permanent, slower growing evergreen vines can be planted simultaneously the first year. Morning glories are ideal planted over trash heaps and brush piles, and in such situations provide good habitat for wildlife. They can be planted adjacent to a dead tree or anything that can provide structure for the vine to climb.

Features
Ease of cultivation and speed of growth provide quick gratification to the impatient gardener. For this reason, morning glories are recommended for a child's gardening project. Flowers are prolific and downright gorgeous, whatever the color, and the vine is immensely versatile as an ornamental.

Jack Scheper 2/14/00; updated 6/3/01, 6/9/04, 1/27/07

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