Morning glory
Fleeting beauty, persistent nuisance, poetic charm
Unique charm
Morning glory is September birth flower with a unique charm. They are fleeting beauty with each vibrant delicate blooms opening in the morning and closing by late afternoon. But the plant itself has a long blooming season lasting until the first frost because of constant production of new blooms.
Blue or purple morning glories can turn pink within a day due to lower pH in the flower cells caused by cooler temperatures and reduced light. Anthocyanins produce red, pink, blue, or purple hues depending on the pH level. Interestingly, naturally pink morning glories typically don’t change to blue or purple.
Floral fence
Morning glories are part of my summer memories growing up. Our tiny yard’s fence would turn into a floral wall, covered with vibrant pink, purple, and sky-blue blooms. In fall, we’d collect the dried seed pods, sort them by color, and store them in labeled pill bottles. We had unique varieties, and neighbors often traded their plant seeds for our morning glories.
Nuisance
I wanted the same floral wall in my yard, so I sowed morning glory seeds in a variety of colors. When the neighbor saw the sprouts, they asked, "Are they morning glories?" I said yes and excitedly shared my fond memories, but was a bit surprised by their concerned look. Later, I learned they were worried the vines might overgrow the fence and strangle their 25-year-old climbing roses.
Not wanting to risk harming those roses, which held many family stories, I moved my morning glories to a corner of the yard and kept them carefully pruned and deadheaded. They didn’t bloom much due to insufficient sunlight. I didn’t grow morning glories the next year and removed any self-seeded sprouts to prevent them from spreading into the neighbor’s garden.
Twisting Vines
The genus Ipomoea is the largest in the morning glory family, with over 500 species. Native to Mexico and Central America, it has spread across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. The name Ipomoea comes from Greek words meaning "worm-like," referring to its twisting vines.
Admiration
The use of morning glory dates back more than 3,000 years in Mesoamerica, where people used the juice of white morning glory ( Ipomoea alba) mixed with latex from rubber trees to create early rubber products, like balls used for the sacred ball game in religious ceremonies. The sulfur in the juice made the rubber more elastic and durable.
Morning glories symbolize peace, love, and affection in Asian cultures.
In China, morning glories are also called trumpet flowers due to their shape. The use of their seeds as a laxative dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Yang Wan-li, a prominent 13th-century poet, wrote a poem about morning glories, amused by their color-changing petals and vigorous vines.
Introduced from China to Japan in the 8th century as an herb, morning glories (Japanese: Asagao) gained cultural significance, especially during the Edo period (1603-1868) when they became popular ornamental flowers. The Iriya Asagao Festival, held in early July, is one of the largest festivals celebrating morning glories. Chiyo-ni, a Japanese female poet from the Edo period, also expressed her affection for morning glories in her haiku.
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My neighbour is the dreaded 'council' and they don't care about their trees causing a nuisance so I'm left to manage them myself.
If only you was my neighbour, you'd have those suckers pruned and shaped in no time 🫶
Wonderful writing as always. I’ve never been able to grow morning glories very well. Isn’t it funny how certain things do well in some yards and not others? And I think you know by now that I love your graphics and I actually sit here and study them.