African lilly flowers.

• Position: full sun
• Soil: fertile, moist, well-drained soil (or John Innes no. 3 compost for containers)
• Rate of growth: average
• Flowering period: July to September
• Hardiness: borderline hardy (may need protection in winter)
  
  Showy globes of trumpet-shaped flowers ranging in colour from deep to pale blue, appear from July to September on straight stems above clumps of strap-shaped, mid-green leaves. Headbourne Hybrids are a particularly fine variety of African lilies, ideal for a sunny well-drained border or a large patio pot.
• Garden care: Keep well-watered during the growing season, applying a balanced liquid fertiliser each month from spring until the plant flowers. In cold, exposed areas protect the crown of the plant with a deep, dry winter mulch.

• Eventual Height: 0.6m
• Eventual Spread: 0.4m

• A free flowering deciduous form with mid blue flowers that are held in open clusters on top of tall, dark green stems that have a gark sheen. It looks right at home in a Mediterranean style planting scheme, and will thrive in pots and containers. Invaluable for providing late summer interest.
  
• Garden care: Apply a balanced liquid fertiliser throughout the growing season. Keep reasonably dry during the winter and protect the crowns with a dry mulch in the autumn. Divide plants that have become too big in spring, but remember you will often get more flowers when the roots are constricted.

Marvel of Peru flowers pictures.

Mirabilis Jalapa 

 The four o'clock flower-Mirabilis jalapa, this popular garden plant is starting to bloom in July.
The flowers open in the afternoon, that's where the name comes from. They stay open during the night, being pollinated by nocturnal pollinators, like the sphinx moths or hawk moths. Also called the Marvel of Peru, the flowers of this plant are splashed with different colours, like these yellow flowers with pink- magenta spots. More interesting is that as the plant matures, it can display flowers of different colors on the same plant; the yellow flowers can change to pink or white ones change to light violet.

Caring for Mirabilis plants

Once growing it is best to water beauty of the night regularly; it is also necessary to fertilise Mirabilis once a month. Once the flowering period has finished cut the plants back to ground level. If you require more Mirabilis plants then the tubers can be divided in the spring. Four o'clock plants are shrubby perennials in warm climates, growing from tuberous roots. In colder climate the foliage dies back to the ground in autumn but the tubers must be stored indoors during winter and replanted in the garden in spring.

Quick Mirabilis Growing Guide and Facts

Common Names: Four O'clock, Marvel of Peru, Beauty of the Night, Wishbone Bush, Heartleaf Umbrella Wort.
Life Cycle: Half hardy perennial commonly grown as a half hardy annual by gardeners.
Height: 6 to 50 inches (15 to 125 cm).
Native: Americas.
Growing Region: Zones 3 to 10. As a perennial in zones 8 to 10.
Flowers: Summer and autumn.
Flower Details: Yellow, red, white, pink; often two-toned. Deep throated trumpets. Fragrant. Flowers open in the evening.
Foliage: Green. Thin. Oval or heart-shaped.
Sow Outside: Surface. Following last frost or in autumn (warm areas). Spacing 4 to 40 inches (10 to 100 cm).
Sow Inside: Use peat pots. Germination time: one to three weeks in the light. Temperature 70�F (21�C). Seven or eight weeks in advance. Transplant outdoors following the last frost or in autumn.
Requirements: Full sunlight or light shade. Good drainage. Soil pH 6-7. Ordinary soil. Monthly feed. Regular watering. Perennials should be cut back to the ground once flowering has finished. Propagate: dividing in the spring.
Miscellaneous: Mirabilis is the Latin word for amazing/wonderful.

 The flowers are used for food colouring. Parts of the plant are used in herbal medicine as a diuretic and for wound healing.
Though its black seeds are poisonous, they are used as a powder in cosmetics.

How to grow marvel of Beauty of the Night

Beauty of the Night should be sown about a week after the last frost of spring on the surface. The plant likes to grow in an average soil that is slightly acidic to neutral (pH 6 to 7). Beauty of the night can be grown both in sunny and in partially shaded areas.

If starting Beauty of the night and other Mirabilis off indoors then start about one and a half months in advance. The seeds should be sown in peat pots and takes about one to three weeks to germinate in the light at 20 degrees Centigrade. Once ready transplant the young beauty of the night plants following the last frost at from 15 to 20cm (small Mirabilis) or 30 to 90cm (larger species) apart.

Cypress flowers pictures.

The Cypress vine will bear flowers every day from July until the end of September, though not as many as Ipomoea purpurea. The species is sown indoors and may be taken out-of-doors to the warmest and sunniest spot you can find by the end of May. It is also possible to buy the plant, though it is not widely available.

Ipomoea quamoclit (Cardinal Creeper or Hummingbird Vine or Star Glory) is a species of morning glory native to tropical regions of the New World from northern South America north to Mexico.

It is an annual or perennial herbaceous twining vine growing to 1-3 m tall. The leaves are 2-9 cm long, deeply lobed (nearly pinnate) with 9-19 lobes on each side of the leaf. The flowers are 3-4 cm long and 2 cm diameter, trumpet-shaped with five points, and can be red, pink or white; flowering is from early summer to late fall.Cypress Vine, with its tiny red flowers and delicate fern-like leaves, is a marvelous thing to have on a fence. Belonging to the same genus as the morning glory, the dainty red flowers bloom in the morning. The leaves are 3-4 in long and feather-like, finely divided pinnately into threadlike segments. The scarlet red (rarely white) flowers are tubular, about 1.5 in long, and flare out at the mouth into a five-pointed star. It is a hummingbird favorite. This annual plant produces hundreds of flowers--and thousands of seeds--usually insuring its presence from year to year. Particularly in warm locations, Cypress Vine can become invasive. However, as an annual it can be controlled if unwanted plants are removed before they set seed.Start Cypress Vine flower seeds to create a beautiful climbing vine that makes the perfect concealing screen. Cypress Vines are easy and fast to grow, and they cheer up an unsightly building or climb a trellis or pergola quickly to provide a dazzling display. This variety has star-shaped red blooms and feathery, fern-like leaves. This vine brings not only brilliant colour, but also wonderful texture.

Cypress Vine plants grow well in full sun or partial shade. They are not picky about the quality of soil, but it does need to have good drainage. Once the Cypress Vine plant is established well, it can withstand periods of drought. However, it will grow faster and have more blooms with regular water. The star-shaped flower are full of nectar and humming birds cannot resist them. Deadheading the spent blooms will encourage a prolonged bloom season. Blooms will usually start the first of summer and continue until fall. In some warm regions, Cypress Vine will grow as a perennial.

Cypress Vine flower seeds are large. Some gardeners recommend soaking the seeds in tepid water for 2 hours before sowing. This is supposed to quicken germination. Sow the Cypress Vine flower seed indoors 3 - 4 weeks before the end of frost season. Using small pots, sow the flower seeds onto moist starter mix and cover 1/8 inch with soil. Keep the Cypress Vine seed moist until germination. Transplant the seedling outdoors after danger of frost. Another method would be to directly sow Cypress Vine flower seeds outdoors after all danger of frost. Once the soil has warmed and can be loosened and weeded, sow 6 Cypress Vine flower seeds per foot. Cover with 1/8 inch garden soil, and keep them moist until germination. When seedlings emerge, thin to 9 - 12 inches apart.