We’ve been keeping an eye on a volunteer plant that has grew in the corner of the porch and house. It’s done well and has only a bit of bug damage. We’re hoping it continues to survive.
You may wonder what it is about the plant that has interested us so. The thing about this plant is that I believe it to be an 8 o’clock (a variety of evening primrose, king’s cure-all, fever plant).
Over a decade ago, we raised some 8 o’clocks for a couple of seasons. We had to stop because of Japanese Beetles. Those evil little bugs infested our patch of 8 o’clocks like a plague. It was horrid. And of course, they didn’t stop with the 8 o’clocks, they ate our corn in the garden and our roses too.
So, sadly we dug up the 8 o’clocks and bagged them up and tossed them in the local convenience center.
It solved the Japanese beetle problem. We had very few japanese beetles from then on.
If the plant growing in the corner is in fact an 8 o’clock, then the seed would have had to have been lying there buried deep enough to be dormant for around 13 years. Amazing, it is.
8 o’clocks are biennial, so if it survives the winter, it should grow a stalk and bloom next year.
Okay, now for the coolest part about an 8 o’clcok.
The part that I absolutely go silly for…
At 8 o’clock in the evening you can watch the bloom pods begin to move and then burst open in full bloom. (Okay, ours was more of an 8:15 o’clock,) but each evening you could see us sitting outside in the flower bed staring at the buds. It was one of the coolest things, almost magical.
The blooms close when the morning comes.
My photo of the blooms is from 2004, it’s the only good photo of the 8 o’clocks I have. I had a small digital camera back then and I wasn’t very efficient at using it.
Now I have a better camera, so I hope that the green plant is an 8 o’clock. I would love to set up my camera and make a movie of it as it bursts open in bloom.
I’m looking forward to next year and seeing if the green plant in the corner is an 8 o’clock.
Have you ever watched a flower bloom in real time?
.
Joys Of Creating 
Aw, that is amazing! Sort of like my “perennial petunia” that was accidentally dug up several years ago, and reappeared this spring. I really hope it is an 8 o’clock. I’d never heard them called that, but I am aware of that type plant. Keep us posted!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dianna
I really enjoy your perennial petunia. The place you have/had it planted must be the perfect environment for them to return each year.
The lady who gave them to us years ago, called them 8 o’clocks. I discovered they are a variety of primrose. Up until I read your comment, I didn’t know they were called other names. I looked it up and added a couple more of the names to my post. Thanks so much. I learned a lot of things about the plant and it was all good. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s amazing that the seeds survived so long! I hope the plant is indeed an 8 o’clock, and you get to see the flowers bloom. Maybe this time you could capture a video. ☺
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Anita
I hope so too. I’m anxious for next Spring to get here. I hope to make a video of it to share. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cool! I never have, it must be quite something!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks SalPal,
I hope you get to watch a flower bloom in real life sometime. It’s really magical or maybe I’m just an old-silly-heart. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it would be pretty special!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi SalPal,
It’s almost magical. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi we have Tiger day lilies in our garden and it didn’t matter if we sat and waited …..and waited. The plant would burst open when we weren’t looking. Even when I was off work sick it wouldn’t it done it the next day. Of course when I arrived home from work it started to close up and I never saw one flower open properly all year. It had five flowers … So disappointed! He took a picture on his phone to show me but not the same.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello HettyandDaisy
Welcome to my blog.
You’ve really gave it a good try to watch them bloom. Sneaky little beauties, they are.
I hope you can catch them in their bloom mode and watch them.That would be something to see.
Thanks so much for visiting and leaving me a happy comment.
I hope you’ll visit again sometime soon.
🙂
LikeLike
How interesting! I had never heard of 8 o’clocks before but they sure look pretty. I ought to start a list of plants and flowers I hope to someday have in my own garden, if I can ever have a house with sufficient and suitable land for gardening.
My pap used to have white morning glory flowers for years. The spring after he passed they stopped growing. Then a couple years ago – a good 15 years or so later – they started popping up again. I always meant to gather some seeds but never managed to get to it, and of course now they seem to have gone dormant again and I’m not there anymore to collect them anyway. I’m hopeful that maybe next summer they’ll be blooming again and I’ll be able to visit to gather some of the seeds.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi CW
I figure if you ever get settled where you can havent a garden or flower bed that yours would be amazing.
What a sweet memory of your Pap. Morning glories are amazing. It’s interesting how they stopped blooming when he passed-away. I guess they were sad and needed time. I hope they come back again and you can get several seeds or transplants of them. I think it’d be a comfort for you to have them around growing and blooming. 🙂
LikeLike
My Pap was my best friend when I was little, I absolutely adored him. If I can’t get seeds from his morning glories I will maybe be able to find some in the store. It won’t be quite the same of course but would still be a nice little reminder of him.
LikeLiked by 1 person