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How to Grow Morning Glories

Picture

The Legend of the Morning Glory

According to legend, there once lived a beautiful princess who loved flowers. She visited the garden every morning, but being delicate in nature when the sun rose high in the sky she was overcome by the heat and had to return inside. Because all the flowers bloomed when the sun was high in the sky, the poor princess never got to enjoy their beauty. One day, as she entered the palace she began to cry as it broke her heart to leave before seeing the beautiful flowers in bloom. As her tears fell upon the earth, they magically turned to seeds where they took root and began to grow. One bright morning the princess was greeted with beautiful morning glories in full bloom long before the sun rose high in the sky. To this day, the morning glory blooms at dawn and shrivels and closes under the mid-day sun.

The Origin of the Morning Glory

Native to tropical America, wild morning glories produce small white blooms that open in the early morning and shrivel under the rays of the sun. Until the turn of the century morning glories were grown simply to cover unsightly buildings or structures. One day in 1931, a man named Clarke happened upon a field of morning glories in Colorado that produced sky-blue blooms and held their blooms into the morning. This gave rise to 'Clarke's Heavenly Blue Morning Glories.' Others soon produced an assortment of colors making this a popular flower in home gardens.

Tips for Growing Morning Glories


  • Light: Morning glories prefer full sun for 6 to 8 hours a day but will tolerate light shade. Areas with bright morning sun, some shade during the heat of the day and direct sunlight in the afternoon are ideal for morning glories.
​
  • Soil: Morning glories prefer poor soil and will grow in nearly any soil as long as it drains well. Avoid adding fertilizer or amending it heavily with organic matter as the added nutrients may cause lush foliage with few blooms.
​
  • Preparing seeds: Morning glory seeds have a hard seed coat and benefit from either soaking in warm water overnight or nicking the seed coat. Some prefer to file a small notch in the outer coat of the seed to allow moisture to enter and germination to begin. If you choose to nick the seed, use nail clippers, but use caution not to cut too deeply and injure the embryo inside the seed.
​
  • Planting: Plant morning glory seeds to a depth of 1/2-inch spaced 6 inches apart along a fence or in front of a trellis. Cover them with soil and firm the soil down with your hands to secure the seeds.
​
  • Water: Water to moisten the soil to the depth of the seeds when first planting and keep the soil moist until seedlings emerge in 7 to 21 days, depending on the soil temperature and weather conditions. Reduce water to once or twice a week when the seedlings are established.
​
  • Thinning: Thin morning glories to 8 to 10 inches apart to allow plenty of room for their vines to grow.
​
  • Deadheading: Deadhead morning glories daily by removing the shriveled flowers from the vine. This prolongs the blooming period and improves the appearance of the plants.
Copyright © 2014 Nannette Richford



  • Home
  • Garden Thyme Blog
  • Themes
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Moon Gardens
    • Sensory Gardens
    • All About Fairies
  • Flowers
    • Annual Flowers >
      • Alyssum
      • Cosmos
      • Geraniums
      • Marigolds
      • Morning Glories
      • Nasturtiums
      • Petunias >
        • Reviving Petunias
      • Snapdragons
      • Sunflowers
      • Sweet Peas
      • Zinnias
    • Perennial Flowers >
      • Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’)
      • Lupines
      • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
    • Maine Wildflowers
  • Veggies
    • Warm Season Vegetables >
      • Beans >
        • Growing Beans
        • Growing Pole Beans
        • How to Make a Teepee Trellis
      • About Corn >
        • Growing Corn
        • What is Baby Corn, anyway?
        • Can you grow corn in containers?
      • Cucumbers >
        • Grow a cucumber in a bottle
        • Growing Pickling Cucumbers
        • Growing cucamelons (Mexican Gherkin)
        • Why do cucumbers blossom but fail to set fruit?
        • Trellising Cucumbers
        • Making Cucumber Relish
        • Powdery Mildew on Cucumbers
      • Melons
      • Peppers >
        • Growing Peppers
      • Squash >
        • Growing Zucchini
        • Spaghetti Squash
      • Tomatoes >
        • How to Harden Off Tomato Plants
        • How (and when) to Prune Tomatoes
        • Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) for Tomatoes
        • Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
        • Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets
        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
        • How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • Grow Your Own Amazing Pomato Plant - Tomatoes on the Top and Potatoes on the Bottom
    • Cool Season Vegetables >
      • Cole Crops
      • Greens >
        • How to Grow Spinach
        • How to Grow Malabar Spinach
        • How to Grow Swiss Chard
        • Harvesting and Cooking Beet Greens
        • How to Grow Microgreens
      • Onions & Garlic >
        • How to Grow Garlic
        • How to Grow Onions
      • Peas >
        • Growing Garden (shelling) Peas
        • Growing Sugar Snap Peas
      • Potatoes >
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Hay Bales
      • Root Crops >
        • Growing Beets
        • How to Grow Carrots
  • Herbs
    • Growing Basil
    • Growing Chives
    • Growing Lavender
    • Herbal Tea Garden
    • How to Grow a Culinary Herb Garden
    • How to Grow Herbs in Sponges
    • Colonial Herb Garden - Classroom Project
    • Herbed Butter
    • Making Herbed Oils
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting Basics
    • Grafting Basics
    • Soil >
      • Starting a New Garden
      • How to Prepare Soil
      • How to Test Soil Drainage
      • What Type of Soil Do You Have
      • Soil Mix Recipe for Containers
      • How to Make Compost Tea
      • How to Use Mulch
      • Control Blister Beetles
  • Birds
    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
      • Perennials for Hummingbird Gardens
    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
  • Fiddleheads and Fairies
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables