DavidLMO said:

Save em and plant em next year.

Ooops -- I thought they'd be too small to store successfully; I'm afraid they're history

I saved the tubers of my three plants I frew from seeds last year. I kept them in their half-gallon pots hone dry over the winter. I look forward to seeing their flowers again.

Here are flower photos. I just love them.

Beauties!! I have ~ 20 of them. Give you 3 - 4 week advantage over seeds.

Four o'clocks are one of my favotites!
I W/S quite a few seeds this year, hoping for some solid red ones.

I planted 4 o'clock seeds last year for the first time (in a pot) and had flowers blooming in late August, Sept. I didn't know they produced tubers until I was cleaning out my pots for winter storage. I did some reading up on 4 o'clocks and saved the tubers in a paper bag with some sand and stored them on a shelf in a dark closet. I'm in zone 5a (feels more like zone 4a) and our growing season is short, too. I definitely want to plant them out this year. Is late May a safe time?

After last frost date. Of course prevailing weather dictates. I live in 5B and shoot for Mothers day.

Are you going to plant in ground or pots? If latter, you could pot them up now let them get an early start. I plant all mine in the ground.

If you plant Dahlias or Cannas that you over winter, plant the 4 o'clocks at the same time.

Thanks David. I might try planting them in the ground. If the weather cooperates, I'm going to try and shoot for around Mother's Day. We have had a pretty mild winter, and it's supposed to be a much warmer spring than last year. Keeping my fingers crossed ....

Getting anxious to get my tubers back in the ground. But not too anxious...near 80 today and tomorrow night 26. Heh.

david I'm in z5 & I don't lift my tuber out of the ground & Mine come back every yr I Didn't know they was to be taken up .
I Planted them 2 yrs ago this will be their 3 rd Growth if they come back after the wether we had this yr . will see . & let ya know . I had lots of seeds from them my was a redish one & the other was a yellow .

4 O' Clocks reseed easily. My hunch is you are getting new seedlings. The tubers can not handle winters North of Zone 7 or so. They freeze and rot.

you might be right I Will know for sure if they return this season or not .
Now curiosity Has ahold of me & I will have to check this out ty for the info .

2 of 3 tubers are making new growth. They seem to know it's spring, even though being stored in the soil in pots in the garage.

Here are some of the flowers from last summer.

very nice Joseph I Have some seeds to get planted .
edit to ask I want to start them in a 3-4 " pot should i put a couple seeds per pot or just one ?

I started my seeds like I start morning glory seeds. I put the seed in a paper cup and put enough water in the cup so the water level is halfway up the seed. Usually the seed will show signs of life in a few days. Change the water every day. When the root or seed radicle is showing I pot them. Everyone has their own method. I find giving the seed moisture and very excellent access to air works well. Keep the cup away from an air conditioning vent or direct sun. I had fresh seeds and they germinated in less than a week as I recall. Good luck.

deejay49 said:very nice Joseph I Have some seeds to get planted .
edit to ask I want to start them in a 3-4 " pot should i put a couple seeds per pot or just one ?

I would put 2 or 3 per pot in that sized pot. Keep in mind they will need to get in the ground and the root might get pretty large, so be careful transplanting.

Do you soak your seeds before starting them ?

I do. 24 hours in warm water with Hydrogen Peroxide.

ok TY for the info .

The new leaves have cool variegated pattern. Is this typically seen in Mirabilis jalapa?

The leaves are becoming all green now, what fun to see them grow and take off.