Morning Glorys have been a tradition for gardens in Virginia and North Carolina since the early 1700’s. They were originally grown for their fragrant leaves, which made them an ideal choice for scented candle holders. While they are still grown for that reason, many people plant them for other reasons such as disease prevention, privacy, decoration and even blooming perennials such as Columbines. To learn more about the history of the Morning Glory and the many uses they have for your garden, read on. You’ll discover the reasons to grow them, what varieties are available and how to care for them.
The Virginia Culinary Institute owns the largest collection of registered trademarks for flower gardens. Their extensive library houses over one million pages of periodicals, including popular perennial flower literature such as Virginia French Poppies, Modern Flower Gardening, Virginia Skylark Vines, Virginia Fox Clovers, American Culinary Horticulture, and Cushions, Rug Plants, and Bushberries. For the most part, all of the publications from Vciles have been used in schools to teach gardening. It wasn’t until the mid-nineties that the institute began to market and sell its publications outside of the classroom. Today, they’re still a valuable commodity to collectors who want to build a vegetable garden or landscape.
The history of garden vines starts with the first recorded use of roses in gardens. From that beginning, they have been a dominant force in Virginia nurseries. The classic garden vine, the Morning Glory, is actually native to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Other names for it are Queen Anne’s Lace, Blue Bird’s Nest, or the White Rattle Vines. The Morning Glory was one of the state’s most popular plants for at least two centuries. Its popularity waned after colonists moved to the new country and it became a much less common plant.
Virginia Woolf, the very famous writer, gardener, and botanist, loved Morning Glory and he wanted a large selection of the plants for his garden. He asked that any specimens he bought be labeled with the name of the plant it came from so that future generations would know where to find them. His wife’s grandfather, also a gardener, collected many of the varieties he had found. Over the years, these plants expanded from just a few varieties to the thousands of different varieties that are now available.
Garden vines are usually formed to provide shade, privacy, year round blooming beauty, and an escape from the heat. Some varieties bloom throughout the year and are even in season year-round. There are several unique varieties that do not always bloom during the typical spring or summer blooming time, but rather only bloom during the late summer or fall months. These would be roses such as the Giant Snow Rose, English Ivy, Chinese Juniper, Red Mapleleaf, and the Southern Grey Trillium.
While most garden vines can provide all of these wonderful features and beauty, some will add more. One type of garden vine that adds beauty and privacy to a garden is the tall cane Vining. These vines climb up trees and fence post or fence posts, creating pathways in the landscape. These vines can also be used for climbing roses, other plants, fences, and walls and are the perfect thing to climb around when you want to enjoy the greenery without being in your garden.
Not only can garden vines add beauty to your garden, they can also be used to help you in your daily gardening tasks. Garden owners who use morning glories as tools often use them to pull up weeds, clean up clumps of leaves and grass, pull out plugs of dirt, and sometimes even to attach planters to their flower beds. Some people even take the plant inside when they go on vacation so that they do not have to worry about the beautiful plants dying, but rather enjoy them and their beauty at every opportunity.
Many people today grow garden vines for the beauty and privacy that they provide, and also because they are easier to maintain than most plants. If you want to grow a garden in your backyard, you can easily find some that are already established and others that will grow just fine on their own. It all depends on the kinds of growth that you want in your garden. Most garden vines come with a special care instruction book that should be read before planting. However, if you are growing any new plants that do not have this care instruction, it is best to follow the directions on the plant tag that you receive when you purchase the plant. When you want to enjoy the beauty of garden vines, take the time to read about the varieties that you have and their care instructions so that you can create a beautiful garden that you can enjoy.
