Four O'Clocks Seeds - Broken Colors

Mirabilis jalapa

These unusual and very pretty Four O’Clocks have bicolored and mottled flowers in shades of red, pink, white, and yellow that open in late afternoon and stay open all night. Lots of pollinators, including hummingbirds and night-flying moths love them. 

Four O’Clocks can be direct-seeded in the garden in late spring, or started indoors up to 8 weeks before the last frost. They bloom from late summer into fall. They are perennial, and also self-seed quite easily, so one planting of this beautiful flower can keep going for years to come! The plants die back in winter, but return after the soil warms up in late spring.

To keep your Four O’Clocks from spreading, plant them in a container and collect their seed pods at the end of the year. If you want to move or propagate them, you can dig up the tubers in winter and re-plant them elsewhere, similar to dahlias.