Morning Glories Aren’t Glorious
Woman in the Middle | May 29, 2013The people we bought our house from must have used the Big Book of Invasive Plants to plan thier landscaping. We have a number of things in our yard that would take over vast reaches of the neighborhood given a little time and a lack of attention on our part. But one of the worst, I think, are the Morning Glories. Those pretty big purple/blue flowers just lure you in, and then, one day, you realize that all that green in your front planter isn’t the plants you normally see there, but a huge big mound of smothering Morning Glories!
Hubby and I are being vicious this year, and are doing our best trying to keep the little creepers at bay. We have waded in to the front planter and ripped out Morning Glories left and right. In a few spots we even managed to pull up some roots, which is so gratifying! I am sure the hydrangeas and camelias are very grateful for our work!
I have heard that back east, where they get a hard freeze every year, Morning Glories aren’t such a problem. They don’t come back unless you replant them. But here in So Cal they are a perennial plant, perennially trying to take over my yard every spring and summer! My adice to any of you that live in a temperate climate: DO NOT PLANT MORNING GLORIES!
What is in your yard that you are very sorry you (or someone else) planted?
Back east we have wild morning glories. They are small white and exceedingly invasive and you can’t get rid of them. I asked about them at our garden center and they suggested moving. The big beautiful ones will come back with a mild winter but are not anywhere near as invasive.
Years ago, I ended up with some ageratum from my Aunt Lena. I don’t know if she gave it to me intentionally or if it was in with some other plant I got from her. In the 20 years or more that I have fought this plant, I have probably pulled up enough to fill a large dumpster. I HATE that plant.
Great advice… I am paying rapt attention.
Great advice I didn’t know that about morning glories…………
Haha I just planted some in containers. I hope they will hang and not go up. If they do it’s round-up time.
We grew morning glories last summer and decided it would be fun to grow them up the downspout of our house. Big mistake! They grew all the way up to the roof and reached over to an adjacent oak tree. Luckily, we had a frost that killed it and we were able to untangle he vines. I can only imagine how invasive they would be if they grew all year.
They do kind of go into hibernation in the winter, but they are still there, waiting to come out and smother everything in sight come June! I just plucked out a bunch again last night!