No, the cardinal climber morning glory link is a family one, not a same-plant one. The two are close cousins. They are not the same plant. The cardinal climber you buy is in fact an Ipomoea multifida hybrid, while a true morning glory is its own plant. At a glance the two do look related, since both twine up a trellis with the same twisty stems. But the leaf and flower shapes give the difference away fast once you know the signs. So you can tell them apart in a few seconds.
Start with the leaves. A common morning glory has broad, heart-shaped leaves that look almost solid. Cardinal climber has lacy, deeply cut leaves that look more like fern fronds. The flowers tell the same story. Morning glories open into large, flat funnels that can reach 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) across. Cardinal climber sends out small red trumpets. Those blooms stay under about 2 inches (5 cm) wide, so they read as tiny next to a true morning glory.
The two share a real bloodline. They both sit in the same big plant family, the one that experts call Convolvulaceae. They both sit in the same genus too, which goes by the name Ipomoea. So cardinal climber really is a kind of morning glory in the broad sense. It is just not the one most gardeners picture in their heads. NC State and the University of Wisconsin both group it right there with its relatives.
Here is the fun part. Cardinal climber is not a wild plant at all. It is a hybrid of two morning glory relatives. Those two parents are the scarlet morning glory and the cypress vine. That cross is why the plant sits in the middle of the two. It pulls the lacy, cut leaves from the cypress vine side. And it pulls the bolder red blooms from the scarlet morning glory side. The result is a vine that borrows the best of each parent.
Want to be sure? Skip the leaves and flowers. Check the botanical name on the seed packet or plant tag. The hybrid you are after gets sold as Ipomoea multifida on a lot of the tags out there. You may also see it sold under the name Ipomoea sloteri on some of the rest. Either of those two names tells you that you have the hybrid in hand. A plain morning glory will carry a label that does not match either one. So the Latin name is the surest test of all, and it works on a tiny seedling too.
The classic morning glory has its own set of names too. The two you will run into the most are Ipomoea purpurea and the one they call Ipomoea tricolor. Does the tag read either of those? Then you are holding a true morning glory, not the cardinal climber. This one check beats guessing from a young seedling. The leaves can look alike before the plant fills out. The flowers only show up later. By then you may have the vine in the wrong spot.
So treat cardinal climber as part of the morning glory family vine group. Do not treat it as a stand-in for the classic kind. The care needs do line up well. Both like full sun. Both climb fast. Both need a fence or trellis to grab. The hummingbirds love both, too, since the bright trumpets pull them right in. But you grow the two vines for different looks in the yard.
Pick cardinal climber when you want fine, ferny leaves and bright red blooms on a smaller scale. Pick a true morning glory when you want those big purple or blue funnels that wake up each morning. Many gardeners plant both side by side and let them weave together on one trellis. The mix of fine and broad leaves looks great, and the red and blue blooms play off each other well. Read the Latin name on the packet first, and you will never mix the two up again.
Read the full article: Cardinal Climber: Grow Guide and Care Tips
