Four O’clocks
Four O’clocks
Here’s a gray-area plant that I recently received as a gift. Hastily handed to me, bareroot, after sitting in a hot car for a few hours, they were barely hanging on. I plopped them in pots, watered them well, and set them in a mostly shady area (~4 hrs of afternoon sun). The gifter had no idea what they were.
After about 2 weeks of life support they’ve now bloomed and revealed themselves to be Sweet Four O’Clocks (Mirabilis longiflora) native to the Southwest of the US and northern Mexico. A preliminary “is this invasive” search led me to find that they are not, but they’re closely related to Wild Four O’Clocks (Mirabilis nyctaginea) which are on the WA state noxious weed list.
They grow 4-5’ tall and wide and prefer loose and loamy soil (ha) and fairly consistent moisture. They supposedly bloom in the afternoon through morning and are always bright and cheery first thing in the morning when I rush out to water my pots before scrambling to work.
For the next few weeks they’ll be staying in pots and once our new patio cover is done I’ll probably plant them along the posts. That way I can keep on eye on them for bloom times, pollinator activity, and seeding/spreading aggression. We’ll see how they hold up to our northern climate. With their trumpet-shaped flowers, I suspect the hummingbirds will be thrilled if they thrive.
The root tubers can spread pretty aggressively to form large clumps and they have fairly smooth seeds, fwiw. I've planted some in a relatively unused portion of my front yard, and am looking forward to using the flowers to make a pH indicator. (something to use when neutralizing vinegar/bone meal solution and similar fertilizers, etc)
Supposedly other parts of the plant are used medicinally in some parts of the world. Worth looking up. Not sure how much faith I have in their efficacy.2Thank you that’s very good to know. I’ll definitely use them around the patio then. The dogs have beaten the clay into borderline concrete there so I’ll dig them a little bed and wish them the best of luck. Luckily the dogs have moved past the “let’s mouth everything phase” and will avoid taste-testing it. Trampling isn’t out of the question though.
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A note: these are absolutely NOT considered native to the PNW specifically, but they are native to the SW of the US. With rapidly heating summers and winters that flip-flop between “build an ark” and “slightly moist”, this forum has agreed to follow the general consensus of “native-ish”. This does not mean I will be unleashing these into our wild areas, and they will remain tightly controlled and monitored in my “mostly natives” yard in the immediate vicinity of the house bordered by large inhospitable areas of maintained grass and gravel. Seeds will be monitored for traveling traits like fuzzy or prickly coatings meant to catch the wind or hitch a ride on a passing fauna. Any highly aggressive traits will most likely result in their culling.
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