Plant Guide

Other Names:  Imperial Japanese Morning Glory

Description:

This unusual variety dazzles the eye with stunning violet-ruby blooms all season until first frost; fast growing, perfect for an overflowing hanging basket or covering a fence

Ornamental Features

Sunrise Serenade Morning Glory features bold ruby-red trumpet-shaped flowers with violet overtones and white throats along the branches from early summer to mid fall. Its heart-shaped leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Sunrise Serenade Morning Glory is a multi-stemmed annual with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a high maintenance plant that will require regular care and upkeep, and can be pruned at anytime. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Invasive
• Self-Seeding

Sunrise Serenade Morning Glory is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Sunrise Serenade Morning Glory will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. As a climbing vine, it should either be planted near a fence, trellis or other landscape structure where it can be trained to grow upwards on it, or allowed to trail off a retaining wall or slope. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets.

Sunrise Serenade Morning Glory is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.