Thursday, October 15, 2009

My Flowers Can't Tell Time!


The Herbal Husband and I like fragrance in the garden and this is a favorite annual from Peru with fragrance.  They are called Four O'Clocks or Marvels of Peru (Mirabilis jalapa) because supposedly they bloom at that time of day.  It doesn't work at our house.  They bloom around 11 AM for us!  Maybe they are on Pacific time.  They come in a lot of different colors.  Mostly we have this magenta color.  I have also seen bicolor ones that I may have to buy for next season.  Another reason to have a retail seed experience!  These seeds were collected from years past, but we also have purchased seeds from various vendors.  This seed is an easy one for the little kids to plant and watch grow, because the seeds are big and germinate fairly quickly!  P.S.  The frost got our four o'clocks and they didn't get time (Ha! Ha!) to set seed!  I'll have to buy some new varieties!  Great!  A retail seed experience!  Always happy to have them!

2 comments:

Rosemary said...

Nancy, This jalap root is also considered a money attacting plant!! We keep a large piece of root in our register! Might be something to consider since you can't tell time by them!

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

I knew there was another reason I should be growing these besides the country they are from and the time factor which doesn't work anyway! Thanks for the tip, Susanna!