Glorious Bush Morning Glory

Convolvulus cneorum

March is the month that Bush Morning Glory (Convolvulus cneorum) really struts its stuff in the low desert. It is a silvery mounding shrub that looks good year-round, but when it blooms, it is glorious. It will continue its heavy blooming from now until about May 15, and then it will have intermittent bloom periods through early fall, but none will match its current copiousness. The white funnel flowers completely cover the shrubs, which are about four feet in diameter.

I’ve found that Bush Morning Glory shrubs are not particularly long-lived. Each summer, I lose a few, as I discussed in a previous post. My first thought was over watering, so last fall I changed the irrigation emitters from one gallon per hour emitters to ½ gallon per hour. However, the shrubs were never leggy, a sure sign of over watering. I asked a local nurseryman about my problem and he told me that I could reasonably expect a two to five year life span for these shrubs. My shrubs are now three years old. If I lose more this summer, I’m going to assume it’s from old age.