This flower has been in my garden for several years, and only recently I decided to read about it in books and magazines — I was expecting to learn more about one of my favorite plants. And now I’m trying unsuccessfully to combine reading with what I see in my own flower garden :))
Another name for the evening primrose is Oenothera, and one of the species — Oenothera speciosa-is called Pink Ladies by the English. And such poetic images are associated with the fact that the flowers of this plant open during the day, and by sunrise they are closed. My sunny beauty folds the petals in the evening, and opens them again in the morning! Only the day begins to decline, the yellow petals, as if on command, add up, and in cloudy weather, the flowers are not particularly admired…
They also write that the evening primrose is drought-resistant, that it is better to plant it on a water-permeable, slightly dry soil and can be used for planting on retaining walls and beds with gravel. Don’t know… in the old garden, it grew under my birch trees, in the sun-a little heat will come, and the ground around it dries up-I had to constantly water it. From the heat and drought, my evening primrose withered before my eyes, the leaves drooped, and the flowers fell off. Here, in the new garden, I planted it in a small lowland, where the sun is only in the morning, and the soil is quite dense — and this “lover of dryness” feels great, despite the daily heavy rains!
The second discrepancy is the flowering period. I’m reading: “Blooms continuously from July until the appearance of cold winds.” In another source: from June to September. I have it growing in June, about two weeks, probably. Well, maybe a little longer, if it’s not too hot… However, I saw in one of the magazines a reference to the fact that “in the heat, raccoons can stop blooming until the weather gets cooler.”Everything is so, except for one thing: my plant, even if it is cold, no longer blooms :((
But beautiful bright buds, as it turned out, are a feature of some varietal plants. They are really spectacular, and next to the yellow flowers they look completely original and unexpected.
What I completely agree with is the description that says that the Oenothera is practically immune to diseases and pest attacks . And it grows, in fact, perfectly: plant two or three bushes, and in a year in their place there will be a chic picture with a lot of bright colors. The transplant is easy to transfer, almost does not require care. In general, a find, not a plant!