Ipomoea tricolor
Mexican morning glory
Common names: Heavenly blue morning glory, Morning glory
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 2 °C
- Spacing
- 25 cm, rows 40 cm
- Water need
- Medium
Description
The Swallow‑tail morning glory is an annual vine that can cover fences and obelisks with sky‑blue funnel‑shaped flowers in a single season. Each flower opens in the morning and wilts by evening, but dozens of new blooms appear daily. The seeds are toxic and should not be handled by children.
Care instructions
Sow the seeds from May (week 18) directly outdoors or start them indoors on a windowsill in April. Harden hard seeds by soaking them overnight in lukewarm water. Provide a sunny, warm spot and a trellis or string for climbing. Water evenly and fertilize sparingly; heavy feeding will produce more foliage at the expense of flowers.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–May
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 15 °C, ideally 22 °C
- Days to sprout
- 5 to 14 days
- Light
- Needs darkness to sprout
- Sowing depth
- 1 cm
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, loamy, nutrient-rich
Plant it in loose, humus-rich, well-drained soil with a little loam. It will not tolerate waterlogging, and it is best to loosen heavy soils with some coarse sand; slightly chalky soil does not bother it, while strongly acidic soils hold it back.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
May–Aug
When planting in spring, work a little mature compost in shallowly. During the growing and flowering season from June to August you can occasionally give a potassium-rich organic feed such as compost tea, which encourages flowers. Go easy on nitrogen: too much of it only drives leaf growth at the expense of flowers.
Overwintering
The morning glory is an annual and dies with the first frost. No protection will save it, so in autumn remove the vines, and beforehand harvest ripe, brown-dry seed capsules, whose seeds you overwinter dark and dry. In spring, soak the seeds overnight, start them indoors from March/April and plant them out only after the Ice Saints in mid-May.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate the morning glory exclusively by seed. As an annual, non-hardy plant, vegetative propagation is not worthwhile. Soak the hard-coated seeds in lukewarm water for about 24 hours before sowing; alternatively or additionally, you can carefully roughen the hard seed coat with sandpaper (scarification) so that it takes up water faster and germinates more evenly. From March, sow 2 to 3 seeds each about 1 cm deep in low-nutrient seed compost. The morning glory needs darkness to germinate, so cover the seeds well with soil and keep the pot warm at about 20 to 22 °C. Germination usually takes place within 1 to 2 weeks; in cooler conditions it can take up to four weeks. From mid-May, when night frost is no longer a threat, plant the young plants outdoors or sow directly into the bed or container.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
For your garden
Grow Mexican morning glory yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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