Few plants can have as many common names as mirabilis jalapa! Some of those you’ll hear most frequently, though are there are many more too, are Don Pedro, clavillia, dondiego de noche, noche buena, Marvel of Peru or the 4 o’clock plant.
From many of the names you can tell that it is an evening/night-time flowerer. In many climates, its flowers will open at around 4 o’clock, triggered by the cooler evening temperatures – with us, it is generally somewhat later – and they close the next morning as the heat of the sun rises though, on cloudy days, they can stay open all day.
It’s one of those old fashioned, well-loved plants once commonly seen in cottage style gardens. With a lovely relaxed, billowing, cushioning nature and a rich fragrance for summer evenings, it deserves to be part of your garden too! The lance-shaped leaves emerge in late spring in thrusting clumps and each plant will fill out to a 1m ball. It grows at a rapid rate, so is a great filler plant in new gardens. The flowers blaze like mini trumpets in white, yellow, peach and pink, often striped like candy canes. Cold weather will cut back all the top growth but, don’t worry, for these little beauties are tuberous and they’ll be back again next spring. Bees, butterflies and moths are drawn by their fragrance and colour and the black wrinkled seeds which develop will germinate in any nook or cranny. You’ll equally often see it growing amongst rubble or on waste ground – it’s not at all fussy and is a fast grower so great for those difficult to fill spots! They are also very pretty in pots on a patio or terrace that you use most in the evenings.
Because of its profligacy, it can be classified as a weed – in parts of the U.S. for instance and it has naturalised throughout much of Europe and India. But our drier climate here acts as a natural brake.
Many countries lay claim to its origins – Mexico, India and Chile being the hot favourites for ownership! In most of South America it is a recognised healing plant; the Aztecs used to cultivate it and all parts of the plant were used for medicinal purposes. Whilst the seeds are said to be highly poisonous, various tribes use them as a pepper substitute but perhaps some immunity has built up with constant small-scale usage. The tubers and roots are often ground up and used externally for skin complaints, fungal infections, wounds and afflictions such as leprosy. Taken orally it expunges parasites. More modern research has shown that it is helpful against herpes, colds, flu and upper respiratory problems as well as for candida and yeast infections.
Mirabilis – or wonderful – in every way!
News Update: The next Homes, Gardens and Outdoor Living Show will bloom into action at the Palacio de Congresos, Estepona, Costa del Sol on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th November from 11 am to 8.00 pm, a fantastic show designed to give you ideas to form your perfect home and garden.
Viveros Florena will have a stand there – a stand with a difference – and we’ll be selling a wide range of plants and pots, and signed copies of my book. Come and have a chat with us – I’ll be there to answer all your gardening queries and will also be giving a talk on citrus trees, so do come and have a glass of orange wine with us!
Check it out on www.homesandgardens.es and on Facebook.
Lorraine Cavanagh has lived in Spain for 26 years. A landscape gardener and writer, she’s always happy to give advice. Call and see her at Viveros Florena, 2km from Cómpeta, (Malaga), down the Sayalonga Road, or 15km up from the coastal motorway – have a free coffee or herbal tea in their tea-rooms.
Her book Lorraine Cavanagh’s Mediterranean Garden Plants has been nicknamed ‘the bible’. The new edition at €24.90 is now generally available throughout Spain.
Viveros Florena: If you’d like to receive regular updates of what’s happening in the garden centre, new stock etc. let us have your email address or mobile number.
Viveros Florena: From October 2012 we will be starting a new discount scheme so that you can buy your plants cheaper! Every month for 1 week, always 13th to 19th inclusive, a class of plants will carry a 5% discount. For example, from 13th to 19th October all our climbers will be discounted by 5%. Let us have your contact details and you will be added to our mailing listings and advised monthly which plants are on offer.
Lots of free advice and help, as always!
Summer Hours:
June, July, September, 9 – 2, closed for August.
Winter Hours:
October to May 10 – 4
Always closed Sundays and Mondays.
We change to winter hours from 1st October.
Tel: 689928201 Email: florenaspain@hotmail.com
See us on Facebook – Lorraine Cavanagh’s Garden Centre
