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Yeah, they'd be more aptly named "mourning glories". LOL You mourn the fact that you got them started! "Oh LOOK! I have no green thumb, yet I'm able to grow these gorgeous flowers!! (Glory)...."Damn, what the hell did I DO!? I can't get rid of these flowers and they're killing everything else!!" (mourning). hehe... Me thinks someone misspelled the name, eh? They confused "mourning" with "morning"!
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Morning glory is related to sweet potato. If you've ever grown sweet potato you know that you have to periodically lift the vines off the ground to prevent them from rooting at all the nodes in contact with dirt (otherwise you get lots of teeny-tiny, inedible, anemic sweet potatoes instead of a big one where you planted the slip). Morning glory is the same way. When it sends those tendrils across open ground it roots at all of the nodes. Very, very aggressive plant with Chuck Norris-like resiliency and a high degree of difficulty to kill. Merciless, thorough and ongoing treatment with RoundUp or a generic equivalent is probably the only way but if your infestation originates off-site it, like the terminator, will be back.
Also note that if your soil has a high clay content, RoundUp DOES have a persistent effect and it WILL kill everything in a radius of the treatment site for a couple of seasons or so. If that is the case, apply roundup to the leaves and vines with a brush.
It's irrational to harbor anger at a plant, but I have to indulge in irrationality when it comes to morning glory.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Debsi
I like morning glory. It's my birth flower (September.)
Somebody suggested it to me for a blank spot I have that gets a lot of sun in summer. Our harsh summers and icky heavy clayey soil have made it difficult for me to fill in plants everywhere I want them. So maybe I live in one of those states where they are a good idea..
Argh.. what can I grow in that spot that won't need a ton of care and won't ruin my life like the morning glory? I started with completely empty flower beds all around the house 4 years ago, with the exception of 3 beautiful hibiscus that are taller than I am. Novice gardener. I still have a ways to go to fill things in, but get an improvement in coverage percentage every year. I'm not too into annuals anymore and I'd like to get to where I have a lot of self-seeding & things that can survive the brutal hot summer without watering every single day. For instance, I got two different kinds of "free" flowers this year from annuals I bought last year. They just popped up! It was awesome.
Indian paint brush and some purple spiky flower I don't know the name of.
Other things that seem to love our soil/weather: rosemary, thyme, lantana,and I have a oleander bush.
I've also done well with knock-out roses in pots but not so much in the ground.
I don't get why local nurseries sell all kinds of plants that aren't well suited to our climate!! I think a lot of people must be willing/able to just pay gardeners to change all their plants every season.
Argh.. what can I grow in that spot that won't need a ton of care and won't ruin my life like the morning glory? I started with completely empty flower beds all around the house 4 years ago, with the exception of 3 beautiful hibiscus that are taller than I am. Novice gardener. I still have a ways to go to fill things in, but get an improvement in coverage percentage every year. I'm not too into annuals anymore and I'd like to get to where I have a lot of self-seeding & things that can survive the brutal hot summer without watering every single day. For instance, I got two different kinds of "free" flowers this year from annuals I bought last year. They just popped up! It was awesome.
Indian paint brush and some purple spiky flower I don't know the name of.
Other things that seem to love our soil/weather: rosemary, thyme, lantana,and I have a oleander bush.
I've also done well with knock-out roses in pots but not so much in the ground.
I don't get why local nurseries sell all kinds of plants that aren't well suited to our climate!! I think a lot of people must be willing/able to just pay gardeners to change all their plants every season.
Deb, you can go for Vinca Minor. It will grow just about anywhere. Also, try Calendula, California poppies, and Cosmos for easy annuals.
Morning glory is related to sweet potato. If you've ever grown sweet potato you know that you have to periodically lift the vines off the ground to prevent them from rooting at all the nodes in contact with dirt
Thanks for the advice!! I've seen vinca, that's a good idea.
I love my vinca! Periodically, I'll dig some up if it's getting too aggressive, but it transplants beautifully. You can also put it in pots and it will trail like crazy. Love it! It's not as hardy, but you can find it in a variagated form as well. Green & white variagated plants really brighten up a space. Another fairly aggressive (but worth its weight in gold in barren areas), is Yellow Archangel (Lamiastrum Galeobdolen) (sp?) It's another vine, but it gets beautiful yellow, sweetpea looking flowers. I actually have the two growing together under a shady area and the blue & yellow flowers are fabulous! The archangel leaves are green & silver.
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