EVENING PRIMROSES, 



9 



Evening Primrose is put in a genus new 

 to us, Onagra : yet another is Anagra; 

 the half-bushy looking kinds are now 

 found under the genus Knieffia ; the 

 pretty kind of which a variety is figured 

 here is no longer in its old genus but 

 is Hartmannia ; the well-marked and 

 familiar CE. ccespifosa is now Pachylo- 

 phus\ the handsome Missouri Evening 

 Primrose, long known in our gardens, 

 is now Megapterium ; and so on through 

 the maddest dance of change we have 

 ever noticed among well-known garden 

 plants. There is no group known to 

 us in gardens which is more distinctly 

 marked and closely related than this ; 

 and yet they are thus separated into ge- 

 nera as needless as they are confusing. 



Amongst many species and seedling 

 varieties of Evening Primrose the fol- 

 lowing are the most useful kinds for 

 gardens : — 



Stemless Evening Primrose (CE. ccespi- 

 tosa) . — A dwarf perennial, 6 to i 2 inches high, 

 flowering in May, with blooms 4 to 5 inches 

 across, changing slowly from white to a pale 

 rose; as evening comes on they show well above 

 the jagged leaves and retain their fragrant 

 beauty until morning. Increased by suckers 

 from the roots, and by cuttings, which root 

 readily. Syn. CE. marginata. 



D rummond'sEvening Primrose (dE. jDr#//z- 

 mondi) . — -A fine annual, bearing yellow flowers 

 and growing from 1 8 inches to 2 feet high. A 

 useful kind for filling blanks in the flower gar- 

 den, and also where annual plants are made a 

 feature. Texas and the south-western States. 



Sundrops (CE.fruticosd). — -This and its va- 

 rieties are good and showy perennials, 1 to 3 

 feet high, with bright yellow blossoms. There 

 are several varieties, the best being Youngi, 

 about 2 feet high, and with an abundance of 

 flower. It is one of the best of yellow Evening 

 Primroses for small beds, for edgings, or as a 

 groundwork for shrubs, growingfreely in ordi- 

 nary soil and of easy increase by division. 



Grey-leaved Evening Primrose (CE. 

 glaucd). — A handsome plant of sub-shrubby 

 growth and bearing yellow flowers. The variety 

 Fraseri is a still finer plant, and where an at- 

 tractive mass of yellow is desired through the 

 summer there are few hardy plants of easy cul- 

 ture so effective. Division. Mountain woods 

 in Virginia and Georgia. 



Lamarck's Evening Primrose (CE. La- 

 marckia?id). — -A tall showy plant growing 3 to 

 5 feet highland of thehighest valuefor the gar- 

 den, especially the wild-garden, and to go with 

 such plants as the Foxglove and Mullein. It 

 is a biennial, seeding freely, and should be sown 

 yearly, especially in recently broken ground. 

 In books it is usually classed as a form of CE. 

 biennis, but is distinct from our point of view, 

 and superior, the supposed mother-plant not 

 being worth growing. It is called after a fa- 

 mous naturalist to whom we are indebted for 

 some of the best ideas in the "evolutionary" 

 notions of our day. Prairies and mountains. 



Missouri Evening Primrose (CE.missouri- 

 ensis). — A handsome perennial, with prostrate 

 stems andclear yellow flowers, each sometimes 

 5 inches across. There is no more valuable bor- 

 der or rock-plant, being easily grown and in- 

 creased from seed or cuttings. Thebloomsopen 

 in the evening. Syn. CE. macrocarpa. Central 

 Prairie regions. 



Rock Evening Primrose (CE. pumild). — 

 The most graceful kind, and, though bearing a 

 small flower, it is a charming plant for the rock- 

 garden or for stone or other edgings, yielding 

 a succession of bloom throughout the summer 

 and autumn. It is a perennial, and not difficult 

 to grow or increase. Syn. CE. riparia. 



Showy Evening Primrose (CE. speciosa. — 

 A first-rate perennial with many large flowers, 

 at first white but changing to rose; the plant 

 erect, and 14 to 18 inches high, is increased 

 by division or cuttings and thrives in well- 

 drained loam. Canada, southward and west- 

 ward. The subject of our plate is a beautiful 

 variety of this species, a plant of fine colour 

 and not often seen in gardens. It is certainly 

 one of the finest of the Evening Primroses, 

 forming a trailing mass of much-branched 

 slender stems, bearing flowers of a bright clear 

 rose with darker lines, and 1 i| inches 

 across. It spreads rapidly into masses a yard or 

 moreacross. It is fond of asunnyspot and light 



