EVENING PRIMROSE

If you have never watched an evening primrose flower unfurl, you have missed a real treat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiODdt8l108. I am willing to bet no matter what your age, you will get a "jaw-dropping" thrill from watching this phenomenon in person.

The Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis, is mainly pollinated by the sphinx moth. It's a night bloomer that emits a delicate perfume to attract the moth. The pale yellow flower produced measures about two inches across. It has four petals, prominent stamens , cross shaped stigma, and a long green calyx. The flowers remain open from evening to early morning. The Evening Primrose plant itself is rather ugly, tall and weedy. To keep from pulling this "weed" out of my garden of cultivated plants, I have to keep reminding myself of its impending amazing show.

THE SUMMER GARDEN

poppies. mimulus ,crocosmia. lisianthus

We're well into summer now. At this point in the season most of my garden flowers have bloomed, are blooming or are about to bloom. Some of the flowers were outstanding this year, poppies, crocosmias, dames rockets. The fragrant shrubs, lilac, mock orange bloomed like crazy and and did a good job of perfuming the air. On the down side, my heliopsis are infested with red aphids again this year. (I tried a strong water spray but think I'll need to get out the Safer Soap.) My favorite annuals, lisianthus, are doing very well. I purchased a flat of them in May and distributed them among my many containers. The mimulus or monkey flowers are blooming much better than last year. These flowers are so interesting, with their cute little faces. Nicotiana, tobacco flower, self seeded and the white tubular flowers are perfuming the night air. Another "fragrant at night" plant is the jasmine. It overwintered successfully and its smallish, star-like flowers are just beginning to open.