I know, I haven’t been participating but being an adult is hard. I’ve been busy doing fun things like looking up facts about morning glories.
Did you know that Morning Glories are seen as a symbol of unrequited love? Also, the morality of life- which makes no sense because the morning glory is invasive.
Originating in South America and moved in everywhere. They are amazing flowers but we are not here to talk about their origins, we’re here to talk about their meaning and some cool stories.
That’s right boys and girls, the morning glory has many meanings from many cultures. I am just going to go over a few, remember I just went down a rabbit hole and thought that other people might find this information equally distracting. So, you’re welcome.
First let me start by saying: always look this stuff up on your own if you want more information on a topic. I am not an expert on flower folklore but I welcome the information.
Let’s start with: Restricted love is one of the meanings. That’s right, give someone some morning glories if you want them to know you want to set some boundaries. Slowing down or descalating a situation.
This comes from a Chinese story about two lovers who were in love-love with each other. Their passion for one another grew until they neglected everything else in their lives. They became gross, like wouldn’t clean up after themselves or maintain their daily responsibilities, and the Gods did not approve. It was a bad decision on their part because the Gods were really invested in this one couple. Upset by their decision to be nasty slobs, they cursed them to only be able to meet once a year, because that’s what God’s did back in the day.
In Victorian literature it was placed on graves to symbolize a never ending love. Something that could never die even when one of them was gone or if they’re alive it can mean that their love isn’t returned. I mean, I suppose it aligns with the whole: setting boundaries theme we have going here.
Early Christians saw them as a symbol for morality because they bloom in the morning and the blooms wither do quickly. This is where morality comes into play and that is kind of fun. I did not realize at the beginning and now I pull my previous statement for a mutual understanding of the symbolism. I am educated.
I first started these bad boys in September. I thought long and hard about their growth and how they were doing and we decided that we should plant them. It’s cool that I found of their meaning even if it was after planting them.
We knew that if we planted them in early October- since we live in zone 8a- and we don’t usually see winter until the end of December.
The buttons did not survive- our cats are merciless and were very attracted to the leaves that the bachelor’s buttons produced. Regardless, we planted the morning glories in hopes they would have time to flower (which they did) and hopefully reproduce.
We want them all over the front of our new trellis system. (We are still building it, but we are getting there update soon) it’s going to be amazing as soon as we get all of the concrete we need.
They grew up to have beautiful full leaves and I am kind of excited. I had no idea that Morning Glories had pokey pieces though- that was something I learned after it began to vine out.
I can’t wait to see what they look like in the spring. Until next time…
Toad's Permaculture 