Moonflower Madness

Yesterday I spied one of my neighbours pulling out her Moonflowers. She had heard about the Kamloops incident on the news and was worried about possibility of some of the local kids eating the plant.

What my neighbour was pulling up was Ipomoea alba, a vine in the Morning Glory family, with large, fragrant, white flowers 4 to 6 inches across. It’s commonly called Moonflower because its flowers open at night. In Bedding Plant Favourites, Lois Hole says, “The blooms unfurl in less than a minute, giving the observer an impression of watching a time-lapse film” (p. 172). She goes on to recommend growing it up a trellis in a spot where you can savour the plant’s fragrance on a summer evening. You can see pictures of a Moonflower and find more information on the Moonflowers site by Amy J. Clark Haden.

All of these ‘Moonflowers’ (with the exception of the lowly Jimsonweed) are lovely additions to the garden, where they can do what they were intended to do, bloom and be beautiful. I don’t see why any of them should be destroyed because a small group of misinformed people want to abuse them (and endanger themselves). Nor do I see why the collective media can’t take the time to do the research necessary to actually provide information rather than sound bites, and properly identify plants. Please, don’t eat the Moonflowers, whatever they actually are!

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic