Evening Primrose (Œnothera).
A handsome, clear yellow flower, growing six feet high, and blooming for many weeks, but one of those that never know when and where they are not wanted. You know the true gardening rhyme, don’t you?—that ‘One year’s seeding makes seven years’ weeding.’ We believe that when once the Evening Primrose has had a chance in a garden, its seeds will come up there till the crack of doom. However, they have tap-roots, and are easily pulled up. If you have none and want them, you should sow in June where the plants are to stand, and thin out severely, leaving two feet between the plants. Remember that in this chapter we are talking of biennials, that will not flower until the following year. If you have one of those heart-breaking gardens made of rough, starved soil or builder’s rubbish, you might sow Evening Primroses as carefully as you can all along the back of the border. Then, in the following spring, when your Evening Primroses are spreading plants, you could sow Giant Poppies in front of them, and Dwarf Nasturtiums in front of the Poppies. One of the great secrets of gardening is to find out how to make the best of your conditions, even when they are unfavourable.