I noticed after posting that the time was wrong. So I am testing to see if it is fixed.
I am very excited to have my very first Moonflower today! I have tried growing them a few times. One time I remember growing them on my fence in full sun behnd my Lilies and they grew up it and grew very well until it got very hot and then they wilted and died, never sending out a single flower.
Last year I tried them in a pot on my deck that gets sun from 10ish until sun down and they were doing very well again until the hot weather really kicked in and they did the same thing, wilted and died before ever flowering. So this spring I was reading up about them and found mention of them doing better with shade during the hottest part of the day in the hotter southern states. So I thought maybe that will work for me too. It also happened that my arbor that gets shade right at the hottest part of the day was bare this year since this past winter did in my climber rose I was trying to grow on it and the winter before that, did in my huge honeysuckle vine (Lonicera sempervirens) that I had on the opposite side. I have been trying to fight off the Morning Glory Grandpa Otts volunteers overwhelming that area so that the plants won't get mixed up into each other. I can't believe how much those re-seed! As I was checking out all the new seedlings I needed to pull this morning, I noticed a bud that looked like it would open very soon!
And just now at 5:30 pm I noticed the flower was open! The sun still feels quite strong because it was such a hot day today, it is still 85 degrees, but it is pretty much fully open! I am so happy to finally get to stick my nose in the flower and take a big whiff. It does have a pleasant scent to me and I can imagine if there were a lot the smell would be quite noticeable. Hopefully they will continue to do well in this spot.
