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Four O'Clocks

My father always planted these when I was growing up, and he recently mentioned that they used to grow outside the buildings he grew up in in the city. It was a traditional city neighborhood, and his cousins and aunts all lived in the same block. So happy to have these cheery summer blooms here at my home now too. I showed them to my nieces last month in the early afternoon, and all on their own they shouted, "let's go check them" at four o'clock. Apparently it is not the time that drives their late-day opening, it is the drop in temperature. I took the first picture tonight in the rain - about 7:00 pm. The others were taken in the early morning 3 days ago.





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  1. SissyAugust 14, 2011 at 12:54 PM

    oooo boy, those were so invasive for me! They grew out of giant tubers that took me a long time and 2 shovels to remove!
    I love your sentiment about the 'old neighborhood'. I am always looking for plants with a story!

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  2. SherryAugust 14, 2011 at 4:00 PM

    Wow, that sounds like a major job. These are definitely going to overtake the bed they are in. Maybe next year I'll try to prune them some. Plants really do have a way of becoming stories, and members of our families.

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