Photo Credit
Cristina Ionescu/Shutterstock
Botanical Name
Ipomoea tricolor, I. purpurea
Plant Type
Flower
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Bloom Time
Summer
Fall
Flower Color
Blue
Pink
Purple
Red
White
Special Features
Attracts Butterflies
Attracts Songbirds
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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Morning Glory Flowers
Catherine Boeckmann
Want to grow morning glories? This plant, with its romantic tendrils and trumpet-shaped flowers, is beloved by butterflies and hummingbirds. It’s often mistaken for a perennial weed with the same name. Learn how to plant and grow morning gloryflowers!
About MorningGlories
NOTE: This guide is NOT about the perennial weed that shares the common name of “morning glory.” That plant is classified as a noxious weed in many states. Read morebelow.
Morning glories are tender annuals, so they are sensitive to cool temperatures and late frosts. They bloom from early summer to the first frost of fall.
Their fragrant, colorful flowers come in pink, purple-blue, magenta, or white colors. Pollinators love Morning Glories’ trumpet-shapedblooms.
Train twining morning glory vinesover a pergola or arch, or use them as a dense groundcover. Thisdrought-tolerantplant grows quickly—up to 10 feet in one season—and can self-seed fairly easily. Because of this, you’ll want to choose where you put this plant wisely! Otherwise, you may have more morning glories than you bargainedfor.
Warning: All morning glory seeds are poisonous, especially in large quantities. Keep them out of reach of children andpets.
Annual Versus Perennial MorningGlories
The attractive annual morning glory(Ipomoea spp.) is often mistaken forits perennial cousin, fieldbindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), a very troublesome, invasive weed native to Europe andAsia.
Field bindweed—also called “perennial morning glory” or “creeping jenny”—grows similarly to our annual morning glory but sends out deep, deep roots, which make it very difficult to get rid of and allow it to overwinter in areas where cultivated morning gloriescouldnot.
To tell the difference between the plants, look closely at the leaves, flowers, andvines:
- The leaves of the annual morning glory are heart-shaped and large (2 or more inches across). Field bindweed leaves are shaped more like an arrowhead andsmaller.
- Annual morning glory flowers may be pink, white, magenta, blue, purple, or red. Field bindweed flowers only occur ineitherpink or white, and blooms are much smaller than annual morningglory.
- Morning glory vines are usually thicker than bindweed vines and typically have smallhairs.
In any case, if you come across a plant in your garden that resembles Morning Glory and you know you didn’t plant it, it’s best to err on the side of caution andtreat it as aweed.
Read Next
September Birth Flowers: Asters and Morning Glories
20 Easy-to-Grow Perennial Flowers for Beginners
What's that Weed? Common Garden Weed Identification (with Photos)
Planting
Choose a sunny spot. These plants need a lot of sun to bloom their best! Plant in moderately fertile, well-draining soil to encourage good foliage growth followed by plenty offlowers.
Finally, choose a location that is sheltered from strong, drying winds. Give them a fence, lattice,or trellis to climb up so that vines don’t crowd out other ground-levelplants.
When to Plant MorningGlories
- Sow seeds as early as possible after the danger of frost isover.
How to Plant MorningGlories
- Germination rates are improved by filingdown the seeds just enough to break the outer coat and then soaking them for 24 hours before planting. This encourages them to send out a root (it looks like a littleworm).
- Cover lightly with 1/4-inch of soil. Space seeds about 6 inchesapart.
- Water thoroughly atplanting.
- Seedlings should appear in about a week;some seeds may be stubborn and take 2 or 3 weeks tosprout.
Growing
- Apply a balanced liquid fertilizer after planting. Do not over-fertilize, or the vine may grow more foliage thanflowers.
- Support this climbing plant with structures like trellises, pergolas, or arches.
- Tip: Morning glories climb by twining their vines around a support, so make sure that whichever type of structure you grow them against has plenty of space forwhorling!
- Morning glories are low maintenance; just be sure to water during particularly dryperiods.
- Mulch to retain moisture and suppressweeds.
- If you don’t want the plant to reseed itself, pinch off old flowers before they turn into seedpods. This can also encourage the plant to keep producingmoreflowers.
Recommended Varieties
- ‘Heavenly Blue’ are the classic morning glories with rich azure (blue) flowers and white throats. These plants climb to 12feet.
- ‘Scarlett O’Hara’ has bright red flowers with a white throat. It climbs to 15feet.
- Here are more recommended morning glory varieties!
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Wit and Wisdom
- Morning glories are one of September’s birth flowers.
- If you’ve ever grownsweet potatoes, you may notice a resemblance between their leaves and flowers and those of themorning glory.Unsurprisingly, the plants are related;both belong to the genus Ipomoea.
Pests/Diseases
Morning glories are fast-growing and are rarely bothered by pests or diseases to a significantextent.
| Pest/Disease | Type | Symptoms | Control/Prevention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aphids | Insect | Misshapen/yellow leaves; distorted flowers; leaf drop; sticky “honeydew” (excretion) on leaves; sooty, black mold | Knock off with water spray; apply insecticidal soap; inspect new plants carefully; use slow-release fertilizers; avoid excess nitrogen; encourage aphid predators such as lacewings, ladybugs, spiders |
| Fusarium wilt | Fungus | Plants wilt (sometimes one-sided) in daytime; later, entire plant wilts/dies; stunting; yellow leaves; poor flowering; roots rot; stem cross-section reveals brown discoloration | Destroy infected plants/ roots/surrounding soil (do not compost); remove plant debris regularly; disinfect tools; resistant varieties; avoid excess nitrogen; in acidic soils, raise pH to 7.0; weed; 3- to 5-year rotation |
| Leaf miners | Insect | Meandering blisters in leaves caused by tunneling larvae | Remove infested leaves; weed; use row covers; till soil early in season; rotate plantings |
| Leaf spot (fungal) | Fungus | Varies; leaf spots on lower leaves enlarge and turn brown/black; fuzzy growth or pustules in lesions; disease progresses upward; leaves die | Destroy infected leaves/ severely infected plants (do not compost); remove plant debris regularly; disinfect tools; resistant varieties; good air circulation; avoid overhead watering |
| Rust | Fungus | Varies; orange pustules on undersides of lower leaves/stems; spots on upper leaf surfaces; foliage distorts/ dies/drops; stunting; poor flowering; plants weakened | Destroy infected parts/severely diseased plants; remove plant debris regularly; disinfect tools; resistant varieties; good air circulation; avoid overhead watering; weed |
Flowers
About The Author
Catherine Boeckmann
Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprise that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
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Comments
Add a Comment
Morning glories are my mothers favorite. I am planting under an arbor in a contained raised bed (hopefully to keep it in control). I have 2 questions I know you can help me with! Number One: at the end of the growing season, should I cut the vines back to the ground and remove the remaining vines from the arbor, or will they grow on last years vines and it’s better just to leave them on the arbor?
Number Two: Do deer eat morning glories?
Sorry to be so much trouble. I appreciate everything you do. Thanks, Teresa (Resa to my good friends)
- Reply
My bindweed flowers blue.
- Reply
I like it
- Reply
Do I cut back the vines in the fall? Or just leave them as grown?
- Reply
Hi, Vicky. You should remove the vines. Morning glories are tender annuals, so they are sensitive to cool temperatures and latefrosts.
- Reply
My morning glory vines are growing well, but have no buds or blossoms! Why might that be?
- Reply
Morning glory foliage is immense but no flowers
- Reply
Assuming the plant is getting appropriate sunlight, a lack of flowers commonly occurs when a morning glory is growing in soil that is too rich. High levels of nutrients (such as nitrogen) can cause the plant to grow more foliage and vines at the expense of flowers. On the bright side, if you keep planting morning glories in the same spot, they will keep using up the nutrients and, ironically, start to bloombetter!
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Beautiful green leaves. On east side of home . Nice and sunny. No blossoms or buds . Why
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17 years ago, I made a humongous flower bed that is 250 feet long by 40 feet wide. It's filled with hundreds of beautiful perennials. I bought what was advertised as a morning glory. It looked so pretty the first year. It was the biggest gardening mistake I ever made. It has now spread and taken over the entire bed, strangling and choking out everything. It is the bane of my existence. I hate it so much. The vines are everywhere on my entire property. Its incredible how fast it grows and spreads. My advice is, do not buy it!
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