Good Morning, it's Moon time! Okay. The next full moon isn't until next week, but I meant Moons in the garden.
Ipomoea alba
♪ ♬ ♩ ♫ when the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie... ♪ ♬ ♩ ♫
Phases of the moon:
Full Moon Rising
Moonflowers have become a regular vine growing in my summer garden. Their flowers are as big as a pizza (well, a personal pan pizza size) and when blooming, the scent really can send you into straight over the edge to bliss.
I live in the northeast, so I admittedly cheat and buy plants already with a good start from my local garden center. They don't stock a LOT of these vines, but they do stock them regularly every year. Must be that me and a few others in my area are die-hard moonflower nuts!
Once planted and the heat of summer hits us, the vines really do take off. They can grow between 6" to a foot every day! They will grow especially quickly once you train them up onto something. And once buds begin to form, they will bloom and their heavenly scent will waft daily through your garden as dusk falls.
Above took about 20 minutes for the bud to burst fully open. I've seen flowers open more quickly - and have noticed it does depend on humidity level and temperature.
This year I went a bit moon loony and planted them in several spots throughout my yard. The one I have growing over the back arbor trellis seems to be doing the best, with buds and flowers erupting earlier than all other vines. It gets morning sun, but not the full strength since the house blocks some of it. Then in the height of the noon sun, it wilts, but not from lack of water, but from the direct sun hitting it. As the sun moves over, turgidity resumes.
My experiment last winter to bring in plants grown in pots to see if I could overwinter failed - l think because I forgot to water them regularly so the roots wouldn't dry out completely. oops! But since I've successfully overwintered other tropical vines like passion flower and mandevilla, I believe I can do the same with a moonflower vine so I can get an even earlier head start with blooms come the next growing season. We'll see what happens this winter. The flowers photographed in this diary is a plant that I am currently growing in a very large plastic pot buttressed up against the arbor trellis.
When the sun comes up
and as the moon wanes,
passion still arises...
Passiflora sanguinolenta Are you influenced by the moon? What's going on in your garden?
Source: Saturday Morning Garden Blogging - Vol 11.22: That's Amore!
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