I have Morning Glory vines in my Georgia Garden for the first time this year. My dad gave me the seeds from his Tennessee Garden and I had luck with them with the assistance of adequate spring rains. See how the bugs like to nibble on the leaves of the vine?
During my last Tennessee visit, my dad gave me this Morning Glory Vine which popped up voluntary for him in this pot.
I really do like the color of the Blue and Purple Morning Glory blooms.
After posting on the Potato Vine on Tuesday, many commenter's, me included noticed similarities to Morning Glory blooms. The foliage of the Morning Glory and my Potato Vine (maybe "Blackie") above are not similar at all. I started to poke some keys on the computer and found out a few things. The Morning Glory's are 1 of over 1,000 Convolvulaceae Species and in the Genera, Ipomoea. Yep, the same family as the Potato Vine! Lets now look closer shall we...
To the left is the Potato Vine and on the right is the Morning Glory. Similar in size and shape. It was after noon time when I snapped this picture so the morning glory was already starting to curl in shape as they only live one morning then die.
The Morning Glory has a star in the center,
As does the Potato Vine.
Morning Glory's glow in the center when the sun is shining on them. It looks as though I have put a light behind this bloom but I promise, I did not.
The Center of the Potato Vine glows with the sun as well. I am not sure if the potato vine dies after one day or not but did notice today when I snapped these pictures, that some blooms were missing on the potato vine from Tuesdays picture snapping. I did not find much about blooms with research but plenty of images of them. I must observe the potato blooms more closely to see if they die after one day. I bet they do.
More interesting facts on the Morning Glory are medicinal purposes such as Laxative and a Hallucinogenic. Latex for rubber balls and the sulfur was vulcanized in rubber long before Charles Goodrich and his tires. Click HERE to find out more interesting facts.
I put this Volunteer Morning Glory in front of my Volunteer Periwinkle Plants as I think the colors go so well together.
Thanks to all commenter's for your chat as it had me COMPARING GLORY'S AND POTATOES, In the Garden...
Note: Tina has grown a climbing Moonflower that is also in this family....
Check out Dawn's Blog for a 500th post Giveaway!
Mornings glorys are great I have lots in my garden
ReplyDeleteThey grow wild up here and most people don't like them and pull them. It's the white one though, I wish I'd get some mostly from the powerlines. Beautiful shot of the blooms together.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder they look so similar. That is one large family to include so many types of flowers. P.S. One of the angel trumpets is going today-but still several left for you to choose from:)
ReplyDeleteAren't they a delight? Your Morning Glory looks like Granpa Otts....if so, I have that one!!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea datura was in the same family! I have Grandpa Ott's as well. Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI like the dark color of those morning glories. We have quite a few light blue ones. I think I'll be cutting back on MG next year since they seemed to take over more this year than in the past!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the information, Skeeter! I didn't know that the two were in the same family. I do like the blooms of morning glories, but I never plant them here, as they tend to pop up voluntarily where I don't want them:) Beautiful photos, especially those glowing centers!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning Everyone! Another cool morning in Georgia and great weather for getting things accomplished outside like clip that hedge. The nice weather makes that job so much easier…
ReplyDeleteGarden tips, I wish I had more as I truly do love them. I have a chain link fence and would like to plant them all along the entire thing but that would take a lot of bending over and poking seeds into the ground but I may do it some day...
Dawn, They can be evasive buggars but I so enjoy the pretty blooms smiling at me each morning! I thought it would be fun to show the blooms side by side for an exact comparison. My brain was working yesterday, lets hope it continues to function today…
Tina, There are so many in this family and lots of cousins as well. Thanks for correcting my little oops, you are a true Bud as in Flower… I was just talking to the Saint yesterday about maybe taking the truck to TN this go round as you mentioned the Angel Trumpet is so large. Oh wait, I just had a thought, a van will be following us back so maybe it can go in that. Hum, are you listening mom?
Darla, I googled Granpa Otts and it does look like the same plant! Ah, I was wondering which one I had here. Now I can act smart and tell my dad which one he has. Hee hee…
Lzyjo, I made a little mistake by saying Datura is so close to the morning glory and potato plants. Datura is a cousin when Moonflower the vine is more closely related. Our Master Gardener Tina noticed that and corrected it for me. Thanks for the comment though as it set her to research and we both learned our new thing for the day!
Dave, I would like to add many colors to our fence. Our fence is way away from the house therefore, I don’t think it would be an issue with going wild as it could go as wild as it likes. I would like to add many different colors as it would hide the fence and be so pretty. I bet all the rain you had this year made them flourish in TN…
Rose, Morning Glorys can be evasive for sure and just pop up anywhere like the one in the pot my dad gave me. He has no idea how a seed got into the pot. Maybe help by a bird. While I was snapping pictures of the potato bloom, I was thinking how similar they look. I had been snapping pics of the morning glory for a post also and when on the computer, I really noticed the similarities. Then when everyone was talking about them on the comments on Tuesday, I decided to do a bit more research and then post on the findings. So amazing this computer and blogging about gardens. You just never know what you will learn next!
Morning Glory is my favorite. When I was a kid it was the only flower I ever paid any attention to.
ReplyDeleteWell Skeeter this was a great post with great info and just awesome photos. No wonder they look so much alike!!
ReplyDeleteDarn it all, These are such frost sensitive plants ... they don't fare well in the these chilly mountain nights. But... since you did this post I am willing to try again. I had no idea these two were related, Ipomea etc. But when you look at the flowers side by side, it is pretty obvious.
ReplyDeleteRosey
That is interesting. I did notice the flower in the post the other day and thought it was a morning glory. I love how morning glories glow in the center. Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteOh that is truly glorious!
ReplyDeleteAnd I know exactly how much the bugs love them too. Still, they are such pretty flowers, aren't they?
My morning glories went insane this summer. They are trying to bury the house;) Even my sweet potato vine bloomed quite a bit this year.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
Good info. Never thought much about it but yep, they surely are related. I adore sky blue morning glories!
ReplyDeleteJoe Todd, When I was a child, I too noticed Morning Glory. I reckon becasue I foung them interesting that they only opened in the morning and closed during the afternoon hours. I thought that was so neat. As an adult, I wish they would bloom longer...
ReplyDeleteJean, it is funny how similar they are. As if they are twins and you know all about twins don’t ya :-)
Rosey, There are many different types so do a bit of research and see if there are some which may fair better in the cooler temps. Then go for it. I knew they were similar when snapping the pictures on different days but until I put them side by side, I did not realize just how similar they were. Definitely in the same family…
Catherine, The center glow of a morning glory is just awesome! I tried so hard to get a picture without the glow to show the inner parts with no luck. Oh well, beautiful glows for sure…
Sunita, The bugs really do like both these plants. The Potato Blooms had small ant type bugs on them but I did not see any of those on the Morning Glory Bloom. But something sure does enjoy munching on the foliage…
Marnie, maybe all the rain helped to run the vines high into the sky this year! So many are saying their potatoes did not bloom so I am glad you had blooms to enjoy. They are beautiful blooms and I enjoyed them and will hope for more next year…
Flowrgirl, I hope to add more colors of Morning Glory to the garden next year. Blue is one color I plan to add. I just need to remember to get the seeds into the ground a bit earlier then I did this year…
Wonderful post Skeeter. I too wondered if they were in the same family. Now I know.
ReplyDeleteI have the wild potato vine that is invasive. Thanks to the birds. It's blooms look like MG's. I try to pull it out but it is all over my chain link fence. Don't want it there. I also have the Chinese Climbing Fern {again thanks to birds}. It's also invasive. It's taking over everything. I hate to use the big guy as it would not be good.
I've never grown either one of those plants though both look and sound absolutely stunning. I guess we can't all grow everything.
ReplyDeleteInteresting Skeeter. I've never been lucky enough to have a potato vine bloom but side by side, like you've shown the flowers, you can see how similar they look without knowing they belong to the same family.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that's the reason Oasis named their album 'What's the Story, Morning Glory?' I doubt it, though, but your flowers look gorgeous. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Interesting comparison - I didn't notice that and I'm growing both this year. I got a little panicked when I planted my morning glories next to some beans since I heard they're poisonous and my dog always helps herself to the beans. But luckily the beans didn't produce too well.
ReplyDeleteLola, Ah, those birds do like to play gardener for us dont they? LOL I would like to have our chain link fence covered all the way from the back of the yard to the street with Morning Glory’s. Our fence is far away from the house so it would not be an issue for it to take over. I would like it to cover the fence and will poke some seeds into the ground next spring. I am letting the Trumpet Vine grow towards the fence in hopes it climbs it as well. I have not heard of the Chinese Climbing Fern. I will have to look that one up and check it out.
ReplyDeleteCinj, Glad to see you pop in her today! Morning Glory and Potato Vine are pretty plants but the bugs do enjoy them. I must spray them and don’t like to so that is the only drawback for me with having these two in the garden. I see so much on blogs and wish I had them all but as you, I know I cannot so I just enjoy them on the blogs…
Kathleen, This was my first time for a blooming Potato so it was a total surprise for me. I was not expecting blooms at all. I love surprises and was so happy to see the blooms…
Cuban, Thanks and it does make one wonder about titles. I am glad you enjoyed the beauty of the blooms…
JGH, Oh my, you defiantly need to be careful about those poisonous plants and doggie around them. I have to be careful with our neighbors cat OJ and dog Zip coming into our yard daily. Plus keep things off the back fence as they sometimes have the horses in the back. I would not want to harm any of my animal friends. I did not notice the similarities of the two until I started to load the pictures! Gee, we must slow down and smell the roses at times shouldn’t we? LOL
At least once a year we have a knot of young men come in to the garden center looking for Morning Glory seeds. I don't think they want to start a garden. I always hope they make it through the vomiting stage to enjoy any of the illeged benefits of ingesting the seeds.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post! When I read your post I did think how much they looked like morning glories! I didn't know that potatoe vines bloom like that. It is one plant I haven't grown although I always admire them. Thanks for the info. Good to know.
ReplyDeleteLes, Hummmmm, I bet you are so right with your analogy with the seeds! So sad too. I have heard that Salvia is becoming illegal to sell in some states due to kids using them illegally as well. My goodness, those kids need to get a life before they kill the one they have!
ReplyDeleteTeresa, I am glad you learned something from these two posts. I knew they bloomed but had never had one bloom for me before so I was really excited when they started blooming. I never made the connection of them even being similar until I snapped pictures and loaded them on the puter. Garden Blogging is such an asset in learning something new every day!
Yes indeed theirs is a large family of plants that grows worldwide, some of the more interesting to myself are the yellow morning glory from Asia, and Ipomoea pandurata, the wild potato vine, which grows like a morning glory,but stays open all day long, and forms a large underground potato from which it returns each spring, i grow it by the porch and its always up and blooming long before the morning glory seeds.
ReplyDeleteJJ. I will keep the potato vine in the ground and see if it returns next year! It is funny how some things that are invasive in other places are valued in some gardens elsewhere. I plan to add more morning glorys to my garden next year. I will be looking for pink, yellow and blue seeds! I hope they flurish for me as I have he perfect spot for them along the chain link fence...
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the first photo, it seemed like you had gotten into my iphoto library and found a photo of the morning glory I planted across the street to grow over the stick shelter for butterflies. It never grew over the whole shelter, but has managed to grow a little and bloom some. I got it planted a little late, so maybe next year, the plants that grow from the seeds will grow larger.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense that morning glories and sweet potatoes are related. The sweet potato blooms don't live long. I remember seeing one, and planned to take its photo, and then when I went out with the camera the next day or two, it was wilted.
Are you planning on eating the sweet potatoes from your vine?
Sue, I have been watching the potato blooms and they last all day long but only seem to be around for that one day. But longer then the MG... I do not plan to eat the sweet potato as I am going to leave it in the ground and see if it will return next year. I hope it does as I have enjoyed it so much this year...
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