The flowers are 1½in. across, of a variously tinted white, sometimes with pink and sometimes with purplish-grey inside the corolla. The outside is yellowish-green; the five lobes of the corolla are arranged cup-fashion, having four distinct ribs or nerves and wavy margins, the inner bases being richly tinted with lemon-yellow; what appears at first sight to be the flower-stalk, 2in. to 3in. long, is really a long round tube, very narrow for so large a flower; it is of even thickness all its length. The calyx nearly touches the earth; it is also tubular and five-cleft. The leaves are from less than an inch to 3in. long, somewhat spoon-shaped or sub-spathulate and entire, smooth, and very soft to the touch.
It thrives in a light soil, but it should not be dry. Moisture and a little shade are the chief conditions required by this lovely creeper, and where bare places exist, which are otherwise suitable, nothing more pleasing could well be planted; in dips or the more moist parts of rockwork, it may be grown with capital effect, but the patches should be broad. It also forms a good surfacing subject for leggy plants or shrubs. Lilies not only appear to more advantage when carpeted with the short dense foliage of this creeper, but their roots are kept more cool and moist by it, and there are many similar cases in which it will prove equally useful. It is easily propagated by division of the roots after the leaves have died off, but I have found spring much the better time, just as the new growth is pushing.
Flowering period, July and August.
Œnothera Speciosa.
Showy Evening Primrose; Nat. Ord. Onagraceæ.
A hardy and beautiful perennial species from North America; it is aptly named, as the flowers are not only large but numerous (see Fig. 66). The plant has a gay appearance for many weeks. As a garden flower, it is one of those happy subjects which may be allowed to grow in any odd corner, no matter what quality the soil may be, and full exposure or a little shade is equally suitable. No matter where it grows in the garden, it is a showy and pleasing flower, which, if plucked, is found to have the delicate smell of the sweet pea. It grows 18in. high, is herb-like in the foliage, and very distinct from other species, more especially as regards its slender stems and somewhat large and irregular foliage.
The flowers are a satiny white, delicately nerved, and nearly 3in. across; the four petals are a pleasing yellowish-green at the bases; when fully expanded they form a cross, being clear of each other; they become tinted with rose when they begin to fade. The leaves are of various sizes, sometimes spotted, lance-shaped, toothed, and attenuated at the base. The general habit of the plant is erect, but it is often procumbent; it has, from its slender stems, a light appearance, and for one evening's use the sprays are very useful in a cut state.
Fig. 66. Œnothera Speciosa.
(One-sixth natural size.)