The MGS Forum
Our gardens, a month-by-month pictorial diary of what's looking good now => Our Gardens => Topic started by: Umbrian on October 30, 2013, 08:14:35 AM
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Due to unseasonally low temperatures at sowing time my Ipomoea were slow to germinate and grow on this year. Now however I am reaping the benefit as they are still going strong - this time due to unseasonally warm temperatures especially at night. Yesterday I counted 12 blooms on one plant and an added bonus is they are no longer just "Morning Glories" - the flowers last all day and some are still making an effort on the following day.
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Do others have problems with Heavenly Blue? I grow it every year and have no problem germinating and getting healthy plants but I do sometimes have problems getting flowers. Last year I had thousands of flowers. This year there are some but not that many and they are very late. Two years ago I even put in a complaint to Thomson & Morgan as the plants had no flowers at all. Perhaps understandable in my exposed position but I gave a couple of seedlings to friends who ended up with huge plants but no flowers - on a West facing wall, watered every day - while other local morning glory in the same position were flowering their socks off. Is it all down to timing or is there something else I should know?
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Janet, We grow Heavenly Blue here in Sussex every year. It used to flower abundantly, on a sheltered fence or a wall, facing more or less north-east. But we have had very similar problems with very poor flowering (but abundant growth) in the last three years. Last year and the year before flowering was extremely disappointing. This year the spring here was late, cold and wet but summer was sunny and warm. Flowering was very late indeed, and rather poor. (We have also had problems in the early part of the season with poor leaf development and some whitened leaves - almost certainly cold, we checked that it was not nutritional.) Our seed comes from Kings.
Ipomoea 'Star of Yalta' (seed from T&M), smaller purple flowers, has in comparison been very reliably floriferous each year. And Ipomoea quamoclit pretty reliable too.
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As I said in my original post Alisdair, my Ipomoea were very late this year due to similar weather conditions to yours but once they started to flower they have been as prolific as usual. My seed came from " foursementi.it" - perhaps I had better send you and Janet some next year ? Perhaps you could do a trial and sow some from your normal source as well.....
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We'd love to try some from your source, Carole. In general we've been very impressed by Italian seed suppliers - at least of vegetables, tomatoes etc. We seem to get good germination, plus the bonus of far more seeds per packet than from at least some UK suppliers.
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Will try to remember at the appropriate time but if not I am sure you will remind me ::)