Ipomoea purpurea Seeds | Morning Glory
LATIN NAME: Ipomoea purpurea
COMMON NAME: Morning Glory
Plant Profile
Known to gardeners as Morning Glory, Ipomoea purpurea is a vigorous, twining, annual in the morning-glory family. Morning glory is blue trumpet of summer dawn, and wide, funnel-shaped flowers open with the first light and fold by the afternoon. Climber is a fine, bold presence of fence, trellis and the pot. It is a climber of open, sunny, well-drained ground. Through the flowering season it keeps visiting bees well supplied. Taken as a whole, it is a plant that repays a little attention many times over.
Science & Biotechnology
Ipomoea purpurea sits in the morning-glory family, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. The practical point for growers is that this plant has been observed in gardens for so long that its behaviour holds few surprises.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Morning Glory for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. Morning glory is a fine, bold climber of fence and the trellis. Wide, funnel-shaped, sky-blue flowers open with the first light, one of the fine, fresh sights of the summer dawn, drawing the bees and the hummingbirds, and the heart-shaped leaves cover the fence and the trellis through the season. Morning glory is one of dawn-flowering climbers of warm garden, and wide, sky-blue trumpets open with the first light. After the first season it asks for very little beyond a place that suits it.
Morning glories carry a split identity: sweet potato is a world staple rich in beta-carotene, the ornamental vines are garden favorites, and the seeds of some species contain ergoline alkaloids that are not for any use. Enjoy the flowers and the tubers.
Growing from Seed
Seed is the natural starting point for Morning Glory, and the process is uncomplicated. Use a fine, free-draining seed compost, scatter the seed evenly, cover it lightly and hold it just moist in good light. Prick the seedlings out once they are large enough to handle, grow them on in bright light, and plant out when conditions allow.
Our Take
It forms a vigorous, twining, annual, which makes spacing and siting straightforward. Once established, Morning Glory largely looks after itself. After establishment, care settles into an easy routine.
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