It Takes Some Effort

Every year I start with small seed pots and soak the hard white seed overnight in a wet towel in a ziplock and then headstart this plant.  Every year I plant this plant in pots on my deck. Every year I have to get them out when the nights are still cool because they need a long growing season and only really take off when the days and nights are warm. Not all of the seeds are viable or easy to germinate.  It is a tropical plant, of course. A friend of mine in Florida wondered if I could send her seeds and I research the plant and found it was classified as an invasive in Florida!

This plant only blooms at night! I have seen tiny ants, small flies, etc. that come in to pollinate.  It is probably pollinated by a night moth in its native home (Argentina to Mexico).   We had a wonderful hot and wet summer and this plant loved it.  It starts real blooms when 12 hour days begin much like our Chrysanthemum.

In the photo above I had to turn on the deck light to capture the detail. It is Ipomoea alba or a "tropical white morning glory."

Now the best part is that it has the most gentle, angelic, exotic fragrance. For those who live in a tropical climate, this may not sound like much, but for those of us who reside where fragrant flowers are iris, phlox and the rare rose, this is so dreamlike and a special reward.

They are only elegant for one night.  By the sun's early light they wilt like wet Kleenex.   They are agressive when in a large well fertilized pot.  The plant below was on its way down the deck to wrap around the kayak.