Morning Glories

This year I was shopping with Beth at Grey's Garden Center and came upon a display of Morning Glories. I grew one vine many years ago but haven't given them a try in many years. Grey's had a great selection, as Morning Glories have become very popular in the last few years. I finally decided on 3 varieties. At home I planted them down in the big garden, against the fencing we originally built for Sweet Peas. "Grandpa Ott" took off, but the other 2 were a bit slower to get climbing. I have since learned that "Grandpa Ott" is an early variety compared top most others. It started blooming over a month ago, and looks to be almost finished. The other 2 started blooming just within the last 10 days."Grandpa Ott" is a Bavarian heirloom, originally given to Diane Ott Whealy, a founder member of Seed Savers Exchange, by her grandfather Baptist John Ott in 1972. It has a small deep purple flower with a red star in its throat. It is a reliable self seeder and will climb to 15'.

The second variety I tried was "Heavenly Blue". This is the variety most people think of when they think of morning glories. It has 3" blooms of vibrant blue with a white throat. Its vines commonly reach 8-10" in height. It will reliably bloom until frost.

The third variety I tried was "Flying Saucers", a "sister" to "Heavenly Blue" . My vines have a white background with blue streaks radiating from the center. I have also had mostly white blooms. Researching this variety, I have concluded that it is a unstable sport of "Heavenly Blue" and bloom patterns can vary on any single vine. "Flying Saucers" has large 5" blooms and the vine can reach 15'.