Monday, September 3, 2007

Four O Clock (Marvel-of-Peru ,Beauty-of-the-Night (Mirabilis jalapa))

So heavy the stalks are close to breaking.


I love this flower.. Every year it comes back with abundance.. Here in my garden it is an annual/perennial depending upon where it is planted.. I have stalks of it that come back bigger and bigger every year. Large bush sized that are South facing.. The North facing ones are annuals, that reseed themselves hardily.. Mine are all the hot pink color.. I love the smell of them when they open up in the evening.. Hence the name Four O Clock. They sleep like I do in the morning and day and then come out to play at night..







7 comments:

Whyite said...

Four O clocks are great plants. What time do your come out? Your photos of them look great. I never can get a good composure of them.

Petunia's Gardener said...

I have two plants growing and I hope one will make it to flowering & seeds. Otherwise, I'll try again next year. I first met them at a house we bought in AL. They came back every year. We'll see how they do here in WA.

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Do the hummingbirds like your four o'clocks? They come to mine all the time.

Dirty Fingernails said...

iowa~ they love the four o clocks.. I will have a massive amount of seeds this year and will harvest them, hopefully to start taking over in a very shady wooded area.. They seem to be non destructive at this point. I would think think they would grow just fine in WA Petunia... Curtis much patience is practiced with photography of them.

MrBrownThumb said...

Oh I love Four O' Clocks but I can't get a seed to germinate to save my life.

At least I have nice gardeners like you that post pics so I can enjoy them.

Ki said...

When I was a kid, we would pick the black seeds and using our fingernails to peel back the rough skin until we got to the seed itself which was surprisingly white and dry, almost like corn starch or baby powder. We would smear it on our faces. Can't look at a four o'clock without thinking about those times.

kris said...

Oh, my mom used to grow four o clocks - I haven't seen them in years. Thanks!