ghoghunter - Ipomoea (formerly Mina) lobata is typically a very late bloomer,so just keep your fingers crossed that it blooms before the frosts hit...

You can try a bloom boosting stimulator like phosphorus,it might help and it won't hurt...as long as you don't overdo it...

TTY,...

Ron

Ghoghunter,mine did the same thing! I got sooooooo restless waiting for those blooms! I got a few, but no seeds. I don't grow it anymore,even though it IS a beautiful vine.

Thanks Ron and Arum. I guess it must be a Fall blooming plant then. Oh I hope it blooms early enough for the hummers I get here. I think they migrated before the Pineapple sage I had last year bloomed and I was so disappointed! Well I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I hope I get to enjoy some blooms before frost!!! Oh well live and learn! I never grew it before and there was no hint on the Burpee seed packet that it bloomed so late in the season or I wouldn't have bothered which is why they no doubt didn't put it on there!!!!

I understand that the mina lobata attracts hummingbirds and would like to try it in my garden. Does it have a scent? My husband is allergic to heavily scented flowers such as roses and honeysuckle so I have to be careful of what we have in the garden. The fact that it blooms late in the season is a plus for me because we have very little blooming right now.

I didn't notice any scent when I grew it. By the way if did finally bloom in September and looked beautiful. I think if I had been able to start it sooner it might have bloomed sooner too. Good luck with yours!
Joann

I took this picture on Nov. 7,2007. It's a late fall bloomer for me here in zone 9 Texas.
Jim

Wow! It looks beautiful. Well worth the wait.
Joann

I wonder if it is a day length thing that triggers the blooming. If so would starting early indoors help at all. I have a problem with Heavenly Blue MG; by the time they start blooming it is nearly time for frost.

If the day length triggers the blooms then starting it early won't have much of an effect. If it is length of time growing then starting it early will help. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try and let us know how it works out. It sounds like it is day length from most of the responses here though.
Joann

I would like to suggest locating seeds from strains of Ipomoea lobata which have successfully naturally flowered earlier in the cooler zones,as the seeds from the early flowering plants are likely to produce more early flowering offspring...

Hope that helps...

Ron

I have planted Spanish Flags in early March, and they flowered in early June, but on spindly vines that died after flowering. I now wait til May to plant, and get robust vines that bloom in late fall.
Jim

Ipomoea lobata is generally a short day plant,but the shortening of the days is not the only factor that induces them to bloom and that sense they are not strict short day plants...

Temperature gradients and other environmental factors do play a role in inducing the plants to flower and for a person in a cold zone who wants I.lobata to flower and set seed before the killing frosts,they would do best in obtaining seeds from a strain that has adapted to flowering and setting seeds in a zone most similar to their own...

Hoping that helps...

Ron