The Miracle of Four O’Clocks

Four O’clocks

I don’t remember a time when Four O’Clocks were not a part of my life. I confess that my fascination with them was even greater when I was a child – I guess familiarity has a way of dulling the sense of awe and wonder that such things arouse when one first encounters them as a very young child. I wondered then, as I on a rare occasion wonder now, how on earth do they know the time, and herald it in a glorious show of their formerly concealed, absolutely brilliant, interior colours…

Perhaps it isn’t so surprising that they have survived in my psyche as one of the joys of summer and early autumn, here in Sydney, Australia. They grow like weeks in our yard – never needing attention, and quite capable of unwanted spreading – though in their defense, they are far less invasive then many plants. What’s more, for their simple charm and quite wondrous abilities, I find them hard to beat.

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