Heavenly Blue

There can’t be a more aptly named flower than Ipomoea ‘Heavenly Blue’ – the morning glory. I’ve written about how much I love it previously on the blog – I find the pure blue of the fragile flowers heart-stoppingly beautiful. Most years the plants seem to have a death wish, but this year, for once, they are thriving. Admittedly it’s the smallest plant that is currently flowering it socks off, while the 10ft tall plant has just had the occasional flower so far, but there are hundreds of buds, so I am willing it to come into full flower before the autumnal winds arrive and tear the leaves to shreds. I think there are a couple of reasons why I’ve had more success than usual (other than the weather) – firstly I sowed 3 seeds per small coir pot and once they were growing strongly, potted them on (including pot) into a 20cm coir pot. Secondly, I kept them in the greenhouse until mid July before moving them outside, where I potted them on (again with coir pot) into a slightly larger terracotta pot. This meant that they had no root disturbance and they have certainly shown their appreciation of this treatment. I’m generally far less indulgent of my plants, but in this case the flowers are my reward.