The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Climbers => Topic started by: Alisdair on October 24, 2011, 07:09:09 AM
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To see Hilary's photo of Ipomoea x sloteri, a hybrid of I. coccinea and I. quamoclit, click here (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=466.msg2687#msg2687).
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We stopped at a small nursery on our way back from Thessaloniki today, and I saw this huge climber on their fence with lots of very bright red flowers, and very nice deeply cut, dark green leaves. I had no idea what it was, I have never seen this plant before, but the flowers looked like some kind of bindweed, and I found that it must be Ipomoea x sloteri, or cardinal climber. I was told that it dies down in the winter (since it is an annual), but will usually seed itself and grows very quickly, and that they would have some small plants for sale next spring. Does anybody have any experience with this plant?
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Yes I've grown it from seed a couple of times. It's best as a container plant here because it gets going late in the season when the weather really heats up but it likes a lot of water. It's a gorgeous plant when grown well, but more tropical or subtropical I suspect. Water stress will result in a more diminutive example, but still beautiful. There's another one with more ferny finely divided foliage which is very attractive. Ipomoea quamoclit I think it is? I've grown both and I found the one you photographed easier, but that might have just been the season.
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Thank you, Jamus, it sound as if it may need more water than I can provide, given that I'm not here all the time. But if I see it for sale next spring, I suppose I shan't be able to resist.
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Ipomaea lindheimeri is from Texas and I thought it was an annual but 2 of last year's 3 plants re-sprouted and eventually started to flower at the very end of summer,
cheers
fermi
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Nice leaves, too.
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Earlier this year my wife sowed seed of Ipomoea tricolor 'Heavenly Blue'. This is the first one to flower.
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Hi everybody! I am over the moon. I have succeeded in growing two Ipomoea quamoclit. They have flowered today for the first time! One brilliant red flower in each one. I shall follow David Dickinson's advice and collect the seeds when they are ready to share with others that wish to grow them. I shall make sure next year I put them in a more prominent place. John will post the photos later. I have not yet gone for my iPad lessons!!
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Photos as instructed.
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The Ipomoea lindheimeri seems to be getting stronger each year and flowering earlier as well!
This morning I took a couple of pics showing that the vines are getting higher up the supports and flowering well,
cheers
fermi
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Interesting to have a perennial Morning Glory! It's fragrant isn't it, Fermi? And dormant in winter rather than summer?
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Alisdair,
sorry for the delay in replying.
I've not noticed a fragrance but I haven't stuck my nose into one for a closer inspection! Yes, it is in full growth in summer and dies to the ground in winter. It shares the trellis with sweetpeas so it seems to be a good combination, as long as I remember to remove the dead vines before the new ones start twining,
cheers
fermi
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In their 5th year the Ipomaea lindheimeri are still doing well.
Today was cool and cloudy so the flowers have lasted all day.
We replaced the supports last year while they were in growth and so had to retrain the vines up the metal struts. This year they have raced to the top very quickly,
cheers
fermi
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Beautiful Fermi - and I love the supports. This year I am trying several new Ipomea and hoping for great things. Not being my forte they are one of the few things I seem to have success with from seed. So far they are germinating well and I look forward to posting 'photos in the summer.
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We have some Ipomoea starting to flower. I believe the dark one is 'Star of Yalta' but we don't have a name for the light one.
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Am growing Ipomea 'Black Knight ' this year and am very disappointed with the health of the plants. They have grown away well and started to flowers very early - beautiful colour, but the leaves are awful, turning yellow with mottling and obviously being eaten by something too- earwigs?
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Sorry for the poor quality of the 'photo but I think it shows the problem!
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Have had varying success with the different Ipomoea that I raised from seed this year but one has been a real triumph - Ipomoea ' Alba' - also known as the 'Moon Ipomoea' I think ....
Several germinated but only one grew away strongly .....and grew and grew with large leaves but no sign of flowers. Then I noticed large buds that seemed very slow to develop and have to admit I stopped showing much interest in it. The other evening we were returning home late when I was confronted with this huge white flower gleaming through the darkness as we approached our front door - my first flower on the Ipomoea ' Alba'! It was quite spectacular the flower being as large as my cupped hand and I rushed to get my camera which was fortunate because in the morning it was already well past it's best.
After ' googling' it I discovered it is a night flowering variety and one with a perfume that I have been able to verify as subsequent flowers opened - last night I had two blooms.
Quite the most exciting and unexpected thing I have grown from seed- I did once have a white flowered Ipomoea given to me by a friend - rather like " Heavenly Blue" in size and form but this one is amazing.
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Beautiful bloom Carole. I have tried to grow a large white one from the seeds taken from Cindy Evans's garden in Mallorca. It was the first time that I had seen such large blooms. I was unsuccessful so I bought seeds from England and had the same result. We do have Impmoea such as the common morning glory that rampages every where here in Cyprus. I have it in a pot to restrict its roots and so far so good. A very successful Ipomoea is Star of Yalta, from the MGS seed bank. It grows any where it finds drops of water. It re seeds and regrows all summer through. It is accompanied by Ipomea quamocli. The quamoclit seeds germinate when the weather is really hot. Both suffer in the midday heat but recover later on in the evening. I am now experimenting with a new cool place for the Star of Yalta. Under our enormous avocado tree. I will update if the seeds germinate.
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This is Ipomoea 'Lutea' - a pretty shade of pale yellow and quite prolific flowering happily both in full sun and more shaded positions.
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Very pretty and soft colour. . I maintain that I don't like yellow or orange and yet there are flowers of both colours in our garden and they are lovely. Prejudice is not a good trait to have.
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A lot of gardeners profess to not liking yellow flowers but I love them adding bright splashes of colour. Perhaps the fashion for pale planting schemes involving many shades of pink and purple flowers, not to mention white gardens, has made yellow difficult to include. Gardening is certainly subject to ' fashion' both regarding colour schemes and
'must have' plants. Since gardening in a Mediterranean climate I am more concerned with the viability of the plants I choose although do appreciate an harmonious result.
A good topic for discussion I would think............
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Good idea, Carole. For me, personally, here in Cyprus yellow means spring as the majority of the first flowers that open on the hillsides are yellow. Maybe that's only because they stand out more, but whatever the reason they are bright and cheerful.
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I find that yellow often enhances blues, purples and whites. And, where would we be in early autumn without Sternbergia?
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Ok. I give in. All of you are correct. Yellow is bright and cheerful and some flowers are amazing in that colour but every year I battle with Oxalis pes-caprae and there is a great dislike for that colour(tint ). And here is another paradox. I love my orange cosmos which is situated under the plum tree. While it is in flower I check it and enjoy its beauty.
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It is interesting to consider why we have aversions to certain plants and flowers. Your explanation Charithea re Oxalis as to the reason why you are not fond of yellow flowers being a good example. I have found myself ' disliking' certain plants merely because they featured in every garden that I knew as a child growing up in a row of terraced houses each with a long narrrow garden where Chrysanthemums, Dahlias, Michaelmas Daisies, Anemone japonica etc etc featured. Since in most cases these gardens were the domain of the men, who grew vegetables, it would seem likely that such flowers were perhaps grown for cutting.........Anyway I shied away from many of them for a long time - too easy to grow?, snobbery - too common?
I remember suggesting to a friend, whom I was helping to create a garden here in Italy,
to use Cotoneaster as a screen close to his car parking area. He turned his hands up in horror " Oh no " he said "My father planted that everywhere"
With encouragement he relented and we alternated it with Eleagnus ebbingeii. He now has a wonderful evergreen hedge.
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I bet you have a happy friend Carole. I loved Cotoneasters in the dull winter light of England but here in Cyprus they look washed out. I considered the above topic and it is relavent to why I chose some of our trees and bushes. I associate them with happiness and love . A Morus alba because I played and had siestas under the shade of one in the long hot dusty summers in my childhood. The adults were working to take us to the near by beach to cool us down so our natural cooler was a very large shade tree. Eleagnus angustifolia is associate with the coolest garden I knew. The tree's orange ripe fruit glistened in the sun in early October. The tree was the gate way to Mr Panayis' garden. He had the luxury of water from the village acqua duct that carried it to the Castle and also a well to draw water out in the dried months. He was an old bachelor who used to solder back the legs of the primus stoves around the neighbourhood. I was always willing to run errands there. I was allowed to walk around the garden under the conditions of not stepping on or cutting the flowers. Sadly the garden is no more. It was torn out and holiday homes have been built. Still when our tree flowers and the garden is awash with its perfume I think of that old man and his garden.
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Further to my post regarding Ipomea ' Lutea' . Having some Ipomea plants over and no longer having any idea exactly which variety they were, I planted one at the base of a quite big Salvia lavandufolia that I subsequently trimmed back quite a bit. The Ipomea was rather forgotten until quite late in the summer when I noticed it had begun to weave itself through the Salvia and shortly after produced its first flower - a small yellow one revealing that it was a 'lutea' A few showery days in September saw it flourish and now it is looking really pretty. I am afraid my 'photo does not really do it justice but I shall certainly plant some Ipomea under some early flowering shrubs next year as I think the effect is quite pretty and gives renewed interest later in the season.
The small flowered varieties seem most suited as their growth is quite delicate. Ipomea
'coccinea' is another that could look quite stunning with its small bright red flowers.
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The flowers look like lights on a Christmas tree
Lovely
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Carole , I agree with you. They do complement the host plant. I have a Ipomoea quamuclit growing over a plant. I will post the photo when we return from the AGM in Spain.
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Hadn't thought of that comparison Hilary but you are right and this plant did a good job of winding itself around the Salvia rather than just climbing as they do when planted against trellis or sticks. It is also a prolific flowerer which adds to the effect.
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On a different note but still relating to Ipomea, I noticed that the seed heads of Ipomea "Star of Yalta" (thanks for the seeds Charithea :-)) have a distinct and very rigid bend in the stems making them point to the ground. Very convenient for the seed but, given the size and weight of each seed, I wouldn't have thought this would be of any advantage to the plant as the seed would fall immediately to the ground anyway.
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Ipomoea, Star of Yalta
The seeds for this climber were sown in the autumn of 2018 and by April; 2019 they were producing the dark purple flower. May found the Star of Yalta climbing up a string to; hopefully, intertwine with a deep pink Bougainvillea. All was lost when our two Bougainvillea plants, the Ipomoea and the neighbour's two Bougainvillea plants came down with some horrible disease and all were chopped down and disposed of.
It seems to have done all the Bougainvillea plants good as they started sprouting new clean branches immediately.
Ipomoea ‘Yalta’ is mentioned in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 33, July 2003 in A GARDEN IN NORTH DEVON by Polly Morris
The seeds I obtained were from THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN SOCIETY seed exchange.
Members of the society are entitled to 10 free packets of seeds a year
To read about this programme look here
http://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/seedlist.html
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Hilary, the Star of Yialta has such lovely Blue colour. They seem to grow anywhere the seed falls. We had one flowering just before the heavy rains in December. They are some growing next to the jasmine, another under the Avocado tree and a few in the front garden among the Nigellas. Try getting some seeds and regrow them.
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I have planted seeds for Ipomoea Royal Ensign. The first tiny leaves are showing
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I am spoilt for choice as to which thread to use to speak about Ipomoea alba but as I want to talk about a couple of ipomoeas, perhaps better here. First I. alba. I was introduced to this by Umbrian who very kindly sent me some seeds after I had seen her original posting in this thread. I didn't have success but, undaunted, I bought a packet of seed this year and sowed 10 seeds of which all 10 germinated. Only 3 survived and they are growing up through a red bougainvillea which has remarkably similar leaves.
The buds are slow to form as Umbrian says but when they are about to open they are fascinating in themselves. I took the photo of the young bud ("horned") and the bud about to open earlier this evening. By 20.00 the flower was fully open - my hand will give an idea of the size of the flower.
Other ipomoeas have been strange this year. First, none of my I lutea (thanks again to Umbrian for the seeds) germinated. Then I noticed once self-sown seed coming through. That grew for a couple of weeks and then some self-sown I quamoclit appeared. In the same tub! - I was worried I would get some strange hybrids from my seeds or, worse still, infertile seeds. The blackbirds ensured that didn't happen by ripping them all out in their desperate search for food in this consistently hot period.
I thought that was the last I would see of my ipomeas when, much to my surprise I noticed one I lutea germinating in the pot where I had sown some which had failed until this hottest, driest point to germinate. On watering the tub with the original self-sown seeds in, one I lutea and 2 I quamoclit have appeared. Ipomoea seeds sure like a baking before germinating, it seems.
Abought two weeks ago I bought a packet of red . tricolor for €1 thinking I would try them next year and doubting they would be as red as shown on the packet. Out of curiosity I soaked some of the seeds and then put them in a pot. Within a day, in the full heat of mid-summer they had germinated! Let's see how red they are :-)
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Maybe I am tired or maybe spell-check is playing tricks on me? Anyway, I am about (see, I can spell "about" after all!) to go to bed. How "one" became "once" and "tricolor" lost its "eye", oops, sorry "I", will remain a mystery forever. :-[
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I am able at last to post my reply regardingIpomoea alba . They are beautiful and iIhave already mentioned my many tries to get it to grow in our garden. After the AGM in Athens last year we went to Pelio. I saw a beautiful Ipomea alba and luckily there were ripe seeds on it. I brought them home with me and put them in a pot to make sure the slugs and snails would not eat the seedlings. The seeds germinated and I transferred them in the ground in a suitable place to climb. I duly checked them every morning and reported to John about their progress. A few seedlings died but some carried on. There were buds on the plant so i was optimistic and kept up the early morning routine. One opened But it was not the desired colour . Somehow I have Ipomea tricolour climbing up the sticks. There are some new seedlings as you can see in the photo so maybe there will be an alba otherwise I will have to start again next year. I am posting a photo of the one I saw in Pelio.
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A slightly clearer photo of the flower my wife posted about.
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Hi Charithea
Sorry to hear of your disappointment. Thought I ought to tell you of Oran's warning to me on this forum a few years ago. Ipomea indica is a thug! I have one in a pot and so I can keep it under control. If you have one in the ground it will take over. Rooting where stems touch the ground, it seems. If you have 2, then watch out! They could be a male and a female and then you are in for real trouble! I hope I have remembered correctly and this is not a false alarm but I would do some research , if I were you. It has certainly taken over most of the telegraph poles along the railway tracks into Naples,
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Oron's comments re Ipomea indica can be found here.
http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=2175.msg14803#msg14803
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Thank you for the information David. I re read Oron's reply and I will admit that I named it wrong. It should be Ipomoea tricolour. I don't know how the seed got into the pot. I will correct the name on the previous posting. We do have Ipomoea indica[/] climbing up a Jacaranda. We do see them climbing on hedges by the side of the high way but not many grow in the modern gardens. I got mine from my sister's friend (80+) who lives at the end of the road. She warned me of its habit but I love the colour. I had it in a pot until this spring when it suddenly died and then I removed the pot and a tiny one appeared underneath it. I took photos of the leaves of the same plant but they are different. I called John to make sure I had not made a mistake again. Different leaves same colour flowers.
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Here are some of my Ipomea growing up strings and sticks. I want to thank David Dickinson for sending me the seeds. The first that is in flower is the tough Ipomoea tricolour, I know the second one is Ipomoea hederofolia var. lutea, I have two growing in different areas of the garden. The other is Ipomea alba, All three are doing well. I don't know what the last one is as the label has faded in the bright sunlight. So David, what is the name of the last ipomoe?
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You have been luckier with your ipomoeas than I have, Charithea, Well done. I have had problems for the last 2 years. I'll answer your question first and then tell you my woes. The last ipomoea could be either I. tuberosa or I. tuberculata. The former has enormous seeds, even bigger than I. alba. I. tuberculata has similar sized spherical seeds similar to I. tricolor.
This year the problem was a very bad hail storm which smashed nearly all my seedlings within 5 minutes. Not only ipomoeas, I'm afraid, No Coreopsis tinctoria 'Mahogany midget' this year. No Linum grandiflorum rubrum either. Easily rectified with fresh seed next year but very frustrating! 1 I. alba has survived out of 10 germinated seeds, 1 I. hederifolia 'lutea', too. I should count myself lucky - 2 I. tricolor, red have made it through to the summer. And, apart from 1 new seedling (Mina lobata?) that is just emerging, that is it. I. tuberosa took a long time to do anything but did eventually produce long roots. No seed leaves ever appeared and then they rotted. I. tuberculata seeds are still sitting in the pot with no sign of life. Out of 15/20 I. quamoclit, not one survivor. All very disappointing. I still have a few I. alba seeds, so I will try to germinate a couple more and keep a few for next year too. Fingers crossed
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Thank you David. I am pleased with unknown Ipomoea as it is growing well. I have noticed that two more seedlings appeared in the pot. Whatever it is I will love it. I am sorry yours did do well this year. The seeds of Coreopsis and Linum grandiflorum rubrum sprouted for me, looked promising, grew for a while and then the heat killed them. I will experiment and put seeds down in the autumn like I do with Mediterranean plants and see.
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Seed collected from last years Mahogany Midget germinated well for me and have performed well again despite the heat that is seeing off many things. They are in a position that affords some shade in the middle of the day. Will make sure I collect seed again this year David and return some to their original donor. A delightful little plant 🙏
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Having been absent for some time due to trouble with my IPad I started to go through all the 'unread posts'. Unfortunately I was disturbed and had to leave it but was about to reply to some posts about Ipomea alba. Back this morning and I can no longer find the correct page.......so will post my comments here under Ipomea which seems a logical thing to do although I notice my last post under this heading was about Coreopsis🤔
Anyway.... Ipomea alba....... this year has been very disappointing and I put it down to the extreme temperatures we have had throughout the summer.
I start my saved seeds early in the house ready for planting out as soon as night temperatures allow. I find the vines have to be quite mature before flowers start forming and eventually opening. In order to enjoy them more I put them in a pot in a different position to one used previously. The plants grew strongly and some flowering shoots appeared but before reaching any size they dried up and withered away. Finally when I had almost given up hope one flower opened....but others on the same stem keeled over and came to nothing as they approached fruition. The position I chose this year for the plants was in a slightly hotter spot but with some shade during the hottest hours . This, coupled with the unrelenting heat we had this year from June onwards, was the reason for my disappointment I think. My best results came when the plants were in almost permanent light shade. Some new flowering stems are appearing now and temperatures have dropped considerably and so I am still hoping for the odd late bloom but next year they will be going back to their original position.
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Here is my Ipomoea tuberculata. Thank you David. It opened this morning. It would have flowered earlier if it had not been knocked about by my cats. Obviously it takes set backs in its stride. My Ipomoea alba is now full of buds. Watch this space. Thank you all for sending me the seeds.
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Well done. 99.9% of my seedlings were destroyed in a hailstorm in June this year. First by being shredded by the force of the ice and then by sitting covered by ice. I think I have sent this link before. This is of a hailstorm 2 or 3 years ago. It will give you an idea of what hailstorms in Rome can be like.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hailstorm+rome&docid=608055627093181678&mid=64D8BF10CD168B86DC5D64D8BF10CD168B86DC5D&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Then the drought hit. The dryness itself a problem but also causing the blackbirds to dig ever deeper into any pots that were watered. I also have the problem of fungus gnats which eat the roots of seedlings. They can be checked by adding Hydrogen peroxide to the soil at the time of planting the seeds - something I forgot to do.
https://www.completehomemaker.com/how-to-get-rid-of-fungus-gnats-with-hydrogen-peroxide/
My sister's seed sowing effort suffers from slug and snail infestation. Using insect cages this year eliminated that problem totally. I have invested in some. Primarily to keep the blackbirds out but when I saw how fine the mesh is, I think it will keep out fungus gnats too. Preventing them from reinfesting my pots? The cages are 2ft x 1ft x 1ft and have a transparent plastic top to let light in. I don't think they will withstand Rome hail though :-(
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As there have been some problems recently regarding posting photos, and even text, this is by way of being a test to see how prevalent it is. I chose a photo I took of the same Ipomoea tuberculata as my wife to be the test subject. Here goes.
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Seems to be one of those annoying intermittent glitches. If it continues we'll have to seek further advice as to possible ways of combatting it. I have received one suggestion that maybe could be investigated.
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I will try again now with my only ipomoea success story this year. First without photo.
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So far, so good. Text fine. Next try may not arrive as I intend to attach a photo. Fingers crossed.
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here is my Ipomoea alba with five flowers open simultaneously on a single plant last night. My only ipomoea success this year. All others died except one specimen of Ipomoea lutea. But that as yet to produce a single flower :-(
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Success :-) The glitch seems to have sorted itself out.
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So envious of those five flowers on your Ipomea alba David - bet the air was filled with their beautiful scent. All the buds on mine have failed to develop properly this year so far but am keeping my fingers crossed that one or two developing now will actually come to fruition.🤞
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I found a tuber of Ipomaea lindheimeri while weeding the area where they grow!
cheers
fermi
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David your Ipomoea alba look fantastic. Ours are getting ready to open. Up to now we have 4 buds. Sorry yours did not do well Carole. Our Ipomoea hederofolia var. lutea has also opened this morning. The flower is really small. The Ipomoea tuberculata is producing flowers daily. No seeds as yet. I intend to collect them and planted somewhere where their lovely flowers can be seen. Thank you both David and Carole for sharing the seeds. I will try and photograph the lutea.