A warm-toned new color for the Four o'Clock family, Salmon Sunset is very strongly scented and so eye-catching you'll find yourself drawn to it irresistibly in the twilight and evening garden. The blooms open as the sun goes down and remain all night, perfuming the air deliciously!
These trumpet-shaped flowers are just 1 to 2 inches across, but held wide open and suffused with handsome sunset tones. They stand out brilliantly against dark green foliage on plants 2 to 3 feet tall. Find a spot in the sunny garden -- Four o'Clock does need good soil drainage -- and enjoy the blooms from late spring all the way through summer and fall! And at season's end, carefully dig up each plant and harvest the tuber that has grown from the original seed! You can replant it next spring for another season of glory (and even earlier blooms!)
And if you like Salmon Sunset, you must try multicolored Broken Colors, and lime-leaved Limelight,too! You just can't have too many Four o'Clocks in the garden -- they grow in a snap, bloom for months, and always look terrific when you least expect it!
One more note about Four o'Clocks: they are lovely in color and fragrance, but but also useful as a Japanese Beetle trap around roses and veggies. Japanese Beetles are drawn to Four o'Clock blooms like moths to flame, and if your garden is at all bothered by Japanese Beetles, simply plant Four o'Clocks near vulnerable plants (in addition to Roses, the beetles love potatoes, corn, and many berries). Once the Four o'Clocks start blooming, fill a bucket with water, add a squirt of dishwashing detergent, and visit the plants in late afternoon or evening. Chances are the flowers will be loaded with beetles, which you can kill by just dropping them into the soapy water. (And if your Four o'Clock attracts masses of the beetles -- and it might -- you can uproot the whole plant and dunk it in soapy water, killing hundreds of beetles at a single go.) It's a shame to sacrifice Four o'Clocks this way, but they're a fantastic alternative to potentially harmful sprays and other insecticides, and they're wonderfully effective! Hardy in zones 8-11. Pkt is 40 seeds.