Moonflower is a beautiful perennial with large heart-shaped leaves and silky flowers that are about 14 centimeters in diameter.
Flower of Night Magic
A native of the American tropics - a moonflower flower - has been grown in garden floriculture since 1733 as an annual. A feature of such a garden creeper is the blooming of white flowers with the onset of night - an unusual and bewitching sight, accompanied by a rustling rustle.
Then a quiet pop is heard - and a beautiful lunar flower in one moment opens. The night space is immediately filled with an incredible aroma: sweet-almond, with a touch of freshness and romance. With the sunrise, the flowers fade, open throughout the day can only be in cloudy weather.
Ipomoea moonflowering (another name for moonflower) is a summer crop that blooms in late July - August. The plant feels comfortable in sunny areas with any nutrient soils, prefers moist loams. It needs to be watered regularly, avoiding stagnation.moisture.
Moonflower Propagation
The flower is grown in seedlings, because when sown with seeds, morning glory does not have time to bloom before the onset of cold weather. Moonflower seeds are brown, large (like a large bean), have a very strong shell. Sowing for seedlings is carried out in late March - early April. It is preliminary recommended to carry out scarification - a partial violation of the integument of the shell in order to accelerate germination and increase the germination rate. In this case, young sprouts will appear in a week.
You can propagate the moon flower by layering. To do this, shoots that grow during the summer near the root neck are added dropwise (without separating from the mother plant). After 1.5 months, they take root. Before the onset of cold weather, buried shoots should be transplanted into pots, brought into a greenhouse and covered with foliage for the winter. In spring, overwintered seedlings can be planted in open ground.
At first, a young moon flower grows slowly, but then it actively gains momentum, reaching a height of 3 meters in a matter of days. Therefore, the plant needs to establish supports in a timely manner, tie up and guide climbing stems.
Night morning glory care
Flowering starts in June and continues until frost. In temperate climates, moonflower seeds do not have time to ripen, so the fruits should be cut off and dried, first in the sun, then indoors. It is recommended to store planting material in paper bags.
To ensure abundantflowering, the moon flower needs to be fertilized with mineral preparations with a low nitrogen content. An excess of the substance will cause an active growth of green mass, which occurs at the expense of flowering. Moonflowers can also be affected by spider mites.
The plant of the night - the moon flower (photos are presented in the article) is used in plantings around arbors, on lattice windows, at the entrance to the house, in arched compositions.
