August Morning Glory

It was actually purple.

Still hanging on

This is what the morning glories near the public garden looked like today. It is the end of the season for morning glories. Actually, people in our neighborhood usually clear them away after summer.

This was two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago, I took this photo in the evening when the blooms closed. I had to use the flash. The blooms looked purple after they closed.

This was taken at the same time. These morning glories were waiting for morning to bloom.

More Sun Needed

Morning glories are an important part of summer in Japan. Ours are not doing well this year. The sun came out today but we've had many cloudy or rainy days this summer. The typhoon missed us but hit Taiwan. We wish them well. They are having a hard time.

Check the label below for more information about morning glories and typhoons.

Snowflakes & Morning Glory

The morning glory finally bloomed! And it was snowing outside! But I missed its full glory. I waited for it and only got to see it like this. Ah well. Here is the post about the morning glory. This morning glory was rather late, but early, too.

We made our way back. The morning glories didn't do well this year. They were well taken care of by Aunt. Perhaps they were waiting for us! This one bloom greeted me the day after we came back. Little Brother overslept and missed it.

We're leaving for Texas tomorrow. The morning glory bloomed! We'll miss most of the season, but hopefully the morning glories will still be blooming when we return August 25th. Aunt will water the garden while we're gone. Look through the summer posts from 2006 and 2007 by going to the archives.

Here are two summer bugs. Both were on the rudbeckia.

Morning Glories

There are no Japanese morning glories for sale in the shops in our neighborhood. I planted some by seed, but it's a little late. Click on the label below to see last year's morning glories.

Another Morning, More To Enjoy

These morning glories are on our balcony. (We live on the second floor.) The picture was taken while standing in the roof garden on the third floor. These are Japanese morning glories.

Baba's towels hanging in the morning sun. A blanket is below the balcony.

This caterpillar was eating the taro (satoimo) down the street! We can't find him in our book so we don't know what kind of butterfly or moth he will be.

Let Us Enjoy the Morning Glories!

The morning glories are finally blooming and doing well.

At first glance.

But looking more closely, you can see that something is eating some of them!

Here's the pest! It's a male. He's called shouryou (long "o") battamodoki. Batta is grasshopper in Japanese. His name is gonista bicolor in Latin.

Morning glories close in the afternoon, but we'd like to enjoy them as long as possible. I left him alone, though. Click to enlarge the pictures.

Morning Glories

This is our first morning glory this summer. This one is a Japanese morning glory. See the white star? That is the main characteristic of a Japanese morning glory.

When people draw morning glories here, they draw a star in the middle. This flower is one of the symbols of summer.

Here's a summer fan and a handkerchief.

This is what our morning glory looked like yesterday.

We planted a lot of different kinds together. I put the pictures out in front to take this picture. This first morning glory was kinda scraggly, but it was a happy sight.

Hopefully, more will bloom soon. This is near our gate.

The morning glories came in pots like these. We bought them from a flower shop.

We also planted some from seeds. These seed pods were from last year's flowers.

When morning glories first come up, they look like this.

Later as they mature most leaves look like this. Actually, that is sunlight and a shadow on this leaf. Look back at the third picture and click to enlarge. Some morning glories have very different leaves. Some are one color. Some are variegated, with dark green and light green stripes. Some leaves have different shapes.

Growing morning glories is part of Japanese first graders' summer schoolwork. The morning glories at Little Brother's school are big and have been blooming for a while. (I was at the school yesterday.) Do a blog search to find other posts about first graders' morning glories. Little Brother is in sixth grade. Sixth graders are growing potatoes.