>Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 08:35:08 -0400
>From: RONALDJ ROVANSEK <ROVANSEK.RONALDJ@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV>
>Subject: small red morning glory

>HUMNETters,
>My small red morning glories, as well as many of those that grow in
>Louisiana, are apparently ipomoea hederifolia, not I. coccinia, according
>to some information passed to me by David Muth. I hederifolia is not
>native to the US, although I. coccinia may be native to the southeast. I
>hederifolia has many three lobed leaves, which distinguishes it from its
>cousin, but otherwise they are similar and can be grown in the same
>way. Both are usually considered weeds and will probably be hard to
>find for sale.
>
>I planted my seeds directly in the ground here in NJ and they have done
>very well. They could also be started in pots, which might result in
earlier >flowering. As with cypress vine (I. qualmoclit, another non-native) my
>small red morning glories seem to grow best in the second half of the
>summer. They were not very impressive in mid-July and I thought I might
>not even get enough seed to plant next year, but in august they more
>than tripled in size, completely covering the shrubs on which they were
>growing and are now blooming profusely. By the way, all morning glories
>climb by twining, that is they wrap their stem around a support. For this
>they need supports smaller than about 3 inches in diameter such as
>strings, chain link fence, shrubs, etc. They cannot climb a wall, usually
>do poorly climbing a fence made of wide boards, and usually fail to climb
>tree trunks or telephone poles. they do best in full sun, but are not
picky
>about soil.
>
>Ron Rovansek
>
>