Any one know if 4 O'Clock seed keeps parent color?

Hi all, I have several 4 O'Clock colors growing and wondered if seeds will be true to the parent's color or not. I'd like to save seeds for trade. I'm not sure if I can label with a color without spending a season testing the seeds, so I'm hoping someone has experience with this. Thanks!

Judging from the crazy striped and polka dotted flowers that can appear on the same bush, I imagine they cross eagerly.

If you're growing only one color, you're likely to get seeds that haven't crossed, though there's no guarantee. Just offer your trades as "White Four O'clocks - open pollinated" or whatever color you're growing. Gardeners will understand there's no guarantee in nature.

If you've got a mix of plants, you'll have mixed seeds to trade, period. But anyone who wants Four O'clocks will understand they're in for some surprises.

Have fun!

Thanks smartseeds! I have several colors going, this answers the question of whether to keep the seeds from different plants separate or mix them all together. I suspected this was the case, but wasn't sure. I have one white near magentas that gets an occasional flower with a stripe of magenta. I was confused by a second white that's right next to a few magentas and a yellow - the yellow gets the occasional magenta stripe, but the white in this location does not!
Appreciate the knowledge!

Glad to help. Four O'Clocks were one of the first seeds I collected. I was AMAZED to see different colored flowers on the same plant - striped, half and half, every combination.

Have fun!

I have heirloom 4 o'clocks and don't have any plants that produce just 1 color, they are solid colors, striped and polka doted and I just love to look at them in the mornings. I've got 'em growing everywhere in my 2 acre yard and I also have pictures posted in the perennials section at Dave's Garden. I have been gathering seeds for the last couple of weeks.

Interesting, Boopsie! I've been thinking it's odd that my plants are so 'set' in their colors! I thought I had a mixed color plant, but it turned out to be several different small plants growing together :(

(Can you post a link to your photos? I tried to find a link via your member page but didn't see one listed - would love to take a look!)

AmyMorie I have 2 pictures of 4 o'clocks posted in the photos thread. My plants have solid colors of white, yellow, fushia, red, all these colors are mixed with stripes or polka doted. I will try to get more pictures in the morning and post them.

I took this picture this morning, some of my 4 o'clock plants are as tall as me 5 feet.

AmyMorie, I took this picture for you today. Hope you like all the colors on 1 plant.

Here's another 1 taken this morning of 1 plant. I just love the colors mixed together.

Lovely shots!!! I do like all the colors; yours are much more mixed than mine!!
i have a yellow that is pretty reliably mixed with the magenta. But my whites are not!! One has never gotten another color, despite being planted in a large swath of other colors. The second one gets maybe 1 out of 50 flowers with a stripe or two of magenta.

Your are fun and beautiful! thanks for posting!!

AmyMorie, I'll have plenty of seeds to trade in the future. Thanks for the comments.

BoopsieTN,

Your photos are gorgeous! and so are your color combinations...

Elsa

Elsa123, thank you so much for the compliment. I even have 4 o'clocks growing in gravel! When my husband would mow I would try to pull up the ones that were gonna get cut down and plant them somewhere else. He made the mistake of telling me not to plant them in a spot where it is all gravel next to the house-well guess where they are as tall as me-Yeap exactly where he told me not to plant them.

LOL! Luckily my husband hates gardening. He loves the flowers, so I am left to do whatever I please, as long as I don't rip out the lawn. :-)