Morning glory

I plant morning glory every year. Always in the same spot, always the same variety – Heavenly Blue. I forget about it after I plant it, it is slow to start in spring and its foliage gets lost in the jumble when the mid-summer growth takes over the flower beds.

Come August, its growth accelerates enthusiastically, especially if summer rains have been plentiful, and it swallows up its supports, clambering eagerly to the highest point it can find, and only there it starts to bloom.

In my case the highest point is a pine bough that hangs above the trellis, just within reach of the springy vines. The image of this pine covered in huge blue flowers is surreal and I wouldn't dream of missing it by planting my beloved anywhere else.

Because of its name people think that morning glory flowers only open during the first hours of the day, but that is not true. When the sky is overcast, like today, they stay open all day long, the plant just doesn't like crude sun rays burning its delicate corollas.

Morning glory is not like other flowers, that take a long time to develop their buds into flowers and build up your anticipation over days, sometimes weeks. You just walk in your garden one bright morning to find its corner covered by a veil of huge blooms, all opening at the same time to dazzle you with sparkling jewel hues.

It starts blooming at the beginning of fall and doesn't stop until the first frost. Morning glory is very sensitive to cold; when you plant the seeds in spring make sure they don't sprout until after the date of the last frost, because the plant will not recover from being exposed to it.