When to plant Morning Glory
Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.
Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.
Representative timing, by climate band
When to plant Morning Glory in four US climates
Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.
| Stage |
Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY |
Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN |
Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start seed indoors | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Direct-sow outside | May 6–May 20 | Apr 7–Apr 21 | Feb 24–Mar 10 | – |
| Transplant outside | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Fall planting | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Expected harvest | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a tender crop. In climates like this one, tender and very-tender crops typically go in before the hottest months arrive, not on a frost-relative schedule.
Morning glory is a tender annual vine, and on that point Clemson Cooperative Extension's Growing Annuals factsheet, NC State Extension's Plant Toolbox, and Missouri Botanical Garden's Gardening with Annuals factsheet all agree; Missouri Botanical Garden notes it "needs vertical support" once it's climbing.
None of those three sources gives an exact week count for direct-sow timing beyond "after last frost when soil has warmed"; the two-week window after frost shown on this page encodes that qualitative guidance rather than a number any of them printed directly. NC State recommends scarifying the seed and soaking it 12 to 24 hours to help it germinate. No source gives a first-bloom day count.
Morning glory is grown from seed, direct-sown where it will climb.
Frost hardiness
Tender. Damaged or killed by frost. Plant after the last frost date.
Sourcing notes
Tender annual vine -- consistent across Clemson Growing Annuals, NC State Extension Plant Toolbox (annual, no perennial hardiness given), and Missouri Botanical Garden's Gardening with Annuals (grouped under Summer/tender annuals, "needs vertical support"). NC State: seeds should be scarified and soaked 12-24 hours to aid germination. No source gave an exact week-count for direct-sow timing beyond "after last frost when soil has warmed"; the 0-2 week window encodes that qualitative guidance rather than a literal sourced number, and no first-bloom day count was found in any extension source.
Related crops
Growing zones for this crop
Nurseries near these locations
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Sources
- Clemson Cooperative Extension Home & Garden Information Center, Growing Annuals (HGIC 1152) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- Missouri Botanical Garden (Kemper Center for Home Gardening / gardeninghelp.org), Gardening with Annuals (accessed 2026-08-04)
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Ipomoea purpurea (accessed 2026-08-04)