Morning glories are a versatile species for the desert

Advertisement

Hot weather favors the development of turfgrass diseases. Now is an optimum time for lawn diseases common in our area to begin or continue in full swing.

Some of this has to do with keeping the lawn moist when it gets dark. You don't want to do that. You want the lawn to go to bed dry, particularly the dead, thatchy layer next to the soil. So water early in the morning so the lawn has a chance to dry out before night.

Question: I have a beautiful morning glory vine winding around a dead tree trunk. The vine is healthy with scads of blooms. The problem is that of the two colors I planted, only the rose-colored one blooms, while the other, which is blue with red veins, does not. It only opens enough for the color to show. The plants are in full sun all day. I water every day. Afternoon sun causes it to wilt, but when sun goes down, it revives.

Answer: You just opened a Pandora's Box of a question. Morning glories are called morning glories because they bloom typically in the morning and the flowers close as the day progresses. The fact that it wilts in midday tells you it needs to be in partial shade or on the east side, or it will perform best in spring and fall, while struggling in the summer.

It also tells you that they probably will perform best if planted into amended soils with lots of compost. The compost-amended soil will hold more water, encourage a healthier plant to grow and handle the heat better.

We could go on for pages about morning glories, but let's cover a few of the basics. Morning glories cover a wide range of species that include the sweet potato (which also is a beautiful plant indoors, as well as outdoors) and then the scads of morning glories we use as flowers. Some are perennial and some are annual. Some form bushes, some crawl, some climb.

They cross pollinate easily, so there literally are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of different kinds and flower colors. Many love a Mediterranean climate, which is similar to ours. Some are heat tolerant, some are not. Some like full sun. Some do not. Some, like the white moonflower, bloom at night with a great fragrance.

Hummingbirds love the brightly colored ones, particularly red. Some bloom heavy one year, and the same seed planted the next year blooms light. Some need to be planted in part shade, and some can handle full sun. They all love fertilizer and water, but really do not use that much water considering the area they cover and the beauty they bring to a landscape.

Since my experience with these beautiful plants is limited, I would have to bow to our local experienced gardeners who have experimented with different varieties to make specific recommendations on which ones do best here.

Growing morning glories can be a hobby in itself. I would recommend that you might try varieties called Heavenly Blue, Royal Ensign, Grandpa Otts, and I could go on. Put them in a spot where they will be showy and where people congregate or entrances to a landscape. The right one certainly will make a statement.

Two precautions about morning glories. First, they can heavily seed, and they may spread to wherever there is water available. Secondly, without saying too much, there are certain plant parts that can be used for illegal drugs. There are some very curious kids out there, and adults as well, who may find an unusual interest in your plants.

Q: This is the third season we have had our cape honeysuckle vines, and we always have had a profusion of flowers. However, after this winter, although our vines survived nicely -- lots of green, new shoots -- we have no orange flowers. Is there anything we can do to get these to flower? We miss the hummingbirds.

A: Cut back on water (just reduce, not stop) and fertilizer until you see flowers. From your description, I am guessing they survived, but may have had some cold damage and dieback. What most people would do is, after seeing some winter damage, fertilize the plant to help its recovery.

What the plant has sensed, if you can call it that, is that the roots are not in balance with the top, which is now smaller in size. The plant, sensing that the roots are not in balance with the top, sends more energy and signals to put on new growth at the expense of flowers. It will begin to flower again when the roots and top get back into closer balance.

If fertilizer is applied, particularly nitrogen fertilizer, this also will encourage leaf and stem growth at the expense of flowering. To make this story a bit shorter, wait. It will flower again as soon as the top growth re-establishes itself in relation to the existing roots. The plant does not need your help to get it flowering again, but I am sure it appreciates your concern.

Bob Morris is an associate professor with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.