Night Blooming Jasmine

I love flowers that bloom at night and I finally have one!  I knew I wanted a jasmine, but didn't know there are night blooming ones that bloom throughout the summer.

I planted this jasmine and I hope that it survives the heat of the summer.

To be honest, it's not a pretty plant.  It's a shrub and the buds are white, tiny and tubular.  The bloom?  An itsy bitsy five-point star at the end of the tube.  But wow, you don't need to see the bloom.  You can smell it!

The people at the nursery said my neighbors will come out at night, just to smell the jasmine.  It is a delightfully light scent.  And... I get up early in the morning to water the plants, so double bonus for me - I get to smell it again in the morning!

Butterflies are attracted to the smell.  I imagine the butterflies will appear more frequently in the early morning hours.

Interestingly, the night jasmine is in the Solanacaea family, akin to peppers, tomatoes and eggplants.  It's true name is Cestrum nocturnum and has a nickname of "Queen of the Night."

It doesn't do well in the winter months and it's recommended that mulch is added around it to keep the cold away from the roots.  If it's not too harsh of a winter, then the plant should survive.

During the heat of summer, it needs to be watered frequently, but during more mild temperatures, once every 4 days should be enough.

The soil needs to be damp, but also well drained and it will grow, grow, grow.  Accordingly to Kim, it can be a monster.   But it's also easy to keep trim too.

It requires 4-6 hours of sunlight.  Some shade is recommended, but for me.. I have it straight in the sun. It should be in shade by about 3:30, so hopefully it will do well.

Purple Salvia

It appears I'm a fan of salvias.  I like the idea that if it's not too cold of a winter, they will come back.  They have cool shaped, tiny little blooms.  I've already mentioned the blue/black salvias and the red salvias... here are my purple salvias.  They are located in the hibiscus garden.

It's called autumn sage purple, Salvia greggii and it will get as high as 2-3 feet.  It likes sun, at least 6 hours.  I'm a little worried that the hibiscus might shade it too much, but it should get plenty of afternoon rays.

Four O'Clock

Four O'Clock or Mirabilis Jalapa Yellow - This is from Kim's garden.  I'm trying to root it and was a struggle at first.  The leaves always look wilted.

It got the name because of the time of day (4:00 pm) that it likes to bloom or during a dark cloudy day it will bloom earlier.

Hummingbirds are supposed to really like this bloom.  It's a perennial - yeah!  It's a leafy shrub-like, multi-branched tender perennial that grows 18-36 inches tall and just as wide.  Kim did warn me that she is constantly having to trim it back.

I planted it in the passion flower garden.  I'm wondering how that's going to work out.  At one point, the purple passion vine tried to attach itself to the four o'clock and I had to unhook it.  Should be interesting...

There are two pictures below - one shows the plant during the day - so wilted.  Then in the afternoon, the leaves perk up with no sun and the flowers bloom!  Very pretty yellow stars!

Flamingo Flower

Also known as Justicia Carnea, the Flamingo Flower has bright pink long flowers that bring to mind a flamingo.

Unfortunately for me... I didn't realize this was a shady plant.  I have this one in full sun.  We'll see how it survives.  If it doesn't make it this year, I'll know better for next year and I definitely want another one.

It's perennial and "easy to grow."  I imagine that's contingent upon it being planted in the correct spot!  Oh boy....  Here's a picture: