Sunday, July 20, 2014

Four O'clock

The Four O'clocks are blooming.  These flowers are tough as nails and will bloom at the edge of the roadside where they must be rooted in Class Five or pure gravel.

They open up by 4 O’ Clock and bloom until the next morning when they wilt.

Four O Clocks

These are the individual blooms.

Four o clock flowers

They are noted as being a highly adaptable plant and are native to Minnesota.

I usually look for a few down by one of the stop signs…but the ditch mower mowed them off.  Last night we went for a longer ride and found these on one of the backroads that has not been mowed yet.

We are getting a warm spell starting tomorrow…and already discussing what our favorite it’s too hot to eat much for supper foods will be.  Fruit and salad top the list followed by BLT’s and “wraps” that we make with chicken, lettuce, cheese and tomato topped with a little bit of salad dressing of your choice…mine was Ranch and Far Guys was something Chipotle…they were a hit last week when Jen came to visit and prepared supper for us.  I think summer has finally arrived.

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21 comments:

Pauline Persing said...

This is a plant I have never seen. Such an interesting country we live in.

Primitive Stars said...

Morning, beautiful flower, love the color...ah yes, hot here to in the coming week, wraps sound good. blessings Francine.

Anonymous said...

Glad you were able to photograph the flowers before the mowers got to these. We are actually enjoyed a few cooler days with rain.
Your summer suppers sound very tasty.

Country Gal said...

I planted 4 O clock seeds this year and nothing ! They are pretty ! Thanks for sharing , Have a good day 1

Country Gal said...

P.S we eat light like that to in the heat and humidity !

Meggie said...

It's been a strange summer, weather-wise. It was in the high 60's early this morning. And we hardly ever have rain in July....and, last week it rained every day. No complaints on the rain!

Red said...

July 19 and you finally get summer or hot weather! We've had about 3 weeks of heat. It wasn't nice.

linda m said...

That is a plant I have never seen growing wild. We are still having cool nights but the days are warming up.

L. D. said...

Yes we were promised south wind today with heat so I figured Minnesota will warm up. We hit 90's tomorrow and the week is said to be hot and dry. I will have to look to see if we have that wild flower. It looks familiar but never knew the name of it. We lost a lot of good wildflowers in our ditches because of the dry weather. They will have to replant the coneflowers. Our chicory always does well as also the Queen Anne's Lace. Big meals for us on Sunday noon means cold cereal at night. Popcorn later, though.

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

I just caught up with a week's worth of blogs. We have loved the cool nights--"good sleeping weather"--and now we're dreading the heat and humidity that's just starting to build. Oh well. Didn't know about four o'clocks, and love your pictures from the fair. Great bits of Minnesota reality!

Patsy said...

Thank you, you gave me an Idea I can plant four O'clock on our ditch.
My grandmother always had them. Now to find some seeds.

Nancy said...

Yea, glad that summer has arrived and that you and Far Guy are feeling better.

MTWaggin said...

I grew up with four o'clocks in our garden and they were lovely!

Jacqi Stevens said...

Native to Minnesota? Maybe that explains why the first thing I thought when I saw the title, "Four O'Clock," was the Fudge Four O'Clocks from my mom's old Joy of Cooking recipe book. What would I know? I'm not native to Minnesota ;)

kathy b said...

aww lovely quick as a wink flowers!
Its getting humid in Chicago again…..feeling summery!

Linda Reeder said...

I had to do a bit of checking on line to see that your native four o'clocks are indeed related to the ornamental annuals that can be grown in our gardens. I have never planted the seed, but my mother grew them. The flowers are much larger and showier that your natives, but wild flowers hold a special place in my heart.

DJan said...

I wonder how they got that name. They are pretty, though. Our high temperature yesterday was 68 and rainy. It's always something. :-)

Rita said...

Tough, pretty little flowers. Do you think they know about daylight savings time--LOL!
Been horribly hot and sticky. Too hot to cook is right. ;)

Henny Penny said...

My daughters love Four O:clocks. The flowers grew around the house their Dad and I bought when they were small. I did not know they are native to Minnesota.

Terry and Linda said...

Too hot to eat here. I love those flowers I have masses of them.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

bobbybegood1 said...

lovely pics. you are so funny. i enjoy your sense of humor. but i cant wait to see summer end. enjoy dinner! cheers!!