Oenothera speciosa 'SISKIYOU'

Evening primrose is a large genus of many annuals, biennials, and most importantly perennials from sunny and hot landscapes of North America, S.W. USA, and Mexico. A lot of perennial species are hardy enough for C.E. climate, too, they just resent water-logged soils. In our country mostly yellow flowering species are cultivated, especially appreciated for their evening performance of fast flower opening which happens just before your eyes and takes some 5-10 minutes.

Siskiyou is a gorgeous variety of evening primrose producing daytime flowers. They are 5-6 cm wide, weakly fragrant, saucer-shaped, white with pink veins and soft pink hues towards the petal margins. The centre is yellow. Blooming time is often the reason why this perennial evening primrose is so popular - flowers open from early July and continue until early autumn. Leaves are narrowly lance-shaped, medium green, shallowly toothed. Stems are 20-30 cm tall and apart from the side ones they do not tend to bend or creep.

Evening primrose naturally occurs in rocky and dry locations with plenty of sun. They hate water-logged, cold, boggy soil. Grow them in poor to only moderately fertile, free-draining, sandy soil or a rockery of any pH, though they prefer neutral to alkaline reaction. Evening primrose is a fast grower forming root runners which are perfect if you want to fill a larger area, however, they may need to be removed if you want to keep the plant in one clump. Hardy to min. -29°C (USDA zone 5b), some sources even believe it can take -34°C (not tested).

Last update 27-07-2019