Mirabilis jalapa Salmon Sunset - Marvel of Peru seeds

Mirabilis jalapa 'Salmon Beauty' is a delightful variety that will charm with its salmon-toned flowers and its sweet fragrance that diffuses at dusk. This very floriferous, summer flowering plant is ideal for adding a touch of exoticism to the garden or a terrace, in borders or containers. Its flowers open in the late afternoon and close when they are struck by the sun. Not very hardy, but easy to sow and grow, the four o'clock flower is used as an annual plant in cold regions.

Mirabilis jalapa 'Salmon Sunset' is a horticultural selection. The species, sometimes called Marvel of Peru, is a herbaceous perennial plant of the Nyctaginaceae family, native to the dry tropical regions of Central America and South America (Guatemala, Mexico, Chile and Peru). It develops a large black tuberous root, used in traditional medicine in various regions of the world.

Beauty of the Night 'Salmon Sunset' is a perennial herbaceous plant 60 to 80 cm in height, or even taller in warm climates and fertile soil, occupying a ground surface of 40 to 60 cm. It is not very hardy, but its rapid growth allows it to be grown as an annual. In our climates, it disappears in winter and blooms from June to September-October. The trumpet-shaped, 4 cm in diameter flowers, open in the evening and close the next day when the sun rises. They emit a sweet fragrance from dusk until the heart of the night. This is what earned the plant its name of Four O'Clock Flower. The fragrant flowers have fluorescent pigments that create patterns on the corolla and attract pollinating sphinx moths. The black fruit appears at the base of the flower once it has fallen. The dichotomous stems are solid, quadrangular, fleshy, green to reddish and thickened at the nodes. They bear oval, green leaves, with a rounded or slightly cordate base which will be lighter on calcareous soil and in full sun.

Four o'clock flowers are superb in borders. They are often planted at the base of walls exposed to the east or south in cool and less sunny regions. Enjoy their flowering for much of the summer. Also sow them in large, deep pots, ensuring water and fertiliser inputs. Some ideas to accompany this beautiful 'Salmon Sunset' variety: the Fulva Daylily, Russian Sage (Perovskia), the ornamental tobacco 'Perfume White', with its white flowers with a nocturnal scent, Gaura lindheimeri 'Blanche'... This plant can be grown like a dahlia, and its tuber can be overwintered frost-free in a sandy mix.