The Pink Evening Primrose, otherwise known as the Oenothera Speciosa or Evening Primrose, Pink Ladies, White Evening Primrose, Pinkladies, Pink Evening Primrose, Showy Evening Primrose, Mexican Primrose, is a somewhat well known perennial plant native to the Southeast, Northeast, and the Southwest of the United States.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this perennial will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Pink Evening Primrose Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Pink Evening Primrose can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Pink Evening Primrose grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
- Light: Keep your Oenothera Speciosa in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Pink Evening Primrose in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Pink Evening Primrose this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Pink Evening Primrose belongs to the Onagraceae family, the genus Oenothera and the species Speciosa, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Oenothera Speciosa (ee-no-THEE-ruh spee-see-OH-suh).
As with other Oenothera’s, the Pink Evening Primrose is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Pink Evening Primrose is a plant native to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Mexico. This is why the Oenothera Speciosa is used to growing in specific regions such as the states in Southeast, Northeast, and the Southwest of the United States.
You might be wondering why your Pink Evening Primrose’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environmental conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Oenothera Speciosa will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 8 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 2B, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, H1, H2.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Pink Evening Primrose is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Pink Evening Primrose? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Oenothera Speciosa can grow up to 10″ – 2′ (25cm – 60cm) in 10″ – 2′ (25cm – 60cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Pink Evening Primrose a relatively medium perennial compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 12″ – 18″ (30cm – 45cm) free so the Pink Evening Primrose can spread to its best extent.
Watering
In terms of watering, the Pink Evening Primrose is a fairly simple plant to take care of. This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Oenothera Speciosa grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low needs in terms of water.
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Pink Evening Primrose in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, moist, and occasionally dry properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Pink Evening Primrose then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Pink Evening Primrose needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Pink Evening Primrose prefers to have soil with good drainage, moist, and occasionally dry properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, chalk, and loam.
This is why most experts agree that the Pink Evening Primrose requires soil with clay, loam (silt), sand, and shallow rocky, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably neutral to alkaline soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Pink Evening Primrose requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this perennial will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Oenothera Speciosa in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Pink Evening Primrose will die back to the ground every year. But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (late), the summer (early, mid, late), and during the fall.
Flowers
You can expect your Pink Evening Primrose to flower around the summer and in the fall months from July to September (summer), and from October to December (fall).
In particular, this perennial is well known for its long bloom season and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Pink Evening Primrose produces some beautiful pink and white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Pink Evening Primrose have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with an alternate organization in its leaves. You can expect the leaves from your Oenothera Speciosa to be around (3-6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Pink Evening Primrose is well known for being able to attract birds, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for rocky soil, dry soil, drought and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Oenothera Speciosa will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Pink Evening Primrose? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Oenothera Speciosa owners agree that this perennial will look great in most cottage and mediterranean gardens of all types. Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, coastal garden, gravel and rock garden, and in prairie and meadow styles.
In particular, the Pink Evening Primrose’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, and in ground covers,.
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Pink Evening Primrose in your garden or home.
