The 4 O'clock - Mirabilis Jalapa

As a child I remember playing with the seeds as well as using the trumpet shaped flowers as a whistle.  The seeds are black and roundish - similiar to the goat's stool. As children, we would press open the seeds and extract the whitish powder to use as face powder.  I don't remember suffering any  side effects, but the seeds and the powder within is found to be slightly toxic! The flowers are  said to open by 4 o'clock, hence the name.  However I find this is not the case.  The flowers open when there is a drop in temperature,  mostly  around five or six  in the evening or sometimes even much later.  The flowers  remained  open until the next morning, closing  when it gets too hot for their comfort, I think. These days with people going to work in the morning and returning home in the evening, this is the plant they can enjoy.  The fragrance the flowers exude in a warm evening is just too lovely to resist.

Perhaps it was for childhood memories, or perhaps it was because my mother had this plant in her garden that  I collected the seeds to plant in my garden as well.  The plant grows easily, and it grows on me as well. The fragrance from the flowers is gentle and comforting, although some evenings I can't smell it at all.   In my collection I have the orange, white and pink varieties. About a  week  ago one plant bloomed for the first time,  and to my delight the first two flowers are the mixed - light yellow with streaks of magenta! Two days later on the same plant two magenta colored flowers appeared !  I cannot figure out how this can happen but according to Wikipedia, apparently this does happen. Interesting - so now I am looking forward to seeing more mixes from this common yet unusual plant.

Quote :"A curious aspect of this plant is that flowers of different colors can be found simultaneously on the same plant. Additionally, an individual flower can be splashed with different colors. Another interesting point is a color-changing phenomenon. For example, in the yellow variety, as the plant matures, it can display flowers that gradually change to a dark pink color. Similarly white flowers can change to light violet.
The flowers usually open from late afternoon onwards, then producing a strong, sweet-smelling fragrance, hence the first of its common names. In China, it is called the "shower flower" (Chinese: 洗澡花; pinyin: xǐzǎo huā) or "rice boiling flower" (煮饭花; zhǔfàn huā) because it is in bloom at the time of these activities. In Hong Kong, it is known as "purple jasmine" (紫茉莉). "

 The above are snapshots of the first mixed and magenta blooms. I like the pink very much since the color is refreshing and cool. It was drizzling  a bit when I took the pictures in the evening, so please excuse the photography.  I adore my mirabilis plants, they are easy to care for and they bloomed perpetually as well as profusely.  Now and then, I just trim the plant to encourage new growth.  The leaves are forever  green, although some may complain of the many wasted blooms that become black and unsightly on the plant.  It is a no fuss plant, and anyone can grow them without any trouble at all.  The stems are not so strong causing the plant tend to lean over so it might need some additional support unless one prefers the sprawling look in the garden.  Baby plants will appear all over the place, so either pick the seeds now and then  if one is hardworking and nothing better to do, or start pulling out the babies when they appear. Seeds collected can be thrown in neglected areas of the neighborhood !  The mirabilis grows nicely into a small healthy bush given a bit of fertilizer and cool weather. It does not like heat too much.