Ipomoea purpurea
Purple morning glory, purple bindweed, common morning glory: it was on this species that Gregor Mendel observed the transmission of flower colors before his famous pea experiments. Its purple corollas with lighter throats, widely opened in a funnel shape, are among the most generous of annual climbers—and renew themselves every morning for months.
Characteristics:
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Deep purple: large funnel-shaped corollas with paler throats, from July until the first frosts.
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Exuberant climber: reaching up to 3 meters in a single season, it quickly covers any support.
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Easy to grow: few plants provide such a striking effect with so little effort.
Precautions:
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Morning glory seeds are toxic if ingested: they contain alkaloids and must never be eaten. Keep them out of reach of children and pets.
- A frost-tender plant, grown as an annual in our climates. It self-seeds easily: pull out unwanted young plants in spring if you do not want it to spread.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: full sun, in a warm location sheltered from strong winds.
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Soil: rich, moist, loosened, and well drained. This plant is nutrient-hungry: adding compost or using enriched potting soil genuinely benefits it when grown in a container. Avoid soil that is too dry, as it significantly shortens its flowering period.
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Method: no stratification required. Its hard-coated seed benefits greatly from soaking for 12 to 24 hours in lukewarm water, or from light scarification. Sow in spring after the last frosts, 1 cm deep, directly in the ground or in pots. See how to sow your seeds.
Planting advice:
- Install the support before planting: trellis, pergola, fence, window frame, or stake. It twines by itself, but needs something to grasp from the first few weeks.
Care advice:
- Water regularly, especially when grown in a container, where it is particularly thirsty.
- Do not overfertilize with nitrogen: you will get a curtain of leaves without flowers.
Beneficial combinations:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its flowers, open from dawn, are a valuable morning resource for bumblebees, often among the first pollinators to become active.
- Its curtain of foliage provides shelter and a travel corridor for beneficial garden insects.
Uses:
- Trellises, pergolas, fences, balconies, window frames, and trailing containers. Perfect for quickly screening an overlooked view or disguising an unattractive wall.
Symbolism:
Like all morning glories, it symbolizes fleeting beauty and attachment: its twining stems, which wrap around their support, have made it an emblem of affectionate bonds.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Let a few flowers develop their round seed capsules, then harvest them when brown and dry, before they open. Be careful: morning glories of the same species cross-pollinate easily. Isolate your seed plants if you are also growing blue morning glory and want to preserve pure colors. See how to store your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, test them for germination rates, and carefully sort and package them without any chemical treatment. Our conviction: to give gardeners back the ability to reseed, year after year, with seeds that truly belong to them.
Cover a wall or fence in a single season with these purple morning glory seeds.
