Ipomoea purpurea Star of Yelta - Morning Glory seeds

Ipomoea Star of Yelta, also known as Ipomoea volubilis Star of Yelta, is a flowering climber which is among the most beautiful and easiest to grow. In one season, it forms long stems loaded with fleshy buds that open into wonderful large flowers, dark purplish blue, highlighted by deep red radiating veins. Its silky trumpets play with the light and attract all eyes. It will form fantastic groundcover and cling to all available supports. This greedy but generous annual plant enjoys the sun, and loose, damp soil.

Ipomoea volubilis Star of Yelta, poetically named 'Morning Glory', is a very vigorous climbing plant from the family Convolvulaceae whose origins are lost in the tropical regions of America, probably in Mexico. Perennial with a tuberous stump, it is frost-sensitive and is grown as an annual. Its growth is very fast: it launches its long stems of 1.80m (6ft) to attack all the supports it finds within reach. The flowering is long and abundant, from July until the first frosts. Its dark purplish blue funnel-shaped corollas measure about 7 cm (3in) in diameter. They are adorned with dark red grooves radiating from the heart towards the outside of the flower. While these flowers close in the afternoon, they constantly renew themselves on the plant. The stems bear leaves from 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4in) ovate to cordiform, less commonly trilobed, of a medium green colour. Each plant produces about 100 pods filled with about 600 seeds, at the end of the season, before the first frosts.

This distant relative of the common bindweed does not withstand harsh winters. It thrives in any well-drained garden soil. Sow Ipomoea in a warm and sunny location to make the most of its flowering. You can associate it with other ephemeral climbing plants such as Sweet Peas or Climbing Nasturtiums. It voluptuously wraps itself around any support: trellis, pergola, balcony, grill, trees and shrubs... and if it doesn't find support, it will crawl along the ground. It is an ideal plant for hiding an old wall, a dead tree...