missouriensis—Evening primrose from the West, six inches high. The leaves are long and oval, covered with ash-gray hairs. The nocturnal flowers, poppy-like, can measure six inches across and are yellow.
perennis (pumila)—sundrop—This is the daytime bloomer, often with one-inch blooms on a plant only three inches tall. The silk-hairy leaves make a lush-looking mound.
CARE. Medium sandy soil, dry, with drainage (heavy dampness is fatal). Lime and manure. Sun. Remove seed pods to promote more flowers. Plant has long taproot which must not be broken when transplanting.
PROPAGATION. Seeds, division (in early fall or spring), cuttings (in late summer).
SPECIAL USES. Rock gardens and wall plantings.
Phlox Polemoniaceae
There are so many varieties of this furiously spring-flowering plant, and all with many admirers, that the trick is to find the ones which appeal to you personally. You will be guided by the colors you want and the amount of space available. Many of them, after the blooming season, make lush, plushy, green foliage mats.
amoena (procumbens)—Neat, not rampant, cushions of two-inch oval leaves with flat clusters of fragrant pinkish, or purplish, flowers on six-inch stems in May and June.
bifida—sand phlox—A native of the Midwest with low, tufted, and slightly hairy foliage and starry blue flowers (early, in April and May).
divaricata (canadensis)—wild sweet William—This slow creeper is a little tall—about twelve inches—but may fit your planting scheme. It has two-inch oval leaves and clusters of lavender-blue flowers at daffodil time.