In article . com,
"Dave Poole" writes:
|
| Ipomoea indica (formerly I. learii) flowers open an intense blue
| taking on purplish tones after a few hours before becoming pinkish as
| they fade. It's a perennial species with 10cms. wide flowers that
| does not seem to set seed in this country at least and has to be
| propagated by cuttings. I grow it outside, where it runs about for
| 7m. or more each year. I've noticed that under glass in more equable
| temperatures, the blue coloration remains purer for longer with fewer
| pinkish-purple tones. It would seem that the intensity of the blue is
| temperature-dependent - the last flowers opening in December are
| always pink with only the slightest hint of blue.

Probably only at low temperatures, then. I have noticed no colour changes
from temperatures of 10 to 30 Celcius in my conservatory. And it grows
a lot more than 7 metres in a season even in a UK glasshouse! In that
range, it always opens an intense, fairly deep blue in the early morning,
becomes pinkish and starts to flop in the evening, and drops in a fully
pink, shrivelled form the next evening.

Searching the Web indicates that it is globally self-sterile, because
its pollen is non-viable (I can't remember if it doesn't germinate, or
germinates and fails to reach the ovary). Apparently two other species
of Ipomoea (at least) will germinate pollen on its flowers, but they
then fail to grow down the tube to the ovary.

And it propagates even more easily by layering - just try to stop it!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.