6 Types of Morning Glory Flowers

Flowers - The name morning glory comes from their habit of blooming at dawn. The flowers open when the sun rises and begin to fade when the sun sets. But a few flowers often stay open all night, so sometimes you can have a morning glory bloom all night.

Morning glory flowers grow wild in fields or backyards. In early spring, the seeds from previous years germinate. The plants grow quickly, and in a few weeks the old flowers are replaced with new ones.

If you grow your own morning glories, you don't have to wait for the seeds to germinate. You can grow them indoors too. Just trim the growing tips of the stem to half an inch above the ground, and plant the cutting in a sunny window. Morning glories like to be watered often, and will keep growing until frost.

Morning glories are very hard to kill. They grow vigorously from seeds that blow in from fields and gardens, and they last for years. If you have some morning glories, you can cut the leaves back in the fall and keep them inside.

Types of Morning Glory Flowers

Here is the list of the best Types of Morning Glory Flowers that can brighten any yard with their stunning appearance. Pick the best one out!

Heavenly Blue

Botanical Name: Ipomoea tricolor

Heavenly BlueHeavenly blue is an attractive perennial vine, and grows 3 to 6 feet tall. The foliage is dark green and comes to a rounded point. The leaves are smaller than those of morning glory, growing only 1 to 2 inches long. The flowers are 3⁄4 to 1 inch long, and come in white or yellow, with a darker blue center. The flowers are followed by small round black fruit, which turns brown when it matures. The flowers bloom from June through August.

Growing heavenly blue is easy. Plant the seeds after the last spring frost, and thin the seedlings when they are 2 inches high. Heavenly blue will grow in full sun or partial shade, and will tolerate dry conditions. The plants will do best in average, well-drained soil.

Heavenly blue flowers attract butterflies to your garden. The plant attracts hummingbirds, too, but the flowers do close up quickly when disturbed, which you may not like if you are trying to attract hummingbirds.

Although the plant is annual, you can grow it year after year. Cut back the foliage after it has finished blooming, and plant new seeds in the fall.

Moonflower

Botanical Name: Ipomoea alba

The Ipomoea alba plant is grown for its flowers, which emerge during the night and close before sunrise. It is cultivated for its nocturnal blooming habit, and for its use in window boxes, hanging baskets, and as a garden ornamental.

The flowers of the Ipomoea alba plant are whiter than typical morning glory flowers. They also last longer. The flowers are often purplish-red, violet, or lavender.

The Ipomoea alba plant produces seeds that germinate when exposed to light but are not harmed by sunlight. Ipomoea alba seeds do not require pre-germinating. Ipomoea alba seed is sold commercially, and is sometimes used in aquariums. The plant's seeds, flowers, and seeds are edible.

The Ipomoea alba plant is native to tropical America, and was introduced to Europe in 1743. It is grown commercially as a bedding plant.

The plant is cultivated in hanging baskets, window boxes, and patio containers. It is a popular annual plant for container gardens.

Cardinal Climber

Botanical Name: Ipomoea quamoclit

The crown, or summit, of the cardinal climber is rather large, and is carried erect, by which it may be distinguished from all other climbing plants. The leaves of the cardinal climber are large and broad, and arranged alternately; they are pointed at the top, and have a wavy margin. The flowers of the cardinal climber are also large, and in clusters, about six in number, each flower of the cluster being on a short stalk. The flowers of the cardinal climber are scarlet, or white, and are in a kind of raceme, or umbel. The flowers of the cardinal climber are numerous, and cover the vine in midsummer.

The cardinal climber is a climbing plant, which climbs by twining, and appears upon any surface, whether it be a wall, fence, railing, or tree. The cardinal climbers are generally planted in the spring, in beds or borders, and in a sunny position. The cardinal climber is hardy, and will thrive in any soil. The cardinal climber grows best when cultivated in a rich soil, and in a dry location.

The cardinal climber is propagated by seed, and is occasionally cultivated by cuttings.

The cardinal climber is valued as a garden plant, because it is a beautiful, and healthful plant, and is also valuable as a house plant, because of its beauty. The cardinal climber attracts hummingbirds, which are attracted to the scarlet flowers. The cardinal climber is of benefit to the house fly, and the spider. The cardinal climber is of value as a bee plant, because of the scarlet flowers,

Scarlett O’Hara

Botanical Name: Ipomoea nil

Scarlett O’Hara is named after the character in the popular Civil War novel Gone with the Wind. It’s one of the newer members of the morning glories family: members of the morning glory family have large, showy flowers that open in the morning and close at night.

Scarlet O’Hara has large, heart-shaped leaves. The leaves grow up to 10 inches long and 2 inches wide. The leaves are dark green on top, and silvery underneath.  Scarlet O’Hara is a fast-growing climbing vine. It can climb up anything, even over trees.

Scarlet O’Hara grows best in full sun. It grows best in moist, rich soil, and it doesn’t like to be transplanted. When it gets too hot, it droops and stops blooming. It’s cool weather plant, so it gets more sun when winter comes.

Crimson Rambler

Botanical Name: Ipomoea purpurea

Ipomoea purpurea, aka Crimson Rambler, is a Mexican native of the morning glory family. The Latin name for it is Ipomoea muricata, meaning "wild morning glory." The common name is a reference to its familiar shape, which reminds me of a rambler's cap.

The flowers are edible, which is one reason they grow so abundantly in Mexican fields. The petals can be eaten raw, but they are rather bitter. The plants are also used to make Mexican coffee, a mixture of the brewed leaves and the beans.

The flowers are very attractive, and the foliage is attractive as well: it has small, pink-tinged leaves. The foliage can be dried and used as a potpourri or dried and mixed with flour and baked into cookies.

Growing your own morning glories from seed is easy. Seeds are cheap and easy to find. Simply plant the seeds directly in the garden in early spring, and you should be rewarded with flowers and foliage in 3-4 months.

Morning glories grow best in rich, moist soil. Keep the soil evenly moist until new growth appears, and then water when the soil feels dry. Morning glories have shallow roots, so care should be taken not to overwater.

Morning glories should be spaced 4-6 inches apart. A trellis or fence with a sturdy top will make it easy for climbing plants to reach even the tallest flowers. Morning glories can be trained along a fence or trellis, or they can be allowed to ramble on the ground.

Rivea Corymbosa

Botanical Name: Ipomoea corymbosa

If you climb the stairs to Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and look down on the huge rose window, you probably won't notice that the flowers are purple. But look again. The petals are white, the center is green, and there is a black mark on the outside of each petal.

All flowers have stigmas, but the stigmas of purple flowers have five distinct features. One is a black dot, another is a darker spot, another is a lighter spot, and the other two are tiny pits. In every flower, these five features are arranged so that if you line up the stigmas, their centers are in the same place, and all five black dots are exactly lined up. The flowers of Rivea corymbosa (Ipomoea corymbosa), like most flowers, have stigmas that look like this.

But there is another kind of stigma that flowers use, and they use it differently. It doesn't have a black dot, and doesn't have a black dot and a spot. Instead, the stigma has only four distinct features, arranged differently.

The stigma of Rivea corymbosa is like this. Instead of a dot, it has three spots, one dark, one lighter, and one in between. Instead of a dot, it has two pits. Instead of lining up, the dots are offset. The flowers of Rivea corymbosa (Ipomoea corymbosa), like most flowers, have stigmas that look like this.

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