Ipomoea tricolor - Morning Glory Flying Saucers Seeds

Ipomoea tricolor 'Flying Saucers' is a popular heirloom variety that features spectacular blue and white striped flowers surrounding lemon yellow throats. In one season, it sends out long, twining stems loaded with buds that burst into bloom against mid-green foliage. Morning Glory is ideal for ground covers or airy displays when grown up a support. It thrives in a warm, sunny, sheltered position in loose, cool soil.

Ipomoea tricolor, poetically named Morning Glory, is a very vigorous perennial climber that belongs to the Convolvulaceae family. It is native to tropical America, probably Mexico. This tuberous rooted plant is not cold-hardy and is often treated as an annual in colder climates. 'Flying Saucers' produces 2 to 2.50 m long, twining stems that are quick to scramble up nearby supports. From July until the first frosts, it produces an abundance of saucer-shaped corollas, each measuring over 7 cm in diameter. Silky-smooth to the touch, they display striped sky blue and white petals with a yellow-white throat. Each flower is unique. Although the delicate blooms open and close in the space of day, they are constantly replaced on the plant. The stems bear 5 to 10 cm, oval to heart-shaped leaves, occasionally three-lobed. Their mid green colour and satin-like sheen really sets off the brightly coloured blooms. Each plant produces about 100 seed pods, i. e. about 600 seeds at the end of the growing season, before the first frosts.

Ipomoea is a distant cousin of common bindweed. Although it is distinctly less cold-hardy, it is such an enthusiastic grower that it makes an excellent annual. It thrives in any well-drained garden soil in a warm, sheltered position. It combines well with other short-lived climbers such as sweet peas or nasturtiums. It eagerly scrambles over trellises, pergolas, arches, balcony railings, trees, shrubs and even other vines such as clematis and wisteria. If it can't find a support, it can be left to roam free on the ground. Morning Glory is ideal for hiding unsightly walls or dead trees. In milder climates, it self-seeds easily.