Spring is Blooming! (PIX)

[rebbetzin]

Yesterday I got my first Blue Morning Glories!!

And this is the 2nd year for my Bougainvillea (Looked up the correct spelling!) It is by the laundry/storage room door. I hope it will grow much taller in the years to come.

 

[Break an Egg]

I love bougainvilleas!! You can also call them paper flowers, easier to spell. Some of the older houses here have the plants growing 8 feet tall.

 

[Bantimna]

My mom is crazy about bougainvilleas!!
What else is blooming in your garden?

 

[MagsC]

I LOVE blue morning glories!! Beautiful!!!!

 

[Mattemma]

Nice pics. My MG's just came up in my driveway garden.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I wouldn't post about the morning glories (they are beautiful!), but they are illegal in Arizona--they are considered a noxious weed.

That is why finding seeds for them is so hard. If you look at online seed catalogues, they can't ship to Arizona. GRRRR!

I think I am the only person in the world that cannot grow bouganvillia--they always die on me. Anyways, I've decided I don't like dealing with thorns, so I'll enjoy them in OTHER people's yards.

 

[flgardengirl]

When I was in AZ a bunch of people I knew grew morning glories. We all just called them 'AZ Roses' on some of the plant forums when we discussed them LOL! I think it was a dumb law that got started because the morning glories would reseed and interfere with the cotton crops. Maybe I am not remembering it right ...anyone else know?

 

[rebbetzin]

Quote:
This particular type of Morning Glory doesn't put out seed. It only grows from cuttings. I got some from a neighbor a few blocks away. We (my neighbor and I) have pink and purple morning glories that do re-seed themselves each year.


I know they are known to screw up the harvesting equipment for cotton. There are not any cotton fields here in the city of Tucson. There are some going up I-10 on the way to Phoenix.

I LOVE Morning Glories!!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

There is a wild type that gets into the canals and grows rapidly and causes issues--binding weed, maybe? I'll try to look it up.

I don;t think it is because of cotton equipemtn or you would find them banned in all the states that grow cotton. But that is just my opinion, not a formal understanding. I love morning glories--so pretty, nice fast grower.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

From the state ag dept list of plants prohibited from enrty into the state: Ipomoea spp. -- Morning glory. All species except Ipomoea carnea, Mexican bush morning glory; Ipomoea triloba, three-lobed morning glory (which is considered a restricted pest); and Ipomoea aborescens, morning glory tree,
Ipomoea triloba L. – Three-lobed morning glory. The later is also listed as restricted if found, meaning "if found within the state shall be quarantined to prevent further infestation or contamination." I also found this:

Noxious Weeds For Sale
As each spring flower season approaches, weed dispersal can happen from businesses such as
grocery, drug, pet, hardware stores, and nurseries. Most gardeners do not think of nurseries or
gardening shops as sources of pest plants. Arizona Department of Agriculture inspectors find
prohibited weeds in retail seed displays and in display ponds each year. Often, non-native
species have no natural enemies in new environments and, if exotic species are aggressive, they
may become weedy invaders in their new habitats.
Non-native morning glory species invade and persist in Arizona’s agricultural crop fields and
urban gardens. They grow so abundantly and are so competitive that their vines entangle, cover
and smother the crops and ornamental plants. In fact, morning glory infestations become so
dense that it becomes extremely difficult to harvest crops-an economic disaster for the farmer.
Therefore, these non-native morning glory species are prohibited in Arizona.
A non-native aquatic plant native to the Amazon region of tropical South America, water
hyacinths have spread to tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. Water hyacinth plants,
another prohibited plant pest, form thick mats that are able to completely cover water surfaces.
Water hyacinth populations degrade aquatic habitats by reducing open water and displacing
native plants, create mosquito habitat, and obstruct waterways.

So it looks like the comments about cotton are probably more accurate than my previous understanding about canals, and binding weed is something different.​