is this plant invasive? does it require heat to thrive, as I live on the Oregon coast.

Hi and welcome to NGA!

Your don diego de le blanca looks like Ipomoea alba - if this is like the I. alba it is an annual for those who get killing freezes in Winter - if the plant itself doesn't die back it could clearly get very much out of hand and very quickly. The problem with this vine is that it's very VERY aggressive once it gets going with thick stems and makes a more seeds than you can imagine so from that point of view, it is invasive. I grow these almost every year on masonry ladders and when I see seed pods starting to form I spend about 20 minutes once a week cutting the pods off the vine and also cutting back runners that run along the ground. The vine itself will strangle anything it gets a hold of. They do best in the 75 to 90 degree heat range in my experience.

I would suggest if you want to grow this or any other invasive vine, to do so vertically off the ground and take great care not to let the runners get away from you. Masonry Ladders are the best thing for invasive vines because it makes it easier to contain and control their growth.

https://garden.org/ideas/view/...

Hi nanhammons,

Does the plant have any other name that you are aware of? I searched but couldn't find a plant by that name.

I don't think the plant in question is Moonflower (Ipomoea alba) I googled and found this page and it translated to Mirabilis jalapa: https://translate.google.com/t... so I wonder if perhaps the plant might be a white form of Four o'Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) perhaps Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis jalapa 'Alba')

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Mirabilis can be invasive in some areas. It was a pest plant in our yard when we lived in Daytona Beach, especially the white one which took over and spread everywhere; we found it impossible to eradicate; some of the tubers were huge!

Lin I found this in our database .. it's listed as Ipomoea.



If indeed it is Mirabilis jalapa then yes again .. it's very invasive as they make a kazillion seeds along with huge tubers that are hardy to zone 7.

Anne, thanks ... I couldn't find it in the database but I probably misspelled the name.

Maybe @nanhammons will be able to tell for sure which it is by comparing bloom photos:

Ipomoea blooms:


Mirabilis blooms: