The evening primrose is one of the great signifiers of summer, its cheerful yellow blooms bashfully acting coy during the day, and opening more fully at the tail-ends of the sun’s show. The variety that has persisted in our garden comes from a plant I first procured almost forty years ago, then kept going all this time, from our childhood home in Amsterdam to where we are now. It tends to stay open in the early sunny hours, then hiding a bit from noon to four or so, and coming back for more when things have cooled down. Plants aren’t stupid.
Their blooming period is somewhat short, but they make up for that with this bold, clear color – little drops of sun to match what may be missing from our skies of late. Summer makes amends in small ways.
