Even within its native range, blue dawn flower, Ipomoea indica, can be a problem. There are not many other plants in some coastal regions of Peru that can avoid getting overwhelmed by the aggressive wiry vines. These vines grow roots where they touch soil, so can spread indefinitely over the ground. Vines that succumb to frost over winter regenerate as if nothing ever happened.
Three inch wide flowers are rich purplish blue when they open at dawn. They then fade through the day, only to be replaced by fresh new flowers the following morning. Bloom continues from spring until autumn, and can get profuse at times. The lush rich green leaves are cordate (heart-shaped) or lobed (with only three lobes). Too much fertilizer promotes growth but inhibits bloom.
Blue dawn flower’s main weakness is a dependency on water. If it gets too dry briefly in summer, it can die back like it does with frost, and then recover once it gets water, but it will not survive for very long if it stays dry. As aggressive as it is, it should not spread very far from landscaped areas or riparian areas where summers are too warm and dry for it.
Tony Tomeo 
Lovely. Over here we call it ‘Morning Glory’ and treat it as a tender annual.
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We also call it morning glory. I plant it annually in an old wooden Apple barrel which back edge catches roof water from our wood shed roof. It shows off climbing and tumbling most of the summer here in Nova Scotia.
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If they are not rich sky blue, they are probably annuals . . . and some annuals are the same color as the perennial.
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There is an annual form as well, with much more variety of color,
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A beautiful blue. But Another of those feral plants that are very invasive over here and smothering the bush areas
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I saw pictures of it from Peru, and it sort of ruined my image of it. Although invasive where there is water, it does not get too far from landscaped areas here. On the coast in Peru, it overwhelms everything.
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Over here we call Morning Glory and treat it as a serious weed.
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It seems that is known as morning glory in most regions. I know it as morning glory as well, but refer to it as blue dawn flower to distinguish it from the annuals.
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I’m a sucker for blue flowers. Is this plant perennial in CA? What we call Morning Glories around here are in the same genus but a different species, I. tricolor. I also just bought a Convolvulus hybrid to try in my containers. The flowers are very similar but the leaves are different and its much smaller.
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The annuals are grown here as well. They are not invasive, and are more colorful. The blue dawn flower is the invasive perennial species.
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Interesting
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Thank you.
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Reblogged this on Tony Tomeo and commented:
Due to an inability to locate some of my old articles from nine years ago, I will recycle articles such as this, which already posted to this blog four years ago, through June and at least part of July.
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