Friday, October 12, 2007

Friday Flowers: Morning Glories


Becka was trying to describe some flowers she had seen in the neighbourhood recently and told me I had to take pictures of them for my Friday Flowers post. I couldn't envision the blue flowers she was talking about and eventually walked her route until I came across this extravagant display of Morning Glories growing over a wood fence. A number of bloggers have mentioned or pictured Morning Glories recently including Nina, Cathy and Kate. They are at their peak in the fall but will be done soon when we get a heavy frost. (We are overdue for our first frost!)

A Morning Glory bloom lasts only one day, but the vines are covered with buds ensuring a fresh display every day. I have never planted them but this is another flower I must try next year in my garden, perhaps on the trellis where my climbing roses are failing badly. We have plenty of fence space in our back yard and the flowers may attract hummingbirds.

Morning Glories and Sweet Potatoes are from the same genus, Ipomoea of the family Convolvulaceae, and their blooms are very similar. Bindweed, which is a locally common wildflower, also belongs to the same plant family. The picture of the Sweet Potato flower above is from Wikipedia.

Thinking of Sweet Potatoes made me hungry so I sliced some into sticks and made baked potato fries for supper. I will post the easy recipe in Come Home For Supper.

17 comments:

  1. I say you should plant some in the garden...

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  2. Morning Glories are very ... glorious ... but you have to make sure that you really like them because they tend to keep coming back ... year after year.

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  3. I love morning glories... just looking at them makes me smile. :c)

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  4. Anonymous3:20 pm GMT-4

    I remember in Kitchener I planted morning glories and they climbed the house wall with the help of the telephone cable. In September our phone failed. The lineman was quite annoyed when he discovered the cause was my beautiful display of the flowers. Keep clear of lines.
    Mexico Mom

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  5. Nice looking Morning Glories! I like Sweet Potato fries too, but only if they're thick sliced.

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  6. Love the electric blue in your photos.
    I once had a boyfriend who never failed to greet me--Morning, glory. Seen any rain, dear!

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  7. I like the blue morning glories the best. I wish I had a place to plant them where it wouldn't matter if they took over the entire garden. As Anvilcloud says, they're pretty, but persistent.

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  8. Wonderful shade of blue!

    Sorry to hear about Dakota's troubles. Hope the medicine helps him to feel much better.

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  9. I'm surprised you still have morning glories, Ruth. They certainly are beautiful. My morning glories gave up the ghost a few weeks ago.

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  10. Anonymous6:58 am GMT-4

    Pretty blue! And yummy taters... I'm so making them for supper tonight!

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  11. Gorgeous! I only ever remember seeing morning glories in Malaysia when I was a little girl. I wonder if they would grow here where the weather is so dry?

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  12. Love your Morning Glory's and also love sweet potatoes!

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  13. Becka- OK, you buy the seeds...

    AC- I take it that they reseed readily. My garden is quite random and anything that comes up on its own in our poor sandy soil is welcome!

    Jayne- They are a happy flower.

    Mom- I don't remember the morning glories at home. But then, I didn't pay much attention to your gardening efforts. Typical teenager i guess.

    Larry- I have seen precut sweet potato sticks in bags at Costco. Too expensive! Cheaper to cut your own to the thickness you like best.

    KGMom- And what happened to that boyfriend? ;-) Did he drive you crazy?

    RuthieJ- I saw one vine with pink flowers but they were pretty tattered for a macro picture. Blue flowers are not all that common.

    Laura- Thanks...the medicine does seem to be helping.

    MaryC- In the north, they seem to be at their peak right now. I wonder if yours are perennial and are just taking a rest?

    Jennifer- The fries make a good fall supper for sure.

    Ginger- There are so many types of Morning Glories, probably some do well in Malaysia's humidity and some others suit our drier weather.

    Monarch- I hated sweet potatoes as a child, but love them now.

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  14. Ruth, your Morning Glories are glorious! They are on my list for my young garden. Beautiful! And, those fries are making me salivate

    Autumn has arrived here - overnight. From 93 to 65. T-shirts to coats in 24 hours.

    Your photos show the chill.

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  15. Mary- That is a big change in temperature for you, and most welcome I am sure.

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  16. These are my favourite Morning Glories - I just wish that they lasted longer here. As soon as we get our first frost, the Morning Glories disappear. Mine usually don't get this thick and glorious!

    In some places, Morning Glories are banned (Arizona for example).

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  17. Kate- Morning Glories must be very invasive, especially if there are not frosts to keep them in check. We still have had no frost!!! and today (Oct 22) it was 25C, so the blooms continue.

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