Moonflowers - Night Blooming Plants

The Ipomoea alba is part of the family Convolvulaceae (convulvulus) which includes morning glory and the less welcome bindweed, one of the more difficult to eradicate weeds of the temperate garden.

The species Ipomoea alba is a native of tropical and sub tropical parts of South and Central America as well as Florida. In this climate it grows wild and may even be treated as a weed. In cooler climates, the moonflower can grow but only as an annual and so the seeds need to be sown each year. If you are lucky, you may find that they self seed in some places and so appear each year without any effort on your part.

The plant may grow between 15ft to 90ft tall and the large flowers can be up to six inches across.

Picture of Ipomoea alba: Copyright © Kenpei - Creative Commons License

Unless you live in a tropical or sub tropical climate, you will probably have to grow them each year from seed.

Unlike some other Ipomoea, they like a rich, well manured soil so prepare the bed before planting out or sowing outside.

Most experts agree you should nick the seed with a file and even soak it for 24 hours too before sowing. If you have late frosts, sow the seeds indoors, about a month before the last frosts, to give the plants time to germinate and start growing before planting out. That way you will get flowers sooner than waiting to sow them until after the last frost.

This moonflower does not like having its roots disturbed so put the seeds in peat pots that eventually can be planted in the ground and will rot away.

If your area is quite mild and it's unusual to have frost after about April, then you can sow them outside in the ground in the place where you want them to grow. They need support to twine around so provide them with a wall, canes, netting, etc.

Then sit back and wait to enjoy their flowers and perfume.