Plant, cultivate, propagate and more

Plant evening primrose properly

Plant a young plant from your own cultivation or from the nursery in the bed or in a pot with a minimum diameter of 30 cm from mid-May. Choose a sunny spot with well-drained, loose soil. The substrate in the planter is commercially available potting soil suitable, which you can optimize with sand, perlite or lava granules. During the garden floor is prepared, place the potted root ball in water. Planting proceeds as follows:

• Dig a hole twice the size of the root ball
• Add some compost with horn shavings to the excavation
• Unpot the flower, plant in the middle and water
• Maintain the previous planting depth as far as possible

In the bucket, place some shards of pottery over the water drain as drainage before you fill in the substrate. So that crumbs of earth don't immediately clog the protection against waterlogging, spread a water- and air-permeable fleece over the potsherds.

care tips

In the care, the following aspects require the attention of the gardener:

• Only water the evening primrose plant when it is dry
• A start fertilization in March/April covers the nutrient requirements
• Only fertilize freshly potted flowers every 4 weeks from the second year
• Rinse faded flowers regularly
• Cut off wilted flower stalks if seeding is not desired
• Leave dead leaves as a natural protection throughout the winter

At the beginning of winter, the plant is covered with a layer of foliage or brushwood. Ideally, place an evening primrose plant in a pot in a frost-free winter quarters. Large containers with a diameter of more than 30 cm can survive the cold season if they are wrapped in foil, stand on wood and the substrate is covered with straw or leaves.
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Which location is suitable?

So that the evening primrose plant enchants the garden as a summer night scent, it should soak up as much sun as possible during the day. Therefore assign it a sunny, warm and wind-protected location. The plant quickly anchors itself in the humus-rich, sandy-loamy soil with its strong taproot.
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The right planting distance

If you choose the expected growth height of the flower as the planting distance and halve this value, you are exactly right. For the common evening primrose with a height of up to 120 cm, the distance to the plant neighbor should be 60 cm. The smaller scented evening primrose with a height of 60 cm, put it at a distance of 30 cm. A ground-covering cushion evening primrose, on the other hand, is more wide than high. With a growth height of 25 cm and a growth width of 40 cm, a planting distance of 40 cm is recommended in this case.

What soil does the plant need?

No big fuss is to be made about the condition of the ground. Basically, the evening primrose plant thrives in any normal garden soil that does not pose a risk of waterlogging. Who takes it exactly, settles the flower in this soil:

• Moderately nutritious
• Humos, fresh and well drained
• Gladly sandy-loamy to gravelly and calcareous

The evening primrose plant feels just as comfortable in perennial borders as it does in the rock garden, the gravel bed or the vegetable bed of the kitchen garden.

What is the best planting time?

Place a ready-made evening primrose plant or one you have grown on your own in the loose bed soil or in a large bucket from mid-May. If you prefer direct sowing to settle the plant in the garden, the time window opens in June and is open until the end of August.

When is flowering time?

The flowering period of an evening primrose plant extends from June to September. Not only the long duration is remarkable, but the timing itself. The yellow flowers only open at dusk to release their intense fragrance in the garden, swarmed by hungry moths.
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Cut the evening primrose correctly

With a cut at the right time, you regulate the spread, create space for young plants and bring a decorative vase decoration into the house. How to cut the evening primrose plant correctly:

• Immediately cut off wilted flower stalks to prevent seeding
• Alternatively, halve wilted shoots to regulate the degree of spread
• Only cut the fallen leaves close to the ground in February/March
• Cut off blossomed candles at the base to decorate a vase

If you regularly clean wilted flowers, this effort will be rewarded with an extra long flowering period and a well-groomed appearance of the imposing flower at all times.

Water the evening primrose

The evening primrose plant knows how to cope much better with short-term drought than with waterlogging. Only water the flower when the natural amount of rain is insufficient. If the plant is in a bucket in a rain-protected location, check the substrate every 1-2 days. If the top 2-3 centimeters of the soil prove to be dry, it is watered.

Fertilize evening primrose properly

The nutrient supply of an evening primrose plant in the bed is limited to an initial fertilization in March/April in the form of compost with horn shavings or a complete fertilizer. In the pot with pre-fertilized potting soil, you only administer a liquid fertilizer in the second year from April on a monthly basis during the flowering period.

Diseases

Often gardeners complain about mildew on an evening primrose plant. The widespread fungal infection is in peak season when the flower is at its summer peak. It's good to know that you don't have to use chemical fungicides. How to fight the disease on the plant in an environmentally friendly way:

• Cut off parts of the plant that are covered with a mealy-grey patina
• Spray the plant repeatedly with a mix of 100 ml fresh milk and 900 ml water
• Alternatively, dust the infected flower with rock dust

If possible, do not dispose of clippings infected with powdery mildew in the compost, as the fungal spores will spread again from here.

pests

Within the diverse family of lice, a cunning species has specialized on the evening primrose plant. If the tiny green or brown-black evening primrose aphids colonize the flower, use the tried and tested soap solution to combat the plague. Mix 15 ml of pure soft soap or curd soap and 1 dash of spirit in 1 liter of water and spray the infested flower every 2-3 days.

hibernate

Whether as a biennial plant or perennial; the evening primrose plant has sufficient winter hardiness. Since this varies depending on the type and variety, we recommend the following precautions if you want to be on the safe side:

• Leave the foliage on the plant throughout the winter and only cut it off in spring
• Cover the bed with leaves, brushwood or reeds before the first frost
• Place large tubs on wood and wrap with foil

If the flower thrives in a small pot with a diameter of less than 30 cm, move the plant to a frost-free winter quarters.

propagate evening primrose

You can let an evening primrose plant propagate by seed, or you can selectively propagate it using one of the following methods:

• Division of the root ball in spring or autumn
• Cut non-flowering cuttings in early summer
• Harvest the seeds in the fall and sowing behind glass from March or Direct sowing from June

The ripe fruits of an evening primrose cavort in droves on the withered flower candles. When they turn brown and start to open, the seeds inside are ripe. Stored in a dark, dry screw-top jar, the seed retains its ability to germinate through spring and summer. The seeds are sown 2 cm deep in lean seed soil, outdoors at a row spacing of 20 to 25 cm.

Evening primrose in pot

In the pot, the evening primrose plant on the balcony enriches leisure hours in the evening with its beautiful flowers and aromatic scent. Planted in a mix of normal potting soil and sand, protected from waterlogging by a Drainage from potsherds or grit, care is limited to watering during drought and monthly Fertilize from the second year. If you regularly brush off last night's withered flowers, the plant will retain its neat appearance. Before the first frost, cut the flower down to the ground and put the pot in the frost-free winter quarters.

Evening primrose does not bloom

Don't be surprised if an evening primrose plant does not flower in the first year. Since it is usually a biennial plant, it initially invests its energy in the growth of a basal rosette of leaves. If the supply of the flower is ensured in this way, in the second year the majestic blossom candle strives out of this base towards the sky.

Is the evening primrose plant edible?

For generations, the evening primrose plant has had a regular place in cottage gardens because its seeds and roots are edible. For example, the well-known evening primrose oil, which has made a name for itself in medicine, is extracted from the seeds of the flower. It promises relief from stomach and intestinal diseases, skin irritations and high cholesterol levels. The root of the nostalgic plant is popularly known as ham root because it turns red during preparation. Harvested in autumn and cooked in water, the taste is reminiscent of salsify.
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trivia

An old saying goes that 1 pound of the fleshy evening primrose root eaten as a vegetable gives more strength than 1 quintal of ox meat. Since there is still a lack of conclusive evidence for this theory, another proverb applies here: the proof of the pudding is in the eating.