Broken Colors Four O' Clocks is a heirloom ornamental that brings unexpected drama to garden beds and borders. The trumpet-shaped flowers emerge in soft shades of pink, red, yellow, and white, many streaked with striking contrasting colors that make each bloom feel hand-painted. This bushy cultivar reaches 36 inches tall and flowers reliably for weeks on end, opening in the cool morning and evening hours, releasing a delicate fragrance that draws you outside at dawn. Hardy in zones 10-11 and flowering within 70 days of direct sowing, it thrives in partial shade with moderate water and modest soil care.
Partial Shade
Moderate
10-11
36in H x 18in W
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Moderate
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The real draw is the unpredictability and artistry of the flowers. Each bloom comes striped and splashed with contrasting color combinations, so you never quite know what pattern will appear on each plant. The trumpet-shaped petals open in morning and late afternoon, releasing a gentle scent that fills a quiet garden corner. Once established, this heirloom mounds itself into an attractive bushy shape that needs minimal fussing, flowering continuously from summer through fall.
Broken Colors Four O' Clocks serve as a bedding plant and garden ornamental, valued for their continuous blooming and the visual interest of their variegated flowers. They work well massed in borders where their bushy habit creates a full, sculptural presence, and their fragrance at dawn and dusk makes them worthwhile near seating areas or bedroom windows where you'll catch the scent.
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Transplant outdoors after all danger of frost has passed, when soil has warmed. Space plants 12 inches apart with 18 inches between rows.
Direct sow 6 inches apart into average soil after all danger of frost has passed. Thin seedlings to final spacing of 12 inches apart.
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“Broken Colors Four O' Clocks carries the legacy of Mirabilis jalapa, an ornamental that crossed the Atlantic from tropical America centuries ago. The 'broken colors' striping is a classic variegated expression in the species, prized by gardeners for its surprising and variable petal patterns. This particular cultivar represents the heirloom tradition of selecting plants for their most ornamental characteristics and saving seed year after year, keeping alive the unpredictable beauty that draws gardeners back to these plants generation after generation.”