How to Grow Morning Glories: The Complete Morning Glory Flower Guide

Two delicate vivid blue and pink flowers of morning glory plant in a a garden in a sunny summer garden, outdoor floral background photographed with soft focus
Photo Credit
Cristina Ionescu/Shutterstock
Botanical Name
Ipomoea tricolor, I. purpurea
Plant Type
Flower
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Soil pH
Neutral
Bloom Time
Summer
Fall
Flower Color
Blue
Pink
Purple
Red
White
Hardiness Zone
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Special Features
Attracts Butterflies
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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Morning Glory Flowers

Catherine Boeckmann

Want to grow morning glories? This plant, with its romantic tendrils and trumpet-shaped flowers, is beloved by butterflies and hummingbirds. It’s often mistaken for a perennial weed with the same name. Learn how to plant and grow morning glory flowers!

About Morning Glories

NOTE: This guide is NOT about the perennial weed that shares the common name of “morning glory.” That plant is classified as a noxious weed in many states. Read more below. 

Morning glories are tender annuals, so they are sensitive to cool temperatures and late frosts. They bloom from early summer to the first frost of fall. 

Their fragrant, colorful flowers come in pink, purple-blue, magenta, or white colors. Pollinators love Morning Glories’ trumpet-shaped blooms.

Train twining morning glory vines over a pergola or arch, or use them as a dense groundcover. This drought-tolerant plant grows quickly—up to 10 feet in one season—and can self-seed fairly easily. Because of this, you’ll want to choose where you put this plant wisely! Otherwise, you may have more morning glories than you bargained for.

Warning: All , especially in large quantities. Keep them out of reach of children and pets.

Annual Versus Perennial Morning Glories

The attractive annual morning glory (Ipomoea spp.) is often mistaken for its perennial cousin, field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), a very troublesome, invasive weed native to Europe and Asia. 

Field bindweed—also called “perennial morning glory” or “creeping jenny”—grows similarly to our annual morning glory but sends out deep, deep roots (), which make it very difficult to get rid of and allow it to overwinter in areas where cultivated morning glories could not. 

To tell the difference between the plants, look closely at the leaves, flowers, and vines:

  • The leaves of the annual morning glory are heart-shaped and large (2 or more inches across). Field bindweed leaves are shaped more like an arrowhead and smaller. 
  • Annual morning glory flowers may be pink, white, magenta, blue, purple, or red. Field bindweed flowers only occur in either pink or white, and blooms are much smaller than annual morning glory.
  • Morning glory vines are usually thicker than bindweed vines and typically have small hairs.

In any case, if you come across a plant in your garden that resembles Morning Glory and you know you didn’t plant it, it’s best to err on the side of caution and treat it as a weed. 

Read Next

Planting

Choose a sunny spot. Plant in moderately fertile, well-draining soil to encourage good foliage growth followed by plenty of flowers.

Finally, choose a location that is sheltered from strong, drying winds. Give them a fence, lattice, or trellis to climb up so that vines don’t crowd out other ground-level plants.

When to Plant Morning Glories

  • Sow seeds as early as possible after the danger of frost is over.

Purple Morning Glories

How to Plant Morning Glories

  • Germination rates are improved by filing down the seeds just enough to break the outer coat and then soaking them for 24 hours before planting. This encourages them to send out a root (it looks like a little worm). 
  • Cover lightly with 1/4-inch of soil. Space seeds about 6 inches apart.
  • Water thoroughly at planting.
  • Seedlings should appear in about a week; some seeds may be stubborn and take 2 or 3 weeks to sprout.

Growing

  • Apply a balanced liquid fertilizer after planting. Do not over-fertilize, or the vine may grow more foliage than flowers.
  • Support this climbing plant with structures like trellises, pergolas, or arches.
    • Tip: Morning glories climb by twining their vines around a support, so make sure that whichever type of structure you grow them against has plenty of space for whorling! 
  • Morning glories are low maintenance; just be sure to water during particularly dry periods.
  • Mulch to retain moisture and suppress weeds.
  • If you don’t want the plant to reseed itself, pinch off old flowers before they turn into seedpods. This can also encourage the plant to keep producing more flowers. 

Purple morning glory vining over a wooden fence

Types

  • ‘Heavenly Blue’ are the classic morning glories with rich azure (blue) flowers and white throats. These plants climb to 12 feet.
  • ‘Sٳ ’H’ has bright red flowers with a white throat. It climbs to 15 feet.
  • Here are more recommended morning glory varieties!
'Heavenly Blue' morning glory. Photo by Heike Loechel/Wikimedia Commons.
‘Heavenly Blue’ morning glory. Photo by Heike Loechel/Wikimedia Commons.
Gardening Products

Wit and Wisdom

growing morning glories inforgraphic

Pests/Diseases

Morning glories are fast-growing and are rarely bothered by pests or diseases to a significant extent.

Morning Glory Pests and Diseases
Pest/DiseaseTypeSymptomsControl/Prevention
AphidsInsectMisshapen/yellow leaves; distorted flowers; leaf drop; sticky “honeydew” (excretion) on leaves; sooty, black moldKnock off with water spray; apply insecticidal soap; inspect new plants carefully; use slow-release fertilizers; avoid excess nitrogen; encourage aphid predators such as lacewings, ladybugs, spiders
Fusarium wiltFungusPlants wilt (sometimes one-sided) in daytime; later, entire plant wilts/dies; stunting; yellow leaves; poor flowering; roots rot; stem cross-section reveals brown discolorationDestroy infected plants/ roots/surrounding soil (do not compost); remove plant debris regularly; disinfect tools; resistant varieties; avoid excess nitrogen; in acidic soils, raise pH to 7.0; weed; 3- to 5-year rotation
Leaf minersInsectMeandering blisters in leaves caused by tunneling larvaeRemove infested leaves; weed; use row covers; till soil early in season; rotate plantings
Leaf spot (fungal)FungusVaries; leaf spots on lower leaves enlarge and turn brown/black; fuzzy growth or pustules in lesions; disease progresses upward; leaves dieDestroy infected leaves/ severely infected plants (do not compost); remove plant debris regularly; disinfect tools; resistant varieties; good air circulation; avoid overhead watering
RustFungusVaries; orange pustules on undersides of lower leaves/stems; spots on upper leaf surfaces; foliage distorts/ dies/drops; stunting; poor flowering; plants weakenedDestroy infected parts/severely diseased plants; remove plant debris regularly; disinfect tools; resistant varieties; good air circulation; avoid overhead watering; weed
Flowers
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s found each other. She leads digital content for the website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

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Comments

luv2liv4them (not verified)

8 years 1 month ago

So I live about 30 miles west of Chicago in zone 5. I bought a house during the summer 8 years ago that had beautiful morning glorious growing all along the back fence. I know they are annuals in my zone so I was sad to see them die off in the winter. But then to my surprise they came back! They have been coming every year bigger and better. I've tried to plant other varieties in the yard but those die off in winter and never come back. Any thoughts about how these special mg's keep surviving the harsh chicago winters?

VICTOR GIRARDI (not verified)

8 years 2 months ago

if i bring my potted morning glory plant inside before the frost, will it live and grow inside as a "house plant" ?

SANDY MILLER (not verified)

7 years 8 months ago

having mg in pots outdoors? what about inside house? how deep do the roots grow?

Gary Hurd (not verified)

8 years 2 months ago

Do Morning Glory plants need to be cut back during winter months or just let them go?

Hi Gary,

Morning glories are annuals so they actually die at the end of the growing season, which means they don’t need cutting back. Letting them linger late into the fall gives them time to set seed before you remove the dead foliage.

Campsie (not verified)

8 years 3 months ago

I have no flowers on my healthy, leafy morning glory vines. I wonder if something was done genetically to the seeds to deflower them. The flowers have hallucinogenic properties and I think something was done to the package I bought so they dont flower. My husband says I am silly to think this, but I do.

I live close to the NY-Penn border. My vines just naturally re-grow each year. Mine started late. We had a moist early spring and then went towards drought. I grow four clusters on my south facing sun room and they grow from the ground to my roof. I count the blossoms most days and did note the count was lower this tear with only a few days reaching 100 blooms. Because of our drought, I watered them once or twice a week or when I saw them wilting in the hot sun. they are drying out now, only 9 blossoms today. Some rust hit in mid season, but only slowed things a little bit. I'm harvesting seeds for my sister now to send to Raleigh, NC.

Hi, Campsie, The morning glories’ failure to bloom is not nearly that‚ er, complicated: Morning glories do not like too rich soil or too intense heat. It’s most likely that the heat did in the blooms on your plants. We had similar experiences here in New Hampshire and Massachuetts‚ and no doubt many other places…including Canada; see below.

Better luck next season!

I just read a post about morning glories not blooming this year. I have successfully planted and enjoyed my plants for years. I have done nothing different and honestly can't remember when they bloomed in the past but I am sure it was much earlier in the summer. I am from Windsor Ontario Canada and wonder if the barn burning summer we are having has anything to do with my healthy fully developed vines that are producing no flowers. Any advise or insight would be appreciated.

Hi, Cathy, You’re on the right track. Morning glories do not like too rich soil or too intense heat. At least one of your editors had a similar situation—thriving foliage but no flowers. It was a disappointment here, too.

Better luck next season!