One of the loveliest of all climbers with huge trumpet-shaped flowers of deep azure-blue, the colour of a Mediterranean sky.

Morning glory is an appropriate name for this beautiful Central American climber. The buds of 'Heavenly Blue', the most popular variety, are long and tightly furled, but as the morning sunshine reaches them, they can be watched steadily unfolding themselves into 8 to 13cm (3 to 5in) wide sky-blue trumpets with clear white and yellow throats. Each flower lasts only a day, but others follow in quick succession.

A good climber for walls, trellis work or if allowed to scramble through other plants or trees. The blue, trumpet shaped flowers up to 6cm (2½in) across, close in the afternoon and are attractive to bees and butterflies.

Ipomoea tricolour "Heavenly Blue" has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Preparation:
Choose a sunny position with moist soil, they cannot grow or bloom properly in the shade. The seed coating is rather hard, and it will hasten germination if you stand the seeds in tepid water for a day or two before sowing.

Sowing: Sow indoors in late winter, or outdoors in early spring
Sow indoors in early spring no sooner than 3 to 4 weeks before the last expected frosts, and 4 weeks before you plan to plant them outside. Alternatively, the seed can also be sown directly where they are to flower once all risk of frosts has passed. Keep soil moist during germination.

Sowing Indoors:
Sow into individual pots or trays of seed compost. Paper or peat pots are preferable. Use well drained soil and cover to a depth of 3mm (1/8in). Maintain a temperature of around 20°C and keep compost moist.
Germination will take place in 5 to 14 days
Plants are extremely resentful of root disturbance, even when they are quite small, and should be potted up almost as soon as they germinate. Prick out to individual pots, transplant into 7.5cm (3in) pots or trays.
Gradually acclimatise to outdoor conditions for 10 to 15 days before planting out in growing position after the last expected frosts. Space 15cm (6in) apart. Consider giving them some protection such as a cloche until they are growing away actively.

Sowing Direct:
Prepare the ground well and rake to a fine tilth. If sowing more than one annual in the same bed, mark the sowing areas with a ring of sand and label. Sow 1mm (1/18th in) deep in rows 7cm (3in) apart. Sow seed sparingly or they will choke out other seedlings.
The seedlings will appear in rows approx 3 to 4 weeks after planting and can be easily told from nearby weed seedlings. Thin the seedlings out so they are finally 30cm (12in) apart. Carefully replant thinned plants.

Cultivation:
Remove spent flowers to encourage prolific blooming and if you do not wish to have volunteer seedlings next year!

Note:
Seeds are harmful if eaten.

Ideal for:
Clambering up Trellis, Obelisks and Trees. Also for Containers and Tubs.

Origin:
Remove spent flowers to encourage prolific blooming and if you do not wish to have volunteer seedlings next year!

Nomenclature:
Ipomoea is from the Greek ips meaning ‘a worm’ and homoios meaning ‘resembling’ thus "like a worm," referring to the twining habit of the plant's growth
The species name tricolour (spelt tricolor in the US) simply means three colours.
The common name Morning Glory refers to the plants habit of opening its new blooms at the beginning of each day. It is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae.
Ipomoea is a member of the Convolvulus family, pronounced kon-volv-yoo-lus is taken from the Latin convolvere, meaning to twine around.