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| Sundrops June 7, 2010 |
Oenothera
tetragona berlandieri 'Siskiyou'
Oenothera tetragona, also called Sundrops, are a bright clear yellow in the Birch Garden. They beam like a beacon. This is a lovely, happy looking flower. It is a type of evening primrose that opens in sunlight, not in the evening. Upright, with reddish stems.
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| 'Siskiyou' May 27, 2010 |
The Sundrops in the Birch Garden are filling in and spreading but nowhere near as aggressive as other evening primroses. Some were chomped by deer, but others were left alone. They all need staking; these get tall and floppy.
The foliage turns a nice reddish color in fall.
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| Sundrops June 7, 2010 |
Oenothera berlandieri is the more aggressive evening primrose, and it does spread. It's rated for zone 6, so hopefully colder temps in winter here will keep it more in check. I will have to keep pulling the new plants to keep this in the space I want. I dug some and put them in pots, and they were really nice as container plants, blooming a long time from spring into summer.
This stays low, with very pretty, delicate, cup shaped blooms. A nice filler at the right edge of the Birch Garden.
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| May 27, 2010 |
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| June 15, 2011 (Sundrops are spreading) |
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| June 10, 2012 A clump of sundrops amid everything else, but they are spreading and doing well |
In 2011 the pink evening primroses did not do well. They had vole damage over the winter and seemed to be melting away. But by 2012 the patch on the right side of the Birch Garden looked good again. So far these plants are spreaders but not out of control.
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| June 1 2012 The pretty pink evening primroses go nicely with the purple nepeta, peach colored irises and the dark wine colored heuchera below them. |
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| June 5, 2012 |
In June in the Birch Garden, the yellow sundrops add a bright layer in the middle. In 2013 there were two nice upright stands of them.
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| 6/18/13 |
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| 6/18/13 |
But in 2013 the pink evening primrose disappeared. Despite its reputation for spreading aggressively, these did not, and after forming a big patch in earlier years, they barely showed up at all in 2013.
Here they are in early June, just a small, open clump. Where did they go?
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| 6/2/13 |
Despite the worry about the aggressiveness of Oenothera, they are all but disappearing from my garden.
In fact the pretty pink evening primrose, which was supposed to be very aggressive, was completely gone in 2014. I never saw it.
The yellow sundrops did appear in 2014, but they have not spread very much and are being overtaken by the big iteas behind them. For a brief time in late June I saw some bright yellow, but just a pop here and there. The plants need staking and fall over, further hiding their sunny faces in this garden.
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| 6/23/14 yellow sundrops are just peeking out below all the lushness of the itea above them |
In 2015 the pink evening primroses disappeared completely, they are just not there.
But the happy yellow sundrops looked wonderful for a brief time in mid June.
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| 6/12/15 |
They do make a nice pop of yellow in the center of the garden.
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| 6/19/15 |
The red stems can look nice enough, but I think I should cut these back to the basal rosettes after they are done flowering.
