Scientific: Mirabilis multiflora (Synonyms: Oxybaphus multiflorus, Mirabilis nyctaginea)
Common: Colorado four o'clock, wild four o'clock, Froebel’s four o'clock
Family: Nyctaginaceae
Origin: Southwest United States in open, sandy hillsides and mesas within juniper and pinyon dominated plant communities at elevations between 2,500 to 7,500 feet.
Pronounciation: Mir-A-ba-lis mul-ti-FLOR-a
Hardiness zones
Sunset 1-3, 10-13
USDA 5-9
Landscape Use: For native wildflower and xeriscape gardens, perennial borders, raised planters, hanging baskets, spring and summer floral accent.
Form & Character: Low, rounded, mounding to sprawling and trailing, visually succulent, tender, delicate.
Growth Habit: Deciduous, herbaceous perennial, actively growing during spring through fall when soils are moist, deeply rooted. Moderate growth rate to 1- to 2-feet tall with a spread to 6 feet. Stems are succulent and yet brittle. Shoots die back to ground level during winter and extended periods of dry soil.
Foliage/Texture: Leaves medium green, simple and entire, cordate shaped, opposite arrangement on green succulent, tender, brittle stems; medium texture.
Flowers & Fruits: Vibrant deep pink, broadly tubular flowers bloom in 5-lobed cups growing in leaf axils, flowers generally open during late afternoon through the following morning, flowers emerge from a floral cup formed from modified leaves and each cup has six to eight flowers that open on consecutive days; fruits nondescript.
Seasonal Color: Colorado four o'clock bloom very heavily during spring and then in late summer during and after the heavy monsoon rains.
Temperature: Heat tolerant to 105oF, dormant during winter cold.
Light: Full sun to partial shade.
Soil: Prefers slightly alkaline soils that are well drained.
Watering: Needs regular supplemental water if grown in lower elevation landscapes in Arizona. At higher Arizona elevations, is drought tolerant and might not need any supplemental water depending on consistency of summer monsoon rain.
Pruning: Very little to none when actively growing during spring and summer, cut to the ground in October.
Propagation: Seed
Disease and Pests: None
Additional comments: This beautiful herbaceous perennial is deer and rabbit resistant, but is easily damaged by hail or foot traffic. Flowers attract bees and hummingbirds. It is difficult to grow in Phoenix because of the summer heat, but thrives during the warm season in mid and high elevation Arizona landscape gardens. There are many ethnobotanical uses of this plant by native American people.
