Moonflower Night Magic

Moonflower (Ipomoea alba) looks like a white Morning Glory on steroids. This heat-loving annual vine is easily started from seed and grows like the wind. It blooms from June to frost in my zone 7b garden. The moonflower’s claim to fame is that the flowers open at dusk and release a faint perfume. The scent attracts night-flying moths and makes it a perfect plant to site near your patio, porch or nighttime entertaining areas. When morning sun arrives, the blooms collapse like parachutes. The flowers stay open later on overcast days.

A single vine will grow to 10-feet tall when provided with a trellis. They can also be allowed to scramble across the ground, but I prefer them to be at nose-level to better enjoy the fragrance. Do not fertilize or you will sacrifice blooms to leaf growth.  They rarely need supplemental irrigation. No need to deadhead, as the spent blooms shed naturally. Flowers can reach six-inches across. 

The accompanying photo shows a pair of vines grown on a 7-foot tower. When the plants start growing vigorously, I guide the soft stems horizontally around the tower so that the entire structure will be clothed with leaves rather than having them clustered at the top and naked near the bottom. Vines twine to climb so they will not damage walls or wooden posts with adhesive feet. 

Moonflower seeds are available in gardener centers and big box stores. The seeds are the size of peas, with a hard covering. I use a pair of nail clippers to snip a tiny hole of this hard shell and soak them in water overnight before planting. Use caution to avoid damaging the “eye” of the seed when snipping. This is where the first root, the radical, will emerge from the covering. The chip-and-soak procedure speeds germination. Start seeds about the same time you start tomato seeds. Any earlier is wasted effort, since the vines grow slowly until night temperatures are warm. Frost kills the tender vine, so it is a summertime pleasure only unless you live in frost-free zones, where they are perennial.

Unlike their Morning Glory cousins, Moonflowers are not invasive. Insects do not bother those grown on a trellis but I have seen evidence of slug nibbles on the vines allowed to trail across the ground.  Because of the large seed size, quick growth and large flowers, these vines are a great plant to start with children.

The overcast morning allowed a photograph before the blooms closed.

It's Four O'Clock Somewhere

There are a few flowers that bloom on a working person’s schedule. That is, they keep their petals closed in a tight nap during the normal 9-to-5 workday, then as you arrive home at the end of the day they decide to strut their stuff. One of my favorite night bloomers is the old-fashioned Four O’Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa).  The dime-sized blooms open late afternoon and will remain open until 10am or so. You can find these in solid colors (magenta, yellow, white, red) but my favorites are the “broken colors” with two colors of flowers on the same plant and sometimes even on the same bloom.

Four O’Clocks are easily started from seeds. The seeds are large, about the size of BB’s, and are toxic if eaten. During their first year, Four O’Clocks form an underground tuber similar to Dahlias. Freezing weather kills the plant but the tuber stays alive underground and will send up a new plant every year thereafter in Zones 7 and warmer. You should cut off the frost-dead stems at ground level before spring arrives.

If you notice the leaves becoming pale around mid-season, apply liquid fertilizer. They will green up again in a day or two. In the Mary Snoddy garden, the white variety always gets taller (48") than the other colors (28-36"). I’m not sure why. Occasionally a harsh thunderstorm knocks the plants over. When that happens, I use electric hedge trimmers to apply a serious pruning. The plants rebound and will be blooming again in two-three weeks.

The plants are heat and drought tolerant. They are happy in full sun or part sun. The flowers have a distinct pleasant fragrance, almost like soap. Best part of all: they are deer resistant and not troubled by diseases.