They’re called four o’clocks. This year I planted some from seed in my flower garden. Recently I had help trimming (chopping) down some trees while others assisted in cleaning out the winter’s debris from my flower beds.

The Mr. never allowed me near the trees. When I picked up the clippers he ran around the yard screaming, “Watch out, trees; here comes Dr. Death.” I’m known to have a heavy hand when it comes to trimming trees and shrubs. By the time I get through trimming they often look like they have been massacred.

My house is located on a corner lot where we planted several evergreen trees to help block the cold north winds of winter. They make a great sanctuary where many finches, robins, sparrows and doves make their nests each year. We put birdhouses and feeders and a birdbath among the trees and we enjoy watching them make their nests, feed their young and teach them to fly and survive in their world.

The four o’clock flowers are planted in the garden along with touch-me nots. Perhaps these names sound strange and funny for flowers, but they always grew in my grandma’s flower garden. After my grandparents left the farm and moved to town, they built a house across the street from us. I was in high school and I can remember helping my grandma dig and plant her flower beds. At that time I didn’t know one flower from another, but she quickly taught me about them.

Grandma loved popsicles, especially cherry ones. So on hot summer days I would take a couple and cross the street to share one with her as we sat on her front porch. This is where I got my education about the flowers. She told me if I touched a touch me not the bloom was so fragile it would fall off. She also told me to come at four o’clock so I could see the four o’clocks bloom. Sure enough, like clockwork, they opened up and bloomed every day at 4 o’clock.

When I recently cleaned out around the birdhouses, feeders and trees I discovered the four o’clocks were blooming in all their glory. There are other flowers blooming, but these hold special memories for me. It was almost as though I had stepped back into my past and I saw myself sitting on the porch with my grandma laughing about these funny flowers.

I’ve hauled off several loads of tree limbs, evergreen needles, and other debris sans the four o’clocks from that corner of my yard. It was long overdue for a good cleaning as I had put it off for quite sometime. I’m hoping the ground cover will continue to spread all along the corner, so I won’t have to rake it anymore. I may end up having to mulch that area.

I might also mention that my fire bush already has some leaves on it. That doesn’t surprise me. It usually leafs out when my Irises bloom. Now that my flower beds have been cleaned out they are ready for me to plant new flowers. I suppose they will be blooming before I can turn around.

Right now I’m just going to grab a cold cherry popsicle, sit on my deck and when it’s four o’clock I may just walk around to that corner and see if the four o’clocks are blooming. Thanks for the memories, Grandma.