I haven’t grown Four O’Clocks in decades, but I decided to give them a try again this year. You can sow the seeds directly in a flowerbed once the soil has warmed up in the spring, but I opted to give my plants a head start by sowing some seeds indoors in April. I did soak those tough, round seeds in water for about three days before tucking them in the planting medium, however.
You can buy a Marbles mix, but I chose separate colors of Marbles Red/White and Marbles Yellow/White. The flowers are very pretty and come in solids and stripes. They decide to open based on temperature—they open when it’s cooler and stay open overnight. Some days I have flowers until noon and then again in the evening. On hot days I may not see flowers until dusk or only very early in the morning.
The bushy plants grow 24 to 36 inches tall in full sun or part sun.
Marbles Four O’Clocks are deer and rabbit-resistant, and tolerant of drought. I have only one annual bed that isn’t surrounded by chicken wire this year, and the rabbits chewed on everything in that bed except the Four O’Clocks.