Moon Flower Plant

After I started working on my patio this spring I have had a few friends give me plants which is a good thing... because they have extras from their garden to share, must mean they are good for this area.... right?  I'm new to gardening in Texas, so any help I can get is great.  Way back when, I have had many a garden, and mostly very big gardens.  Gardening in Texas is a whole new arena... I have to learn all over again.  The soil here is mostly sand, and the ants, grasshoppers and deer are really prolific and there is a spring garden as well as a fall garden, and I have been told that if you know what you are doing, you can plant almost any time here.  Now all I have to do is learn what works here.  I tried my hand at it the first year we were here, on a very small scale, but it was a disaster... which caused me to hang up my hoe for a very long time.  I have planted some bushes and flowers with pretty good success lately, but I have decided to take it up a notch... or two, and do a real garden and see what happens.

Back to my friends... one in particular has a very green thumb.  A few weeks ago she brought me a bunch of different plants that were from her garden.  She thought I might enjoy some new plants. One of them was a Moon Flower.  For the first couple of weeks I didn't think it was going to make it, but it came around and started to show new life.  This was my Moon Flower plant last week.

I have been keeping an eye on it through the week, and really noticed it yesterday.

This morning at 7a.m. I took this picture.  The top part that is the actual blossom, above the green, is at least 4" maybe 5" long.  This is my very first Moon Flower, so I'm learning as I go, but from what I have been reading, this is a vine type plant, and will grow several feet in one season.  It is remarkable to see how it has changed in just one week, but I have not seen any indication that this one wants to start climbing.  I am sure I will see new characteristics in the upcoming weeks.

This next photo was taken at 1 this afternoon.  The plant is drooping because of the hot sun, but I can see that I will have to be keeping close tabs on this blossom as the evening approaches.  The blossoms of the Moon Flower only last one day... that is it will open in the evening, then be done next day by midday... I'm thinking that will be more like mid-morning.