Oenothera speciosa, commonly known as pink evening primrose, opens its petals when night starts to fall. The bowl-shaped blooms face skyward and are a lovely pale pink nearly 2 inches across. Each flower lasts only a day but the plants have a long blooming season. Distinctive features of primroses are the crosslike stigma and four-petaled flowers. This primrose grows 8 - 24 inches high and spreads to 15 inches.
Native to rocky prairies, they encompass a much broader region now. They thrive in poor soil and are a beautiful sight along our southeast Missouri roadsides in late spring. These plants can be used in a wide variety of semi-wild garden settings but they are best planted where you don’t mind them spreading as they can quickly crowd out nearby plants.
Its cousin, Oenothera fruticosa, commonly called sundrops, opens in sunshine and closes at dusk. Deep green leaves are topped by clusters of bright clear yellow flowers, from 1- 2 inches across. Its flowers also last but a day but the blooming season spans several weeks. It grows from 12 - 36 inches high.
Tolerant of poor soil and quite drought-resistant, sundrops are fussy about well-drained soil and full sun. Their sturdy, tidy stems and leaves are in contrast to the pink evening primrose whose foliage is rather coarse and sprawling.
Night or day. Take your pick – or better yet, grow both. They’re sure to catch your eye and make you smile!
1 comment:
Nice job on this post, both the writing and the photography are great!
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