Scientific Name Mirabilis jalapa Common Name Four-o'clock

Perennial Flowers Consumer Hort Index - Fact Sheets

Characteristics Season late spring to frost Height 18-36 inches Hardiness USDA Hardiness Zone 9-10 Flower Color yellow, red, white, pink, striped Soil moist soil, very site tolerant Exposure full sun to partial shade Propagation seed, division of tuberous root North Carolina Regions Coastal Plain Comments Four-o'clock can be grown as an annual across North Carolina, but only perennializes in warm, protected coastal gardens. Old plants produce large, potato-like tuberous roots. Fragrant flowers open at four or five o'clock in the evening and are pollinated by hummingbirds and moths. Origin South America

Prepared by: orginally by Alice B. Russell, retired Extension Specialist, NC State University
                     maintained and expanded by Erv Evans, Consumer Horticulturist, NC State University

Images: ©Alice B. Russell and Erv Evans

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