Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Playing God with Morning Glories


The weather has been hot, and with the heat, came recollections of propagating plants. 

I love germinating seeds. 

I love it so much, that once I germinate seeds and need to transplant them, I don't know where to put them. 



This season, I've already encountered a catastrophe. I germinated Morning Glory seeds, and it turns out; Morning Glories are invasive to the Pacific Northwest. 



I love Morning Glories, but I can't let these plants grow out of control. I'd grow them inside, but they are toxic to pets. (Neat fact: The seeds of Morning Glories have Ergoline Alkaloids, making them hallucinogenic) 


Morning Glories (Ipomoea) are not the same as Bindweed (Convolvulus), but they do come from the same family (Convolvulaceae).

Bindweed is incredibly invasive, and itneeds to be killed to keep it under control. As far as my Morning Glories, I'm undecided what to do. I think the answer is to destroy them, while they are still young. However, I love Morning Glories and am anxious to keep one plant and see how it grows.  
Overall, I've been excited about having vine plants and am eager to cut out scroll saw designs for vines to grow on.
Morning Glories are a neat plant. They open their flowers in the morning and close them at night. They spiral anti-clockwise and have thigmotropism (tactile response) in tendrils. I hate to destroy them, but the health of the external ecosystem is more important than my own personal gardening projects. 




http://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2004/bridges2004-181.pdf
http://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2012/bridges2012-223.pdf


https://www.portlandoregon.gov/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=216890

Besides Morning Glories, I've been trying to germinate Pumpkin Seeds. Last year, I tried sprouting Pumpkin seeds, but as I recall, I was unsuccessful. They have unusually hard coats. This year I filed the Pumpkin seeds and then let them soak for a day before planting. 







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