I love Four O'Clocks. Really, the huge seeds are easy to tip out into your hand and not like other flowers that make hundreds of seeds. Those you miss that sprout are easy to pull up. Mine were in a morning sun border,elevated for drainage and ,since they are annuals, they will drop their heavy seeds straight down and flower for you every year. My 4OC bed was only 18" deep and 8' long and only 5 or 6 came up yearly but enough to make a beautiful display. They don't spread any further than the seeds can drop so, as I said, they've always been manageable for me.

Thanks, Dottie! I've been just sitting all morning wondering what to do with them. I've heard so many good things about them, but then all those negative posts got me scared. I think I'll go plant them now! I just don't want something to spread and be unmanageable. I can pull out seedlings.

I like Four O'Clocks, too. They do reseed a good deal for me, but they are very, very easy to pull out where not wanted. They're totally worth it for me. Enjoy your Four O'Clocks! :)

I (and my Mom) live pretty close to you and have never had a problem with invasiveness from Four O'Clocks. Enjoy! ��

Yes, they will spread if you let them. They are easy enough to keep under control or eradicate. I leave a few here and there. They remind me of simpler times.

The ones in my garden started as seeds from a plant growing in an undeveloped lot at the shore.

Another nice thing about four o'clocks is that in most parts of the Southeast, they are perennial. The plants come back year after year from fleshy, tubers and are generally winter hardy even without a mulch.

and they kill japanese beetles! And the fragrance is absolutely wonderful! Just learn what the seedlings look like & pull out the extras- not hard to do when small. Enjoy!

Tammy, are you serious? they kill JPs? Do they repel them as well?

Jay, those tubers are what people have said are so undesirable about Four O'Clocks. Isn't that a problem? And yes, I have also heard about them killing japanese beetles. I'm looking forward to that!
So, all in all, you would grow them? They are in the ground now, but I'm still a bit nervous about them...

Yes- Carole, if they eat them, it'll kill them. i don't think they repel them, though, or they wouldn't eat them. I've never noticed many Jb's hanging out near mine, nor damage, so i don't know how much good it does, but at least they won't get too far munching on them! :)

They do form deep tubers, but it takes a year or 2 for them to get really big (larger than a big carrot). Before that, they aren't hard to pull after a rain. The seedlings are a snap to ID, large and easy as pie to pull, too.

Tammy, aren't you in the area hit by the tornadoes? Is everything okay in your neighborhood?

Just caught this posting. When I was in Charlotte, a friend taught me about Four O'Clocks. They are super seeds for teaching a child how to plant/grow, since the seeds are large and easy to handle. I plant to add some to my yard in Asheville, now.

I planted four o'clocks near my tomatoes and crepe myrtles, hoping for relief from bugs and they are wonderful! Bugs are drawn to the scent, eat the leaves, and die. I never saw a tomato worm, japanese beetle, or any other vegetable insect while I had four o'clocks. Not even aphids. After a couple of years my tubers started to weaken and bend, so I always saved a couple of seeds from the year before, in case I needed to get rid of an old plant. Volunteers are easy to pull out, and sometime grow where you could use a filler. The plants come in a varity of colors, but I chose fuschia pink.

I have shetland sheepdogs who show no interest in eating plants. If your dog, cat, child, horse tends to nibble on plants, I'd check the toxicity prior to putting them in the same vicinity.

Remember they only bloom from late afternoon on, so plant them where you will enjoy the blooms instead of taking a space you would prefer daytime flowers.

Wilson- thanks for asking! Yes, the tornadoes hit our area, but we are fine. They came a lot closer to triangle john's house than mine, but he's ok, too. thanks so much for asking!!