Moonflower in Michigan
 

I collected moonflower seeds from an acquaintance's garden last year,
and they produced several plants in my own garden. He has now moved
away, and I recall that he had them year after year. But I read that
moonflower is an annual in Michigan, so I suspect his plants were dying
but reseeding. Mine have not yet produced seeds. Do you think they will
come up next year? Also, I planted them a bit too thickly. If they will
survive, anything I need to know before I move a few in a month?

Moonflower in Michigan
 

"simy1" wrote in message
oups.com...
I collected moonflower seeds from an acquaintance's garden last year,
and they produced several plants in my own garden. He has now moved
away, and I recall that he had them year after year. But I read that
moonflower is an annual in Michigan, so I suspect his plants were dying
but reseeding. Mine have not yet produced seeds. Do you think they will
come up next year? Also, I planted them a bit too thickly. If they will
survive, anything I need to know before I move a few in a month?


Unless you KNOW you've got a place on your property that's sort of a
mini-zone, warmer than the rest (near house foundation, for instance), the
plants probably won't survive the winter. Why move them? Collect (or buy)
seeds and replant next near. Give them a head start by starting them indoors
in INDIVIDUAL pots. They don't like being transplanted, so use 4-6" pots,
which will enable you to move a larger soil mass without disturbing the
roots.

Moonflower in Michigan
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"simy1" wrote in message
oups.com...
I collected moonflower seeds from an acquaintance's garden last year,
and they produced several plants in my own garden. He has now moved
away, and I recall that he had them year after year. But I read that
moonflower is an annual in Michigan, so I suspect his plants were dying
but reseeding. Mine have not yet produced seeds. Do you think they will
come up next year? Also, I planted them a bit too thickly. If they will
survive, anything I need to know before I move a few in a month?


Unless you KNOW you've got a place on your property that's sort of a
mini-zone, warmer than the rest (near house foundation, for instance), the
plants probably won't survive the winter. Why move them? Collect (or buy)
seeds and replant next near. Give them a head start by starting them indoors
in INDIVIDUAL pots. They don't like being transplanted, so use 4-6" pots,
which will enable you to move a larger soil mass without disturbing the
roots.

I would just like to know for sure. His moonflowers looked like
perennials (much bigger plants than what I got). My guess is that
moonflower is perennial in Michigan and I would like to hear from
people who have them.

Moonflower in Michigan
 

"simy1" wrote in message
ups.com...

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"simy1" wrote in message
oups.com...
I collected moonflower seeds from an acquaintance's garden last year,
and they produced several plants in my own garden. He has now moved
away, and I recall that he had them year after year. But I read that
moonflower is an annual in Michigan, so I suspect his plants were dying
but reseeding. Mine have not yet produced seeds. Do you think they will
come up next year? Also, I planted them a bit too thickly. If they will
survive, anything I need to know before I move a few in a month?


Unless you KNOW you've got a place on your property that's sort of a
mini-zone, warmer than the rest (near house foundation, for instance),
the
plants probably won't survive the winter. Why move them? Collect (or buy)
seeds and replant next near. Give them a head start by starting them
indoors
in INDIVIDUAL pots. They don't like being transplanted, so use 4-6" pots,
which will enable you to move a larger soil mass without disturbing the
roots.

I would just like to know for sure. His moonflowers looked like
perennials (much bigger plants than what I got). My guess is that
moonflower is perennial in Michigan and I would like to hear from
people who have them.


From Burpee:
Moonflower Giant White
Fragrant 6" flowers open in the evening.
Old fashioned flowers just like morning glories but they open in the
evening. Fragrant 6" flowers mix well when grown with the morning bloomers
for added interest. Grow as an annual but perennial in mild areas. Height
15'. Easy to grow. Grows best in full sun.

Go he
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/893/index.html
.....and about 1/3 of the way down the page are comments from lots of people
who've grown them in various place. However, you cannot "know for sure"
until you try them yourself. How long have you gardened on your current
property? Have you observed plants surviving when they were not expected to?
If so, that's a warm spot.

Moonflower in Michigan
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
....and about 1/3 of the way down the page are comments from lots of people
who've grown them in various place. However, you cannot "know for sure"
until you try them yourself. How long have you gardened on your current
property? Have you observed plants surviving when they were not expected to?
If so, that's a warm spot.

it looks like it will make it from the Davesgarden site you indicated.
If they can in Minneapolis they can here. I will mulch it. Thanks for
your help.

Moonflower in Michigan
 

"simy1" wrote in message
oups.com...

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
....and about 1/3 of the way down the page are comments from lots of
people
who've grown them in various place. However, you cannot "know for sure"
until you try them yourself. How long have you gardened on your current
property? Have you observed plants surviving when they were not expected
to?
If so, that's a warm spot.

it looks like it will make it from the Davesgarden site you indicated.
If they can in Minneapolis they can here. I will mulch it. Thanks for
your help.


Well, I'm sure you know there are no guarantees in gardening. Don't forget
to order some seeds in early January. By the time you figure out your plants
are dead, the $2.00 will seem unimportant.

Moonflower in Michigan
 

"My guess is that moonflower is perennial in Michigan and I would like
to hear from
people who have them."

Moonflower is definitely not a perennial in Michigan. I'm in central
Ohio, which is a zone or two warmer than where you are, and they are
not perennial here. Morning glories (same family) weren't even a
perennial for me when I lived in South Carolina, although they did
reseed like crazy.

Hope for seeds and collect them. Put them in a jar in the fridge and
start them outside (not inside, because most of them won't survive
repotting) after the last frost. Soak them in warm water the night
before you plant them and you'll have a good result.

Sparky

Moonflower in Michigan
 

"simy1" expounded:

I collected moonflower seeds from an acquaintance's garden last year,
and they produced several plants in my own garden. He has now moved
away, and I recall that he had them year after year. But I read that
moonflower is an annual in Michigan, so I suspect his plants were dying
but reseeding. Mine have not yet produced seeds. Do you think they will
come up next year? Also, I planted them a bit too thickly. If they will
survive, anything I need to know before I move a few in a month?

What are you calling Moonflower? Datura? If so, it is marginally
hardy here. The way you tell that it's a returnee is there are
multiple stems coming out of the ground, very late in the spring. The
seedlings come up with single stems (of course). Usually I'll see
them come back if I've had a fair amount of snowcover over the winter
and the spring isn't interrupted with lots of hard frosts (doesn't
happen often but I did get one come back this spring).
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

Moonflower: Ipomoea alba
 

See http://personal.ecu.edu/wuenschk/SphinxMoth.htm

Get new seed for next year and put them in earlier. Soak the seek for a day
before planting them.
"Ann" wrote in message
...
"simy1" expounded:

I collected moonflower seeds from an acquaintance's garden last year,
and they produced several plants in my own garden. He has now moved
away, and I recall that he had them year after year. But I read that
moonflower is an annual in Michigan, so I suspect his plants were dying
but reseeding. Mine have not yet produced seeds. Do you think they will
come up next year? Also, I planted them a bit too thickly. If they will
survive, anything I need to know before I move a few in a month?

What are you calling Moonflower? Datura? If so, it is marginally
hardy here. The way you tell that it's a returnee is there are
multiple stems coming out of the ground, very late in the spring. The
seedlings come up with single stems (of course). Usually I'll see
them come back if I've had a fair amount of snowcover over the winter
and the spring isn't interrupted with lots of hard frosts (doesn't
happen often but I did get one come back this spring).
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************