Good Morning Glory!!!

At this point in the summer the only plants that continue to flourish are the morning glories. The picture is of the variety called "heavenly blue." Many farmers consider these a weed, as in the wild they grow and choke out other plants. In a domestic garden, they can be a thing of beauty. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this plant, they can be easily grown by buying a package of seed in the spring and planting them near something that they can climb. When the first vines begin to appear, you simply guide them to what ever you want them to climb and they literally "take off."

If you leave them to their selves for too long they will choke out whatever they can wrap themselves around. When they get overly leafy and I have seen no blooms yet, I start snapping off the wandering shoots of vines. I think this causes less plant energy to go to producing leaves and vines and results in flowers blooming. Each morning glory blossom lasts one morning. They are out when the sun rises and they fade and close when the heat of the day hits them.There are different colors, but my favorite is the big heavenly blue.

On a different issue, I have a question for you. In the night sky now there is a bright star that shines "next to" the moon. My daughter and I were speculating if it was Venus or Mars. Does any one know?
More later - SkyBlueSue :-)