There are some plants that come with strange names. For example the magic flower. Here you can find out why it is called that and how it is planted.
Cinquefoil, spider flower, snapdragon - there are so many plants with strange names. The miracle flower (Mirabilis jalapa), for example, is also very popular in our gardens. The special thing about the easy-care, although not hardy miracle flower is that you can plant it in many bright colors, such as white, yellow, pink, red, sometimes even two-tone flowers. This will probably be a reason for the naming.
By the way:
The magic flower usually spreads its wonderful fragrance at night, with a pleasant smell of oranges.
Growing/sowing of the magic flower
In autumn, the miracle flower produces enough seeds that you can easily collect and dry (see Harvesting seeds yourself - is that possible?). As early as March you can grow the miracle flower using these seeds on the window sill. The germination time is between 1.5 and 2 weeks.
After the ice saints, you can then take the miracle flower, which originally comes from Central America, outdoors. It prefers a full sun to minimally semi-shady location that is as sheltered as possible from the wind. Whereby it makes only few demands on the prevailing soil conditions, but loves a nutrient-rich, slightly moist soil.
Hint:
It is best to enrich nutrient-poor soil with humus before planting.
Proper care of the magic flower
» watering/fertilizing:
On warm days you have to water the fragrant miracle flower regularly. You hardly have to fertilize the flower at all. A fertilizer application is usually only necessary during the first growth.
» Encourage flowering:
The miracle flower reaches a height of between 60 and 120 centimeters and proudly displays its rich blooms from June to the beginning of October. However, the calyxes only open in the afternoon, which in turn was one of the reasons for their naming.
Withered flowers should be plucked off regularly so that new ones can grow as quickly as possibleflowers.
» Overwintering:
The bulbs of the magic flower should be planted out in late autumn and overwintered in a frost-free room. However, fresh cultivation with seeds in the spring is much easier and therefore more advisable.