Another new flower for our Sunnyvale Garden in 2020 are Pinkladies. Pinkladies (Oenothera speciosa) has masses of fragrant, bowl-shaped, satiny flowers. Other common names are evening primrose.
We purchased our pinkladies from Summerwinds nursery.
The large (2-3 inch wide) flowers open in the evening and remain open until late morning. The flowers age to rose-pink with deeper pink veins. They rise on erect to sprawling stems on rosettes of oblong to lance-shaped, toothed, medium green leaves. They are followed by oval seed capsules bearing 4 papery wings. medium-height species, producing many slender stems from a woody base, sometimes forming large clumps. Stems and leaves have a fine covering of very short but somewhat rough hairs.
Flowers are produced at the top of the stem and from the upper leaf nodes; they are formed of four green sepals, about an inch in length, and four overlapping petals up to 1.5 inches long. Petals are pink towards the edge, white lower down and yellow right at the base, and are crossed by a neat pattern of darker pink veins; one of the more attractive species in this large genus. The color of the petals darkens as the flower matures. The center of the flower contains eight stamens and a white style, terminating in a four-pronged stigma.
- Common names: Pinkladies, pink evening primrose
- Family: Evening Primrose (Onagraceae)
- Scientific name: Oenothera speciosa
- Main flower color: Pink
- Range: South Arizona, south New Mexico, Texas and states to the east.
- Height: Up to 20 inches
- Habitat: Roadsides, woodland, prairie, disturbed ground, at generally low elevations
- Leaves: Alternate, elliptic to oblanceolate, up to 3 inches long
