Virginia ecotype
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Upright to sprawling, clump-forming, naturalizing
Size: 1 to 2.5 feet tall; about 1 to 2 feet wide
Flowering Time: May to July (occasionally into August)
Bloom Color: Bright lemony yellow
Habitat: Meadows, open woods, prairies, dry slopes, roadsides
Moisture: Dry to average; well-drained soils
Light: Full sun to part sun; best showing in full sun
Soils: Sandy, loamy, or rocky; tolerates poorer soils
Uses: Pollinator gardens, wild meadow plantings, borders, naturalized wildflower areas
Oenothera fruticosa (Southern sundrops)
Oenothera fruticosa is known as the Narrowleaf Sundrops or Southern Sundrops; a cheerful native wildflower prized for its profusion of lemony yellow spring-summer blooms. Its slender stems rise from a clumping base of lance-shaped leaves. While "Evening Primrose" is another nickname for this species, the four-petaled flowers open during the day, often in abundance, creating an eye-catching display.
This hardy perennial thrives in well-drained soils and tolerates drought once established, making it well-suited to prairies, rocky slopes, and naturalistic gardens. Plants prefer as much sun as they can get, and can be easily overshadowed by other taller plants, so consider planting around other similar sized plants.
Southern sundrops provide an important nectar source for a range of pollinators. It is especially attractive to long-tongued bees, mining bees, butterflies, and skippers, while its evening-blooming relatives in the genus Oenothera are better known for moth pollination. A sweat bee (Lasioglossum oenotherae) is a specialist pollinator of many different species of narrowleaf evening primrose.
By providing nectar during late spring to early summer, sundrops help support native bee populations when other meadow plants may be less abundant.