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Morning Glory Research in My Garden. Want to Try It?

© Mary Henry

Spring is here. Even in Minnesota the temperatures are way up, the bulbs and early trees are starting to bloom. We are going to have to start thinking about the growing season. I have already planted some morning glory (Ipomoea species) seeds indoors. This is earlier than I usually do it, because normally I can't put them out until May, but there are a couple of reasons for such a rash act. I'm growing some to give away when I do a program on Morning Glories next month where I work and I'm going to take a chance on this year's weather. I have been interested in these beautiful vines for a long time and have been trying to find new varieties that will do well and begin blooming earlier here. The beloved old standard, 'Heavenly Blue', doesn't begin blooming until so late in the season here, usually mid- to late- August. If we have a long cool spring and lots of cloudy days, it can be even longer.

Last year, I bought some plants of 'Tie Die', a blue and white striped morning glory, and 'Grandpa Ott's', a purple variety with red markings in the throat. 'Grandpa Ott's' began blooming almost a month before the 'Heavenly Blue' in my neighborhood. 'Tie Die' was about 10 days behind 'Grandpa Ott's'. It is a beautiful variety, but 'Grandpa Ott's' simply covered itself in rich purple blooms right up to the first frost. In addition, I have requested seeds of likely sounding varieties from members of the Flower and Herb Exchange which is a project of the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, USA. I chose the varieties based on the offerer's description of its being "early" and their location. "Early" in a short season climate is more likely to be what I'm looking for than "early" in a place where the season is appreciably longer than it is here. The people offering these seeds are gardeners like you and me who have saved the seeds from their flowers to share with others. The varieties they are offering do not appear on seed racks or any of the catalogs that I have (my collection is extensive). My trials this year will center on 'Cornell Cross', 'Kniola's Purple Black', 'Old French', and 'Star of Yelta' from Burpee. I hope to enlist the help of people who come to my Morning Glory presentation and take seedlings home with them. I am using 'Grandpa Ott's' as my standard of measurement, started from seeds that I saved last fall.

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