A Bright Spot of the Morning!

It feels good to be back on the Bayou after a week long trip to Georgia to visit our daughter-in-law and grandbaby.  While it was most delightful to be with them, there is honestly no place like home.  This morning at daybreak, I was back on the pier again.  Back in my little "feel good" place. When I first stepped on the pier, I noticed a splash of bright pink in the marsh.  Ahh, Saltmarsh Morning Glories!  Never before have I had any growing so close to the pier.  I have always admired these beauties from a distance but now had the opportunity to view them up close.  This excited me although the plants can (and do occasionally) take over an area.  They have a tendency to reseed quite prolifically and can intertwine with any and all plants..sometimes choking the less sturdy.   Still, since this one was wrapping itself around a undesirable scrubby bush, I had no problem with it staying right where it decided to grow.  I viewed it as a little bright spot among the otherwise drab greens and browns of the marsh.

Saltmarsh Morning Glories are especially salt tolerant which is why this one can flourish while its roots are literally submerged in the brackish water of the Bay.  The plant, with its three inch blooms, can be found in most of the saltmarshes of the southern states.   It is a perennial that will die when the temperatures drop below freezing but will bounce right back come warmer weather.  The leaves of this morning glory are quite distinctive compared to the glories in the garden up the hill. These are more "arrowhead" shaped than the typical "heart" shape that the garden type glories have.  Both do make the typical round seed pod that will darken and then burst to release the small seeds.  These seeds will either sink under water to take root or will wash to a new destination.

Although the Saltmarsh Morning Glory is quite beautiful, I have never seen it being grown in any gardens. It would require a lot of water and can grow to massive lengths which might make it undesirable to have in home garden plots.  I had difficulty with my regular morning glories strangling out other plants so I suppose the Saltmarsh Glories will stay in the marsh.  Perhaps it is a good idea to leave well enough alone and just enjoy these where I find them!  It is nice to be surprised by their sudden appearance.  The bright pink splash does indeed brighten the morning!