| Author | Content |
gardenpom
Melbourne, FL
September 30, 2008 11:02 AM Post #5616322
| I don't think my gardens have ever been without a Four O' Clock or two or three! (sort of reminds me of that Chicago song). |
joeswife
(Debra) Derby, KS (Zone 6a)
September 30, 2008 12:01 PM Post #5616436
| hehe me neither.. I have four o clocks right out my back door on eith side they are at least 4 foot tall and I love the scent.. I COLLECT different colours, I need some varigated ones. I have fushia, pink, salmon, yellow, white. I love to put them all around the yard to have colour in the evening. would post a pic but you or anyone else can go to my site to see them.. http://hondagrl57.multiply.com/ look in the photos page or go to the flickr link |
youngershirl
Orange Park, FL (Zone 9a)
September 30, 2008 12:38 PM Post #5616558
| My sister-n-law recently gave me some seeds. I have just thought of a place I could plant them. Thanks for the inspiration!
Joeswife, love your web site. Beautiful gardens. |
Dutchlady1
Naples, FL (Zone 10a)
September 30, 2008 1:48 PM Post #5616838
| Thanks for the article.
As a newbie to Four O'clocks - now that the blooming will start to taper off what should I do with my large bush. I am in zone 10. |
gardenpom
Melbourne, FL
September 30, 2008 1:56 PM Post #5616874
| I usually just break mine way back close to the ground and they come back strong. |
dahlianut
Calgary, AB (Zone 3a)
September 30, 2008 2:19 PM Post #5617009
| Thanks for the article. Interesting bit of trivia: Four o'clocks are seven am oclocks here. A few of us grow them as annuals and wonder why this happens. Perhaps our latitude makes the angle of the morning sun seem like afternoon to them? Wonderful companions with my morning coffee so I don't mind. |
gardenpom
Melbourne, FL
September 30, 2008 2:21 PM Post #5617020
| Here during the hot season (most of the year), they rarely open for me until evening. |
joeswife
(Debra) Derby, KS (Zone 6a)
September 30, 2008 2:29 PM Post #5617067
| I shape my four o clocks to be supportive to my other plants like tomatoes that seem to want to vine ..mine by the back door are supporting my cherry tomatoes and covering as an umbrella my violets and pentas.. i break them off quite often and throw them down where I wat new plants to start up.. if u pinch them out at first four leaves they branch real nice..thnks for visiting my sit if anyone wants seeds just holler up! |
1973tr6
Jefferson, ME
October 6, 2008 11:14 AM Post #5638466
| After a couple of weeks of sub 40 degree nighttime temperature the Four O'clocks are looking a bit ragged. The blooms have receded and seed production is on in earnest. Soon, along with the neighboring dahlias (which currently look spectacular) they'll be dug and stored for something like the 20th year. Like dahlianut's plants, here the flowers can be open morning or early evening or both! What fun to grow a plant with such a regal history. |
Tomato50
Beltsville, MD
October 6, 2008 4:57 PM Post #5639591
| We delighted in these plants as kids when a neighbor shared seeds or volunteer plants with us. There has to be a special reward in Heaven for adults who take time to talk with children and nourish their dreams and interests, especially when it comes to gardening. We moved and left the Four O'Clocks behind. Years later, I was walking with a friend through an old Atlanta neighborhood one summer evening when I suddenly was hit with that powerful, delightful fragrance. I stopped and bent down, looking for the flowers from my childhood in an old garden border. Larger plants hid them from the sidewalk enough that I did not notice them in passing, but the fragrance in the warm air announced their presence. I quickly pocketed a few of the black seeds for my family's yard. The tubers survived most Atlanta winters as they do up here in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. |
joeswife
(Debra) Derby, KS (Zone 6a)
October 6, 2008 8:21 PM Post #5640195
| my tubers stay where they are and i can count on them to come back strong after a Kansas winter, I always have seeds to put in different areas, and especially anywhere near an open window might be. .. wish they made an airfreshner called "4 o'clock lovely! " or... even a perfume! |
