June evenings are relished for fireflies, gentle breezes, cricket choruses, aromas from vesper flowers, and the magical opening of evening primroses.
At dusk one single creamy yellow blossom starts the magic show in gardens growing the common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) and the Tina James Magic Primrose (Oneothera glazioviana). Gardeners observe how the buds on the four-petaled flowers quiver and swell, the sepals peel back, and in a blink petals unfurl wide open like a fairy umbrella. Common evening primrose flowers are 2” in diameter and ‘Tina James’ flowers are 4” wide. These green background plants by day transform into lemon yellow princesses at night as they stage and star in evening garden parties aka primrose parties drawing revelers and nocturnal pollinators like humming-bird moths. Hundreds of flowers can open in a 30-minute period. Each flower lasts only one night and closes by mid-morning the next day.
The 4-H Children’s Garden at the Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan has featured a program called “Moonlight Magic’ where guests gather to watch the primroses bloom. Children can be heard making testable inferences like “the smaller flowers seem to open first” and “the flowers higher on the stem are slower to open.” Adults start counting blossoms and predicting which will open next.
The gardens at the John C. Campbell Folk School in the mountains of North Carolina have a population of ‘Tina James’ to tantalize students, teachers, and visitors. Several private home gardens in the midlands invite family and neighbors to view the evening primrose magic over the garden gate while practicing social distancing and wearing masks. Some gardeners cut the flowers before they open and bring them into a dimly lit house in the evening to encourage opening indoors.
Now is the time to order evening primrose seeds for your garden. Both biennials are easy to grow in South Carolina. Direct sow seed in fall for the development of a basal rosette of leaves and strong root system. Plants thrive in full sun in well-drained sandy or loamy soil where they will reach 3-5’ tall. They do self-seed. Evening primroses have few pests or disease problems with good cultural practices.
The evening primrose clan has both day and night-blooming members.
Use the scientific name when ordering night-blooming species. Garden centers rarely stock them because they aren’t blooming when customers are at the store.
Bring magic to your garden at night with the luminous glow of evening primroses.
Evening-Primrose Seed
www.hudsonvalleyseed.com
www.selectseed.com
www.southernexposure.com
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