White Buttercup, Pale Evening Primrose
Oenothera pallida
The Pale Evening Primrose is a Texas wildflower that has delicate blooms that are approximately 2 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter. As the blooms mature, they turn a rosy pink. Blooms appear from March to July. Shown in early April. (San Antonio, Tx.)
Beautiful flowers and the pink shriveled ones give balance to the yellow centers. I never heard of a white one before. We have several varieties here, both wild and cultivated, some yellow, some pink.
I never knew there were so many varieties until I began my ID search. We have several varieties of the wild pink and at least two other of the wild white. I do not see as many of the yellow ones as I used to. The bloom on this one is quite large compared to the pinks. I never knew there were cultivated ones until my search. I think that my favorite nursery has some of the cultivated ones. Do you know if they are as invasive as I have read about? I love these. They bring back such pleasant childhood memories of getting the pollen all over my nose and my little brothers noses as well as when my daughter was a child. These stay open all day in my area so we are able to enjoy them for a long time.
The ones I have are not invasive, although they do come up from seed (in the area, not all over the place) if allowed to set seed. I like them to form a good sized patch, so I let mine seed. O. tetragona and O. speciosa are easy to kill by pulling, and actually resent transplanting. O. missouriensis is a bit more well rooted and harder to kill, but less likely to produce seedlings in large volumes. We also have a wild one nearby, O. biennis, that gets very tall with tiny yellow flowers, and it seems to be a bit invasive so I don't grow it.
When people are talking about perennial ones, do they mean that they are coming back fro the roots or self-seeding? I have been a bit confused on the descxriptions as I did the ID search for this plant and its relatives. I thought that tjese just self-seeded.
All of the ones I have are true perennials and come back from the roots...plus some seedlings.
By the way, did I include a clipping of the key lime along with the other plants in your package I sent ? I made a cutting, but can't remember if I sent it ... duh.
Yes, you sent it and I cut it into 3 sections. It was totally leafless, but I think it may just be starting to make a tiny bit of growth. I still have it, the sweet olive, and the duranta under plastic to encourage rooting. A couple of the duranta seem to be making new leaves, so they may be rooted. The sweet olive is not doing anything yet, but the leaves still look good. (I cut them off some lengthwise to lessen the strain on the cutting...I have had success doing that with oleanders and large leaved coleus before.) Still no yuccas or Chinese violets but I have not given up hope.
How are the things I sent you doing? One of the selaginellas (K. martensii) seems to require extremely high humidity to look it's best. The other one that is more prostrate has weathered several winters outside, protected by a light pine needle mulch. It burns some, but comes back good from the roots. It also graces the soil of some of my larger houseplants. The bougainvillea is going again, took this the other day:
Will start you another piece when it needs cut back in summer.
I am betting that the yucca and the Chnese violets will sprout at the end of April or in May. The cuttings that the San Antonio Botanical Garden let me take from the Chinese Violet are doing very well, but the leaves and blooms are very small still. It obviously likes heat. We are below average for April in that area. A cold front is coming through and it will drop to 43 for the nighttime and be near 60 for a high tomorrow. My plants don't know what's going on. This is the same weather pattern we had last year when we had a late freeze in April which set all the plants back. All of your babies here are doing great so far except for the bougainvillea. I am still hoping it will leaf out. Never give up hope is my motto. Boy, that bloom is a beautiful color.
