Pied Beauty

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

I'm Glad It's Not In MY Yard, But...

Sharp-pod Morning Glory
Isn't it pretty?  This is Sharp-pod Morning Glory, also known as Coastal Morning Glory or Tievine.  It's a vining perennial that's native to the southeastern US, from Florida west to Mexico, and north to the southern part of North Carolina.  When it really gets going, it flowers from spring all the way to the first freeze.  Readers may recall that I have quite a thing for flowering vines.  But rest assured, I haven't planted this.

Quickly covers anything that doesn't move.

Morning Glories of all kinds are fairly assertive plants, but this one is unparalleled in its ability to colonize a garden.  It spreads from the roots when the stems are severed, and from seed.  Germination appears to be quite high and a full-grown plant can produce upwards of 10,000 seeds per season.  So my advice to you is don't plant it.

Native plant, though very aggressive

If, however, it's already growing in your area, enjoy it.  I love the way it looks draped over chain-link fences.  In a weird way, it even makes me nostalgic for chain-link itself.  When I was growing up, four-foot chain-link fences were standard everywhere, complete with little silver dog on the gate.  The prettiest fences were covered in either morning glories or the old climbing rose 'Blaze.'  Nowadays, chain-link is declassé.  Here in fence-crazy Texas, we're leaning to cedar or wrought iron.  But these beautiful flowers make me remember the old Cyclone fences rather fondly.

You can't believe what they get for these in online auctions!

3 comments:

  1. I agree, morning glories of almost any kind can be very rambunctious, but this one is a beauty. The pink blooms almost remind me of a bower vine we had growing at our last house.

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  2. Got another picture? I can't quite imagine that little dog, on the gate.

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  3. We had a morning glory covered chain link fence when I was a child! Our morning glories were purple, and I loved them. Thanks for bringing back a happy memory.

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