4 o'clock best scent cultivar?

Need help from gardeners used to grow 4 o'clocks. I would like to grow one cultivar from which we can pick the scent a distance away. Last year I tried "Red Glow" but it was faintly scented and I was deceived. Any suggestion?

Thanks to you all.

you want the very best scent ever? Night scented stock-not much to look at but once you smell it you can stop!!
cross my heart its the very best!!!!!

zarcan,
I have grown the usual colors: whites, pinks, yellows and mixes and stripes of all these colors, etc... I can tell no great difference in them and I'm a real stickler for fragrance. DH says I have a nose like a bloodhound.


Supposedly the wild, white 4 oclock is the most fragrant. I'll post the name later as it escapes me right now. I have tried several times to grow it from seed but have had no luck getting them to come up ....... :(


I am sorry to hear about the Red Glow . I will be groiwing this for the forst time this year- if the seeds come up that is. I hope they are fragrant.


Edited to add the PF link to the wild 4oclock: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1485/index.html

This message was edited Mar 8, 2007 6:06 PM

Thanks Berry, I am happy to try the variety you suggested me this year, I hope it will stand to its reputation!

Has anyone tried Kaleidoscope? They are about as fragrant as the usual red and yellow that I have but they are so beautiful. They are easy to grow from seed and they are perenials here.

Have you tried Select Seeds 'Custard & Cream' Four O' Clocks? They are very pretty in shades of white, yellow, and mixed white/yellow and easy to grow. They have a nice fragrance too.

I have tried to grow 4 oclocks no luck.I soaked the seeds and have them in the parks bio-dome.Do the seeds require bottom heat?I need some advice?
Thanks!

Skimper ~ did you nick the seeds before soaking in warm water overnight? Of course there are may be other ways that works, but this works well for me.

Hello:garden6 I will give this method a try.Thanks!so much will do this tonight.
Thanks! Karla

You're welcome! Don't forget to deadhead those 4 o'clocks, unless you want to have a thick garden bed of them next year, you can let a few blooms go to seed in the Fall and you will have a gracious plenty to trade seeds with and share with your neighbors. Thay store very well.

Thanks!for the advice.I nicked the seeds and soaked last night.I put them back in the bio-dome with bottom heat and grow light.I have about 10 varities of JMG growing under lights.If you like JMG let me know will have plenty to trade this Fall.
Thanks! Again
Karla

I enjoy!the fragrance from the 40clocks.very! pretty blooms.I am starting the broken colors,longiflora white

I've never nicked or soaked mine either. Just toss em in the ground and water and wait. I have one magenta one that has formed a tuber and comes back every year. Plenty of seed from that guy. I think I only planted seed one time and haven't had to since (about 10 yrs now!). I had started with a mixed pack of the jalapa solid colors but they formed broken streaked flowers all on their own. I also find that the pink or magenta are the dominant colors and I began to see less and less of the whites and yellows.

My sniffer must be busted because to me they don't have a fragrance. I bought some of the longiflora white since they are supposed to be more fragrant than the normal varieties.

You're right about the fragrance. Tea Time Rose are fragrant more in the evening hours as you approach the flowers, if in the afternoon hours, I might have to sniff up a bee if I stick my nose into the flower to sniff for the fragrance.

Hey Rosie-Q, My computer has been awol until today, so I didn't see your post. As a matter of fact, I just placed an order with them for trailing petunias and a few other things a few minutes ago, so I might see if they will let me add Custard and Cream . The first year I planted Four O' Clocks, I planted them in a big pot sitting on the edge of a bed i was planting with new things. They did well in the pot that season, and the next year, they came back in the pot and all over the ground around it. Mine come back every year and I transplant the tubers all over the yard. I am transplanting some around my above ground pool with some ginger lilies. I do soak the seeds overnight also and then sow in the ground. I love them. Sometimes mine are more fragrant than other times, like on a hot humid night. Thankyou for the recommendation. Mick

Hot and humid seems to have to do with how much powerful the fragrance can be. I am gonna try to grow them at two different places just to see if there is any difference; downtown and at my country house. My Moonflower vine (ipomoea alba) had a very faint fragrance and somebody told me here, that it gets stronger on hot and humid nights. Lets see what happens before believing that I am living too up North.

This is going to sound like a really dumb question...but I have little to no exp. w/seeds. When you say "nick" the seed...is there any particular why to go about it?

I soak my seeds overnight and then just barely slit the outside shell of the seed with a sharp knife and then plant the seed right away. You only have to do that with seeds that are hard like little rocks. It helps them get a start on germinating. I also do it with Moonflower seeds or Morning Glories. I think FourO'Clocks are one of the easiest plants to grow from seed and they reseed like crazy and transplant very well. Best of luck.

There are various methods for nicking seeds..my favorite is to use a large toenail clipper and cut off the edge. Then I soak the seeds in warm water overnight. But the true joy of gardening is discovering that there are various methods and preferences to achieve a beautiful garden with exciting and fun results.

I have never had them come back or self sow. Guess it is too cold for that in zone 4B. Do they form tubers the first year? Maybe the tubers could be dug in the fall like dahlias and stored over winter? Anyone try this?

caitlin - you can't be that much colder than me. Mine come back to beat the band... i'm pulling them out left and right. i've even got them growing in my grass!! [if you ever need any seeds -- i have tons of magenta]

as for the tubulars... i have a few [1 that is 2 yrs old now] -- but the grow directly next to my foundation [and i never even planted these... have no idea how the seeds got to that end of the garden] -- but i think how the foundation must "protect' them over the winter... they survive. I have read to pull them out and store them over the winter, like you would do any other "tender bulbs" -- but i have no need to since I get hundreds of plants without ever popping a seed in the ground.

I agree with TCs, they should self sow even in Z4, but yes, you can dig the tubers and store over winter just like dahlias...except you don't cut them into single tubers like dahlias. The trick is the moisture level. If you just stick thm on the shelf in the basement, they dry up, but if you add more moisture, they rot. I had the very best luck putting them in a carton and filling with dry as dust pottng soil (I reused the soil the next spring for potted plants, so it's nt a total waste.)

The drawback of my method is that it takes up soooo much room. The tubers can be huge, so the carton has to be huge, too. I couldn't store more than one or two, so if you want a hedge of them this is NOT the way to go!

I have had the tubers overwinter if they are in a place that not only doesn't get too cold, but also has great winter drainage.

One thing I thought was interesting: One year I sowed the seeds, and had some self-sow and I had stored tubers AND I had tubers overwinter and there is only one or two days difference in the day they started blooming. I thought that was very interesting!

Suzy -- I'm to the point, i don't sow them anymore... only the first year... i get so many just from the seeds that "fell". I tuber ones do bloom sooner, figuring since they are already established... but i pulled them out this year [couldnt get the actual tuber though] since they smother my rose bushes -- i never even planted 4-O'clocks in that area... not sure how the seed even got there.... but my roses are more important.... and in the other part of the "south" garden... i have probably 50 growing - having pulled at least another 50+.

invasive... you betcha!! but they are pretty.

Terese

Did you read on here somewhere that Japanese Beetles love four o'clocks but that they are poisonous to them and kill them? I know Dave i a big proponent of this.

Maybe having them around your roses is a *good* thing!

Suzy

Suzy -- yes i did read that too, and the past 2 yrs i have noticed not JB's on my roses.... there are still a few small 4oclocks that are blooming already, but the big ones i'm pulling.

last year 3 of my bushes were completely swallowed up.

When do you sow outdoors? Early, maybe even late fall to mimic self sowing? Yes, I would love some magenta flowered seeds! That's just the color I want to grow. Masses of white would be nice too...

caitlin... all i have is magenta.

i bet if you went to the "butterfly" forum or even florida -- you can get a variety. that is how i got yellow. [which have yet to bloom, or even bud]

Dmail me your addy and i'll pop out a good handful to ya.

I just tossed more seeds yesterday out in the field... i should get a few plants from that... and lemme tell ya - all you need is one plant to bloom and you will have seeds forever.

I purchased a couple of whites, I think, from Flower Scent Gardens...no flowers yet :( How do the magenta smell, tcs?

Chantell... to me it's a faint sweetness. guess i've never put a name to it. My DH loves them and says they are quite aromatic... which i find odd since he pretty much has no sense of smell.... for me, many have to be in bloom to notice it from a distance.

I've heard Yellow is great... i'm hoping mine bloom... i thought i saw a faint bit of bud growing... so we shall see.

I've grown the yellow and the pink with white. I guess it's a matter of preferance which smells better. I did notice a difference in fragrance between the two. I prefered the pink with white blooms. I did get some seeds for all white blooms which I'm going to try next year. We did have babies popping up in the flower beds from last years plants. I had pulled out the ones from last year, so I don't know if the tuber would overwinter here. They are a sprawling plant that does take up a bit of room.

Marvel of Peru or 4'oclocks....have a strong evening fragrance :)

I have the magenta, yellow, white with pink, and the kaleidoscope. They all are fragrant in my humid climate. My sister told me the other day that they attract Japanese Beetles, but the plants are also very toxic to them, and so they are great companion plants for roses, which I also grow. Four 'o clocks make me think of Charleston, S.C. I am more than willing to share seeds or tubers, although I have not set up a trade list yet.

littlemick - are yours hardy to your area or do you have to dig them up? I'd love any tubers you have to share - please check my trade list to see if I have something you'd be interested in. Thanks much!

Oh, Chantall, I would be happy to trade . I just saw your message, and so haven' t had time to check your trade list, but I m sure to find something I'd like. Mine are definitely hardy to my area. I first started mine in a pot from Burpee mixed seed. The pot was on the edge of a bed I had just started. The next year they came up all around where that pot had been. They spread like mad and get bigger every year. Everybody loves them and the tubers are very easy to transplant. I leave them in the ground yearound, and fertilize with miracle grow look-a-alikeabout every 2 weeks. My sister told me the other day that Japanese Beetles love them, but that they are very toxic to J. Beetles, so they are good to plant with roses.I love them, and you can have tubers from all the kinds I mentioned and seeds also. Michele

No worries Michele - if you see something that i have you'd be interested in - just pop me a dmail...thanks so much!!

Chantell, Those tubers are very large and very heavy -- I've dug them up before. They will be expensive to ship...are you sure seeds wouldn't work?

Suzy

I seem to be the only person on DG that is seed illiterate...LOL. Ok, that's not entirely true - I did grow sunflowers and petunias :) God bless teh petunias for reseeding all by themselves this year. Oh, I almost forgot...after 3 tries, I do have moon flowers growing. It's a curse I tell you! Hmmm, I'd be willing to try seeds - gonna need to figure these things out sooner or later...or hide my head in shame. The other alternatives would be a flat rate box OR if they'd do ok a little longer enroute - get a box that "looks" like it would hold any type of book (bad of me, I know) - even little hard backs and ship it "media mail" - yes, I'll admit it...I've done it. Going to "time out" now... LOL

>>media mail" - yes, I'll admit it...I've done it. Going to "time out" now..

OH Chantell -- i did that once... i think only once... but i was selling some software (Turbo Pascal) from a class that i had taken - and i didnt need it anymore.... some guy in Norway or some Scandinavian country bought it.... so i had to ship it... and never heard of Media Mail before til they asked if it was a book [ well, there was the manual] so i said yes, and the shipping way like $4 ... though that was about 10 yrs ago.

ironic about the seeds you got going....
sunflowers = all but 1 seedling got eaten by rabbits
moon flower = no germination
petunias = no germination

you should wander on over to the Winter Sowing Forum -- you can find out how easy it is to grow seeds.

Terese

"Winter Sowing Forum " - ??? Oh mercy, another forum to add to the list...LOL...sure the kids will be thrilled when I start plants in the winter...LOL. Actually I WILL go over and do some lurking and reading and such. I've actually been collecting seeds from my Nicotinia 'Frangrant Cloud', my MG 'Grandpa Otts', and the ole petunias...AND those wonderful moonflower vines are still alive so I can chalk one up to success...LOL The key to the sunflowers is to have the following in your back yard every now and then...the bunnies choose to stay out...LOL