Evening primrose ∗ The 10 best care and planting tips

Planting evening primrose properly

You can plant a young plant from your own nursery or from the nursery in the bed or in a pot with a minimum diameter of 30 cm from mid-May. Choose a sunny location with well-drained, loose soil. As a substrate in the planter is commercially available Potting soil suitable that you optimize with sand, Perlite(€ 39.50 at Amazon *) or Lava granules.(€ 14.00 at Amazon *) During the Garden soil is prepared, put the potted root ball in water. This is how the planting continues:

• Dig a hole twice the size of the root ball
• Some compost with the excavation Horn shavings(€ 32.93 at Amazon *) admit
• Pot the flower, plant in the center and water
• Maintain the previous planting depth if possible

In the bucket, lay a few potsherds over the water drain as drainage before you fill in the substrate. So that crumbs of earth do not immediately clog the protection against waterlogging again, spread a water- and air-permeable fleece over the pottery shards.

Care tips

In maintenance, the following aspects require the gardener's attention:

• Only water the evening primrose plant when it is dry
• A start fertilization in March / April covers the nutrient requirements
• Fertilize freshly potted flowers every 4 weeks from the second year onwards
• Regularly clean withered flowers
• Cut off the wilted flower stalks if seeding is not desired
• Leave drawn leaves to stand through the winter as natural protection

At the beginning of winter, the plant is covered with a layer of leaves or sticks. An evening primrose plant in a pot should ideally be placed in frost-free winter quarters. Large vessels 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 sheltered location. In the humus, sandy-loamy soil, the plant anchors itself with its strong taproot within a short time.
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The correct planting distance

If you choose the expected 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 neighboring plant should be 60 cm. The smaller scented evening primrose with a height of 60 cm is placed at a distance of 30 cm. A floor-covering upholstery evening primrose, on the other hand, is wider than it is high. With a height of 25 cm and a width of 40 cm, a planting distance of 40 cm is recommended in this case.

What soil does the plant need?

There is no big deal 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. If you take it exactly, the flower settles in this earth:

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

The evening primrose plant feels just as at home in herbaceous borders as it does in the rock garden, gravel bed or vegetable bed in the kitchen garden.

What is the best time to plant?

You can place an evening primrose plant that you have bought or grown yourself in the loose bedding soil or in the large tub from mid-May. If you prefer direct sowing to plant the plant in the garden, the time window opens in June and is open until the end of August.

When is the 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 give off their intense scent in the garden, surrounded by hungry night butterflies.
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Cut evening primrose properly

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

• Cut off withered flower stalks immediately to prevent seeding
• Alternatively, cut wilted shoots in half to regulate the degree of spread
• Only cut the retracted leaves close to the ground in February / March
• Cut off blossomed candles at the base as a vase decoration

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

Pour 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 the rain-protected location, check the substrate every 1-2 days. If the top 2-3 centimeters of the soil prove to be dry, watering takes place.

Fertilize evening primrose properly

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

Diseases

Gardeners often complain about mildew on an evening primrose plant. The widespread fungal infection has high season precisely when the flower is at its summer zenith. Good to know that it is not absolutely necessary to use chemical fungicide. How to fight the disease in the plant in an environmentally friendly way:

• Cut off parts of the plant covered with a floury-gray patina
• Repeatedly spray the plant with a mix of 100 ml fresh milk and 900 ml water
• Alternatively, pollinate the infected flower with rock flour

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

Pests

Within the diverse family of lice, a cunning species has specialized in the evening primrose plant. If the tiny green or brown-black evening primrose lice 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 splash of spirit in 1 liter of water and spray the infected flower every 2-3 days.

Overwinter

Whether as a biennial plant or a perennial perennial; the evening primrose plant is sufficiently winter hardy. Since this - depending on the type and variety - is different, we recommend the following precautions if you want to be on the safe side:

• Leave the foliage on the plant through the winter and only cut it off in spring
• Cover the bed with leaves, brushwood or reeds before the first frost
• Place large buckets 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 into frost-free winter quarters.

Propagate evening primrose

You can let an evening primrose plant reproduce by seeding, or you can target 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 autumn and sowing behind glass from March or Direct sowing from June

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

Evening primrose in the pot

In the pot, the evening primrose plant enriches the evening hours of leisure on the balcony with its beautiful blossoms and aromatic scent. Planted in a mix of normal potting soil and sand, protected from waterlogging by a Drainage from potsherds or chippings, maintenance is limited to watering when it is dry and monthly Fertilize from the second year. If you clean the withered flowers from the previous night regularly, the plant will keep its neat appearance. Before the first frost, cut the flower to the ground and move the pot to the frost-free winter quarters.

Evening primrose does not bloom

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

Is the evening primrose plant edible?

The evening primrose plant has had a regular place in the cottage garden for generations, 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, as it turns red during preparation. Harvested in autumn and cooked in water, the taste is reminiscent of black salsify.
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Trivia

There is an old saying that eating 1 pound of the fleshy evening primrose root 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 saying applies here: trying is better than studying.

Nice varieties

• Sulphurea: delicate yellow flower that gives off a bewitching perfume scent at night; Growth height up to 60 cm
• Solstice: large-flowered evening primrose plant, the deep yellow flowers of which arise from red buds; Growth height 60-80 cm
• Siskiyou: magnificent ground cover evening primrose with pink flowers and enormous vigor; Growth height 20-30 cm
• Alba: white flowering variety with prostrate shoots and long flowering time from June to September; Height of growth 30 cm
• Rosea: dense clusters of flowers in delicate pink adorn the 25 cm high evening primrose until October; ideal for the bucket