Growing a collection
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Born out of the last days of summer, this collection grew as the Morning glory vines wound their way towards the light.
My mother sowed the seeds long before we arrived. They tangled their way through the Sweet peas, wrapping their tendrils tightly, stretching towards the light. They immediately caught my daughter's eye.
Soon it became her morning ritual. She would slip outside, down the mossy path in her bare feet to check on the Morning glories. After carefully counting them she would burst back in, eyes shining to tell me it was a five Morning glory flower day!
Days became rated on the number of Morning glory flowers that bloomed. Seven was the record. Some days there weren't any. On those days we would count the buds and hope for more tomorrow.
My daughter began collecting them, pressing them between the pages of a large, red, oxford english dictionary that smelled like my childhood.
Eventually, she decided that they were for me. I gratefully accepted her gift and now I am sharing it with you as a reminder to always look for beauty in the world no matter how fleeting it may be.
Morning glory
Ipomoea purpurea
There are over 1,000 varieties of Morning glory spread across the world. Many are classes as invasive weeds. In some countries it is illegal to sell or import specific varieties. And although some are classed as weeds others have been revered for their beauty and unique properties for centuries.
In China and Japan the Morning Glory is a flowers prised for it's beauty but also its medicinal properties. It is used in many traditional Chinese remedies. In Japan there is a annual festival, Iriya Asago Matsuri, that celebrates the flower.
In Victorian language of flowers there were always several interpretations but Morning glory represented love, life, death and also love in vain. Specifically blue Morning glory flowers represented deep emotions, infinitive love, trust, respect, and honesty
The seed of some species of Morning glories contain psychoactive compounds. Indigenous peoples in Central and South America used these species in rituals for their hallucinogenic properties. They were though to induce a dreamlike state that allowed communication with the gods.
