my moonflowers have been blooming for months.
no idea why your having bloom issues. i have hundreds of flowers over the summer, now hundreds of seedpods.
It’s a plot to drive me over the edge, I think. Most of my plants this summer were heavy on foliage, light on blooms. My spring flowers bloomed crazy, but had foliage problems. This surely indicates a soil/fertizer/ph problem. I keep hearing from folks who are having a similar problems. So, I think all the rain has leached important stuff out of the soil.
In any event, I’m enjoying the moonflowers. The blooms are sparse, the foliage is lush, and the fence is in danger of collapsing – but they’re beautiful.
I LOVE moonflowers. The plan is to cover a boring 6′ stockade fence with moonies, morning glories and 4 o’clocks next year. (Right now, I’m about ready to cover about 1/2 my lawn with ‘lasagna beds’… Wish me luck!)
Easy! Cut the lawn short, layer slightly-overlapping sheets of cardboard over the area you’d prefer was a planting bed (you can score MAJOR quantities of nice, square, unprinted-upon ‘slip-sheets’ from the big-box stores; ask a worker or just snag ’em from between the pallet racks! I scavenged over 900 square feet in under an hour from a Sam’s Club)!
Wet the cardboard down well, then do one of two things:
Patient people: Layer shredded leaves, grass clippings, aged manure, kitchen scraps, whatever goes in a standard compost heap. When it’s about 2 feet high, water it thoroughly and cover it with 2-4 inches of mulch (if looks matter, 10 sheets of newsprint held down with rocks if not) and let it sit for a season. It’ll settle a lot, but in spring, it’ll be ready for planting.
Immediate-gratification people: After wetting the cardboard, pile on 6-8 inches of your preferred ratio of topsoil and compost and plant away! By the time the roots make it to the cardboard, it’ll be mushy enough for them to make it through.
Underneath will be composted lawn and VERY happy wigglers, doing what they do. For even more weed-suppression, some people layer 8-10 pages newsprint under the mulch, slicing an ‘X’ through it with a trowel to plant. I tried this on a VERY small scale early this summer, and it worked so well I’m emboldened enough to put in 700+ sq. ft of side-garden beds now for next year!
someone once told me moonflowers are “gypsun weed” also poisnouis to animals/people. I know deer dont mess with them. anyone know what the real name to the moon flower is?
buzzard…too funny…if you need seeds however, ill give ya all ya need.
Bob, I know what you’re talking about, it’s called ‘datura’. I found a volunteer sprout of it in one of my houseplants I put out on the porch for the summer. It grows more like a bush than moonflowers do, but it blooms at night and the flowers smell heavenly. The flowers look a little different, too, they have curly little ‘horns’ at the pleats: http://www.viridis.net/plants/datura_str.html
Hi Lisa – No, what I have is truly the “moonflower”. However, beyond the thornapple your talking about, someone told me once that the moonflower is ‘gypsin weed”…the real name of the moonflower i have no idea what it is, maybe…”moonflower” LOL.
I was also told the seed are poison, but hippies eat them for an alternative to LSD, however, I havent found anyone picking off my seed pods each fall. the deer do not even come close to bothering the plant or flowers.
Whatever it is , moonflower is really a great hearty flowering plant for quite a number of months per year, still flowering this month.
Oh, sorry! Datura is also called ‘jimson weed’, I figured it’s just spelled differently here than it is there. (That’s why I try to learn the ‘real’ names of the ones I really like, common names are sometimes a lil’ TOO common! lol…)
The ‘real’ name for moonflower is “Convolvulaceae Ipomoea Alba” (kon-volv-yoo-LAY-see-ee ip-oh-MEE-a AL-ba)
But ‘moonflower’ is much prettier (and easier!) to say.
MonaLisa:
I thought Jimson Weed and Datura were 2 different things — Jimson Weed being some sort of gettin’ high type thing, and datura being a cardiac stimulant…..possibly the same as foxglove?
I could be wrong.
That’s why common names make me nuts, ’cause you can’t be sure you’re talking about the same plant! But there’s always google: http://medplant.nmsu.edu/datura.html
W. Va. Fur and Root 
Ha! This may explain why my cousin’s moonflowers have yet to bloom this year. It’s been a weird year for plants.
Hell, I just hope to be able to plant next year. This year got all kerfuffled with Mom’s hospital stays.
You have a reply to your comment at my place. It begs for a reply from you and that you pull the dang covers off your head.
my moonflowers have been blooming for months.
no idea why your having bloom issues. i have hundreds of flowers over the summer, now hundreds of seedpods.
Bob, I’m sorry and I’m joking, but…
Would you like a Brill-O pad to rub that in with?
Sometimes I just amuse myself. Okay, most of the time but I’m not going to pay attention to that.
Welcome Bob,
It’s a plot to drive me over the edge, I think. Most of my plants this summer were heavy on foliage, light on blooms. My spring flowers bloomed crazy, but had foliage problems. This surely indicates a soil/fertizer/ph problem. I keep hearing from folks who are having a similar problems. So, I think all the rain has leached important stuff out of the soil.
In any event, I’m enjoying the moonflowers. The blooms are sparse, the foliage is lush, and the fence is in danger of collapsing – but they’re beautiful.
A) Sorry Bob.
B) I’m wad-free.
C) You have mail. 🙂
I LOVE moonflowers. The plan is to cover a boring 6′ stockade fence with moonies, morning glories and 4 o’clocks next year. (Right now, I’m about ready to cover about 1/2 my lawn with ‘lasagna beds’… Wish me luck!)
Lasagna beds? Oh, do tell.
Easy! Cut the lawn short, layer slightly-overlapping sheets of cardboard over the area you’d prefer was a planting bed (you can score MAJOR quantities of nice, square, unprinted-upon ‘slip-sheets’ from the big-box stores; ask a worker or just snag ’em from between the pallet racks! I scavenged over 900 square feet in under an hour from a Sam’s Club)!
Wet the cardboard down well, then do one of two things:
Patient people: Layer shredded leaves, grass clippings, aged manure, kitchen scraps, whatever goes in a standard compost heap. When it’s about 2 feet high, water it thoroughly and cover it with 2-4 inches of mulch (if looks matter, 10 sheets of newsprint held down with rocks if not) and let it sit for a season. It’ll settle a lot, but in spring, it’ll be ready for planting.
Immediate-gratification people: After wetting the cardboard, pile on 6-8 inches of your preferred ratio of topsoil and compost and plant away! By the time the roots make it to the cardboard, it’ll be mushy enough for them to make it through.
Underneath will be composted lawn and VERY happy wigglers, doing what they do. For even more weed-suppression, some people layer 8-10 pages newsprint under the mulch, slicing an ‘X’ through it with a trowel to plant. I tried this on a VERY small scale early this summer, and it worked so well I’m emboldened enough to put in 700+ sq. ft of side-garden beds now for next year!
someone once told me moonflowers are “gypsun weed” also poisnouis to animals/people. I know deer dont mess with them. anyone know what the real name to the moon flower is?
buzzard…too funny…if you need seeds however, ill give ya all ya need.
Bob, I know what you’re talking about, it’s called ‘datura’. I found a volunteer sprout of it in one of my houseplants I put out on the porch for the summer. It grows more like a bush than moonflowers do, but it blooms at night and the flowers smell heavenly. The flowers look a little different, too, they have curly little ‘horns’ at the pleats: http://www.viridis.net/plants/datura_str.html
Hi Lisa – No, what I have is truly the “moonflower”. However, beyond the thornapple your talking about, someone told me once that the moonflower is ‘gypsin weed”…the real name of the moonflower i have no idea what it is, maybe…”moonflower” LOL.
I was also told the seed are poison, but hippies eat them for an alternative to LSD, however, I havent found anyone picking off my seed pods each fall. the deer do not even come close to bothering the plant or flowers.
Whatever it is , moonflower is really a great hearty flowering plant for quite a number of months per year, still flowering this month.
Oh, sorry! Datura is also called ‘jimson weed’, I figured it’s just spelled differently here than it is there. (That’s why I try to learn the ‘real’ names of the ones I really like, common names are sometimes a lil’ TOO common! lol…)
The ‘real’ name for moonflower is “Convolvulaceae Ipomoea Alba” (kon-volv-yoo-LAY-see-ee ip-oh-MEE-a AL-ba)
But ‘moonflower’ is much prettier (and easier!) to say.
MonaLisa:
I thought Jimson Weed and Datura were 2 different things — Jimson Weed being some sort of gettin’ high type thing, and datura being a cardiac stimulant…..possibly the same as foxglove?
I could be wrong.
That’s why common names make me nuts, ’cause you can’t be sure you’re talking about the same plant! But there’s always google: http://medplant.nmsu.edu/datura.html