Enotera: Species And Cultivation

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Evening primrose (primrose) - night decoration of the summer cottage

"Evening Star" in my garden

When you just start growing a new plant in your garden, you don't even know how many interesting surprises it has in itself.

I heard from friends of summer residents that there is a plant that opens its flowers at sunset, and the buds open so quickly that in just a few minutes the blue-green bush turns into a bright lemon-yellow flame. Such a plant simply could not but interest me.

And the name of this wonderful flower is evening primrose.

In the first year I found only two-year-old evening primrose seeds on sale. Sowed them in May, in moist soil, lightly sprinkled with earth. In this case, the substrate should not be allowed to dry out, otherwise the germination of seeds will decrease. Crops must be kept in the light. After seven days, the first shoots appear.

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As soon as the seedlings grew, I transplanted two of them to a permanent place, and distributed others to my friends. By the fall, rather large rosettes up to 20 cm had formed, which overwintered well under a small shelter. In the spring of next year, evening primrose grew very quickly and by the middle of summer it had already reached a height of 1.5-1.8 meters! By this time, flower buds have formed at the ends of the long stems, and as soon as a cool night replaces a hot summer day, evening primrose blooms its fragrant flowers.

This bloom is so bright that the bush literally glows at night, which is why the Germans call this plant "Night Candle". Now there is still Missouri evening primrose in my garden. It is a ground cover plant, its flowers are located on the surface of the earth, and when dusk falls, it seems that the garland of lanterns lights up one after another. At such a moment, it is impossible to take your eyes off the sight.

Features of culture

Evening primrose flower

Enotera are annual, biennial and perennial rhizome herbaceous plants with a height of 30 to 200 cm. Its stems are straight, there are also creeping, rigid pubescence. Leaves are simple, oval-lanceolate, dentate or pinnately dissected, arranged in the next order.

The flowers are large, poppy-like with silky petals, fragrant - yellow, white, pinkish. They are collected in long racemose inflorescences. Flowers open in the evening and at night. The flower lives only one night, and the next night it is replaced by another. There are varieties that bloom during the day.

In cloudy or cool weather, the flowers also remain open all day. After flowering, very hard fruit-boxes ripen at the base of the rosette. They open at the end of September. They contain very small seeds: 3000 pieces weigh about 1 gram! They ripen well and remain viable for 3-4 years. These seeds fall out of the capsules and are scattered by ants at a distance of several meters from the mother plant, and in spring they germinate.

In Russia, this plant is called a donkey, there are other popular names - evening color, evening star, summer star, lettuce root, night violet, night candle. They call her a donkey, most likely, because evening primrose leaves look like donkey ears.

Enotera belongs to the Cypress family, as well as ivan tea. About 80 species of evening primrose are known, distributed mainly in America and Europe. Enotera biennial (Oenothera biennis) in its wild form is distributed throughout Europe, with the exception of the northern regions; on the territory of the former USSR - in the European part, in the Caucasus, in Kazakhstan and in the Far East. And it grows like a weed on wastelands, along embankments, river banks, forest glades and edges - on dry sandy and sandy loam soils.

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Evening primrose species

Evening primrose flower

Evening primrose, or biennial, is one of the most common evening primrose species in culture. This is a rather tall (up to 2 meters) plant with large bright yellow flowers that have a delicate scent, especially noticeable in the evening.

Enotera Missouri is a low-growing perennial plant with light yellow single calyx-shaped flowers, up to 10 cm in diameter, which seem to lie on the soil surface. They have a delicate aroma with citrus notes. Enotera Missouri blooms very profusely and for a long time - from June to the very frost.

Evening primrose scented - Shade plant stan up to 1 meter with yellow flowers, which can stay open all day.

Common evening primrose - differs from other evening primrose species in that it forms a bush about 90 cm high with strong, well-branched stems, dark green small leaves and medium-sized (about 3 cm) yellow flowers. Evening primrose shrubs look especially advantageous in early autumn, when its leaves turn purple.

Growing and care

Evening primrose is not demanding on soil. The plant grows well in garden soil, but can also grow in soil containing sand and clay. Prefers lighted, open places, but tolerates partial shade.

Evening primrose is drought tolerant and does not require much moisture. Watering is necessary only during dry periods, when the soil at the roots is thoroughly dry. If water stagnates at the roots of the flower, this can lead to the death of the entire plant. Therefore evening primrose needs good drainage, and it is also necessary to periodically weed and loosen the ground around the bushes. The plant winters well under a small shelter.

Evening primrose is easily propagated by sowing seeds. You can propagate it in a vegetative way - by separating young specimens that form around the mother, or by dividing the bush in May or at the end of summer. Evening primrose tolerates transplanting well, even in flowering state.

When growing a biennial evening primrose, it must be borne in mind that the plant will occupy a space of at least 1 square meter. And in order for an adult plant to look beautiful, at a young age, it needs to shorten the side shoots by half, then there will be more flowers, and the whole plant will become more neat. Some evening primrose varieties have strong creeping rhizomes, which can be aggressive. Therefore, if necessary, you need to limit their space. In autumn, after flowering, you need to cut the stems at the root and cover for the winter with foliage or sawdust.

Evening primrose use in the garden landscape

It is better to plant tall varieties of evening primrose in the background, and as neighbors they are suitable: rudbeckia, bells, annual delphiniums, daylilies. Low varieties of evening primrose are used on alpine slides along with ageratum, lobelia and alissum.

Diseases and pests

With good care, plants do not get sick.

Read part 2. Evening primrose: application in medicine and cooking →