Info needed on a Moon flower?

Question

I planted it from seed and all summer its been climbing up .Finally I have it flowering -one every other day at a time and then they die off. Is this normal?

Do they ever bloom in clusters? I live in Illinois so will frost kill it? They smell divine!

Answer 1

Yes, they generally are only open for one day.  Yes, frost will kill it.  it's in the morning glory family - so if you fertilize it, you'll get a lot of leaves and few blooms.  A good vine will increase the number of blooms as it matures - in a few more weeks, you could have a dozen open the same night.

Answer 2

If it just started to flower – give it time, you will have more than one flower open on the same night. But they do not flower in ‘clusters’.

Yes, it is normal for the flower to only last one night and the flower will not open more than once.

They usually start to open as dusk approaches and close as dawn ends.

As has already been said - no need to fertilize. They prefer poor soil and will produce more vegetative growth at the expense of flowers if you fertilize them.

They are annuals and will only last one season. Once frost hits they will die and you will need to plant fresh seeds next year.

Sometimes the seeds they drop will come up the following spring but it is a new plant – not the old one re-growing.