Four O’Clock, White (Mirabilis jalapa), packet of 7 seeds, organic

Family:  Four O’Clock (Nyctaginacea)

Hardy to Zones 7 to 10, otherwise grown as an easy annual, 100 days to blossoms.

(Marvel of Yunnan, Jasmine Scented Four O’Clock)  Woody perennial sub-shrub in warm zones.  These make a fountainous bush 4 feet tall studded in season with hundreds of flowers, pure white with a slight lavender caste, fragrant of jasmine. Traditional usage (TWM): dysentery, stomachache and diarrhea.  The plant makes a large underground tuber.  In colder areas, these can be heavily mulched to bring a plant through the winter, or they may be lifted and kept cool and dry in a root cellar and replanted successfully in the spring. In Japan, the plant is known as “Face Powder Flower” (Oshiroibana).  Children smash the seeds and use the resulting white powder as makeup.  This is one of the better midsize garden flowers for general showiness.  They thrive.  Plant prefers sun to part shade and moist soils.  If you sow the seeds indoors 6 weeks before the last frost, then you will have big bushes and plenty of flowers come summer. Alternatively, you can sow the seeds directly in the garden. Sow seeds about 1 inch deep and 6 inches apart, then thin to 1 plant every 12 inches. Large seeds are gratifyingly easy to germinate.   7 seeds per packet, Certified Organically Grown