How to kill 4 o'clocks

[saulsteve111]

I am being over run by 4 o'clocks. Any advice on how to kill them?? They are a headache. The original owner of the house had them Everywhere. I mean Everywhere!! The are hard to kill. Any advice???

Burn away the weeds or simply use weed killer available in market !

 

[rebbetzin]

I could be wrong but I don't think four oclocks have a rhizome. If I'm not mistaken they spread only by seed.

Here in the Southwest where the climate is mild. The Four O'Clocks make a tuber. And it gets bigger every year. One winter I pulled out all these "weird" tubers. Not knowing they were my Four O' Clocks!!

They are a very hardy plant! I like them because they don't take much water and come back every year. But, they can be a "Thug" in the garden.

 

[Ariel301]

I'd love to see picture because my four o'clocks are an annual that spreads by seed only. Sounds like there are 2 plants that go by same name.

I agree with seedcorn, all the 4 o'clocks I have seen spreads by seed only..

Chris

I've never dug up the roots, but I have also only ever grown them by seed.

 

[rebbetzin]

I'd love to see picture because my four o'clocks are an annual that spreads by seed only. Sounds like there are 2 plants that go by same name.

Well, what we are willing to do for our gardening friends!

I dug up a couple of tubers to show you what they look like, Two of them broke off so I am sure I will get a plant again in the spot next year.

Here is the type of flower they have.

Here is a bright pink one from my front yard.

Mine are closed right now since it is too sunny for them at the moment. Here is what my pink ones look like right now.

Here are three plants I just dug up. They are three to four feet tall.

Here is a close up of the tubers.

I'd say the one on the far right, is a first year plant, the one on the far left is probably a couple years old, and the one in the center is older than the other two. You might be able to see that tuber was cut off by the shovel. They can get really big. The stalks die back to the ground and are easy to remove once they die. They just break off at the soil line leaving the tuber.

 

[ritblak]

Craig'slist ad placed on a person to dig, dig, dig. And cut them until this year to sow, as you know, they reseed like crazy. Have a lot of people want them because of the fragrance of heaven. But you're right, they take over.