morning glories ate my gazebo

[eks6426]

As many of you remember from spring, my husband and I installed our own granite patio on which we place a metal gazebo. I planted 6 morning glories and 4 moon flower vines around Memorial Day. And this is what happened---the vines ate the gazebo. Well, not literally--it''s still there, but completely covered.

 

[eks6426]

Here''s a view from the back of the yard.

 

[FireGoddess]

I love that. When it blooms that thing will be a page straight out of Martha Stewart Living. Seriously. Years ago I had an issue and ripped out the page of this GORGEOUS backyard barn whose roof was COVERED in morning glories. It was stunning.

How did you plant them so they climbed up and ate the roof like that?

 

[belle]

now that''s some instant shade! has it bloomed yet?

 

[Cind11]

That Is sooo cool-I''d love to have that in my backyard!

 

[Sundial]

I remember your backyard project. That looks amazing! I live in the desert and we can never get anything to grow that fast!!!

 

[CaptAubrey]

Oh man, even though they are very pretty when blooming, morning glory is the devil''s vine. That stuff will take over everything if you let it get established. My next-door neighbor has let his take over the whole side of his yard that shares a fence with mine, and I am forever ripping out the runners that come over/around/through the fence. Every now and then one of them sneaks in where I don''t see it, and it just gets into whatever it finds--tree, bush or whatever--and fills it up in nothing flat.

 

[BlueKeet]

Your yard looks beautiful! Wait a couple months and take another picture and compare you''ll be even more shocked. A neighbor put one in and I can''t believe how fast it is growing. I saw another M Glory grow up a telephone so there were blooms way up in the air that was one huge vine/bush.

 

[eks6426]

Thanks everyone on the comments. No morning glory blooms yet. I''m not sure they will. I think they''re too busy making leaves but the moon flowers do bloom nightly which is really cool during dinner.

FireGoddess--I just planted them at the base of the gazebo and as they grew I guided them up. They pretty much did it themselves. I periodically redirect the vines that try to cover up the doorways and windows.

CaptAubrey--In my climate these flowers won''t take over because they are killed by the snow. MG''s are annuals for me and I have never had them reseed...I''ve always had to replant. There are actually some very small clematis on each corner that I planted. They grew to about 4 feet tall but this was just my first year with this gazebo. Next year I will wait to see if the clematis are going to grow more before I plant more morning glories.

BlueKeet--I have been taking monthly pictures since April when we rented the Dingo to dig up the back yard and put in the patio. Unfortunately, in 2 more months my MG''s will probably be dead due to frost.

 

[sevens one]

I went back to see your diy backyard project.
I still can''t believe the transformation ID> It''s just amazing.

 

[Mara]

ID i love that look! i love when garden architecture gets covered over! i had this white potato vine that grew like mad even when i never watered it at my old place. i left it there when we moved and my grandma put it on her side of the duplex over a gazebo my mom gave her, and it covered the top entirely, it's so beautiful. wouldn't you know i bought two when we moved into our place hoping they'd cover the wrought iron fence and give us more privacy and they are SO ANEMIC. nothing like the one i used to have. i don't know what the deal is at all. they get plenty of sun and my old one was root bound and loved it. so i let these ones become root bound. i think maybe overwatering is the issue but man!

anyway, try fertilizing it with something to induce blooms and not leaf (nitrogen) production. i think something like a 5-30-5 or something like that would get you some blooms. it says what the # breakdown is for blooms vs nitrogen on the bottles at the store.

 

[eks6426]

Sevens...Thanks for the reminder on my old post. This is the link:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/wish-me-luck-18-tons-of-sand-delivered-for-diy-patio-this-weekend.42698/=

Mara--I looked at the potato vine too but the morning glories were better suited to my climate. I think I need fertilizer with more phosphorous in it. Maybe that will work. Either way, I like the big fat leaves. Flowers would be a bonus.

 

[MINE!!]

Oh wow!! That is just amazing!! It is absolutely beautiful!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!

 

[diamondsrock]

oh, morning glories are my favorite flowers! Are they the blue variety? Those are absolutely amazing. I have some growing outside right now which my husband has been faithfully tending. I got him hooked on them now, too. Once they start blooming look out, they will be unbelievable. We''ve only got a few flowers but it hasn''t reached it''s peak yet. There are a lot of buds though so I know that flowers will be here soon. I have yet to grow the elulsvie moonflower, but I want to try that next.

 

[movie zombie]

i love the green all over look but would it ever very gorgeous in bloom!!!! perhaps its getting too much water and doesn''t think it needs to make flowers yet?

movie zombie

 

[monarch64]

Love it, ID...I''m totally jealous, actually! Your project has come along SO well, with such fab. end results. I just showed my DH your pics and he was in awe as well! We have the "typical Chicago lot" for a backyard, and while there is room for a gazebo, if we did that, there wouldn''t be any extra room for the doggie to run around, unfortunately.

Morning glories remind me of my great grandmother, she used to grow them up the side of her limestone porch in so. Indiana. I loved them! I would try to grow them here in IL, but I like how clematis blooms stay open all day once they take, so I planted one on the side of our brick house, hoping it would take. It is very finnicky, though, and hasn''t bloomed or showed signs of blooming since I planted it a few months ago...I will see what it does next year and maybe move it if there is no blooming activity.

I am great at annuals, but when it comes to perennials up here I am losing my green thumb! I grew up learning how to be a very proficient perennial gardener from my parents, but it seems I have lost my touch after I "transplanted" myself 5 hours north! I have done well with shasta daisies here, as well as some "sedum" variety perennials on the west-facing side of the house, which tolerate drought very well and actually look kinda like cactai. They are all about to bloom already, within a few months of planting and careful watering, but the clematis next to them refuses to do anything more than sit pensively on its store-bought perch. Hmmph. I wanted a vine that would grow up the brick and bloom fabulously, but I guess I''m either going to have to move it or give up.

I keep meaning to take pics, and I had better before the annual blooming season of my petunias and marigolds is done...they really do look quite nice in their various containers on my front steps and back deck...I know I''m teasing, lol!

ID, you have done an absolutely all-out job in your backyard and with your painting (cn''t wait to see the finished version!), and I really admire your efforts!

 

[ladykemma]

aha you post on gardenweb too! nice vines!

me too.

i am trying to get my green thumb going. my beds were neglected when neighbor inadvertantly threw grass seed on the beds and i couldn''t deal with it for a year. ugh, now I''m digging out bermuda grass by the square meter.

 

[conitta]

I love the transformation.I know what you mean about Mroning Glories. They take over. I planted what I thought were 2 Moon vines. I love the Moon Vines and usually plant one every year.This year one of the Moon Vines turned out to be a Morning Glory.

Not what I had in mind but I do have something blooming in the morning and then at night, half and half. The only thing is the Morning Glories reseed themselves like WILD!Bummer!!!

 

[conitta]

Closer view.....You can see the Morning Glories are open and the Moon Vine has closed....Hope you can see because I had to resize it again.....

 

[eks6426]

connita--great garden.

 

[conitta]

Date: 9/13/2006 10:38:30 AM
Author: IslandDreams
connita--great garden.

Thanks IslandDreams, it is looking very tiered now after a HOT DRY summer.I had a tree there in that area that shaded my pond but had to have it cut down last year in the spring.That was

my shade garden...it is now my SUN garden.You can see the dead Fatsia there all brown and burnt.It survived last year and I was in hopes it would adapt...but it did not.

I have had problems with alge in my pond even after installing a UV light. The other side of my yard was sun and then we put up a privacy fence so now it is shade.Sooo I am all out of place.

Connie