hey cool

4 o'clock .. you can google for the latin ...

flower opens at .. wait for it.. 4 o'clock

extremely fragrant en masse ...

seeds winter over on the soil.. if the cardinals dont find them ...

ken

its an annual for me.. in its native peru .... i think its perennial ...

aka marvel of peru ... check out the link

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Latin name = Mirabilis jalapa. It is possible that some of the tubers might survive over winter being next to that brick wall, although I don't know which direction it faces. That's a very healthy looking patch of them!! They are perennial here and one at my Mom's house came from her house in OH. It had been there, against a west wall for about 8 years, so I dug it up for her to bring to AL. The tuber was about the size and shape of a football, which surprised the heck out of me, and had the texture of the basement wall imprinted on that side. I had "aimed" closer to the plant with the shovel and almost chopped about 1/3 of the tuber off when I dug it up. But it is still alive in the ground (not near her house) here in AL after being moved about 7 years ago.

Very cool. Thanks.

You're welcome. Forgot to say, the basement wall mentioned above was 5b, facing west.

The seeds do sprout more reliably from winter sowing (being outside all winter) but, like Ken said, the birds do love them. I like to hedge my bets and save some seeds. Hey, you'll see later, the seeds look like tiny grenades. If you hold a bowl in 1 hand and gently bend the flower heads down toward the bowl, the ripe seeds will fall into the bowl.

Since they are so easy from seeds and make a ton of seeds to scatter and save, I've never dug up the tubers but that is an option you also have.

Talking about this makes me curious how you have this beautiful mass of what looks like possibly overwintered tubers, upon further inspection? It looks like the stems are leaning sharply away from the wall, as if the main stems are up against the wall? Do you think the fragrance is like cotton candy but somewhat variable from the different colors/plants?

I think this plant is a (very) underrated annual. So easy to grow from seed with very unique flowers. I always leave a space in my garden for a 4 o'clock or two.

When I was a kid we used to call the seeds "grenades" and of course they were used by GI Joe, and Johnny and Jane West.

gottagarden, years ago I had a friend who liked to make and paint soldier models. He would always want 1 of these seeds for the soldier's grenade.

Just wanted to clarify - above I talked about digging up a tuber for my Mom to move to AL, then said I've never dug them up. By that I meant I've never dug them up to store for winter, just the one time for Mom to move "the original."

Here is one of our 4 o'clocks from this summer 2012. It was planted from seed this past spring. It is 3 feet wide by 2.5 feet tall. It is the largest one I have grown.

nice picture, I really like that color. I got tired of four o'clocks and stopped growing them, but might have to try again!

Actualy I did try a yellow leaved strain and a night blooming kind this year, but planted seeds so late they're still on the small size.