Mexican Evening Primrose

One of the best looking and most attractive flowering perennial ground cover/shrubs that can be used in the xeriscape garden is the Mexican Evening Primrose, Oenothera mexicana (berlandieri). These perennials pack a whallop when it comes to providing awesome and unique color and as such are right at home in any desert friendly/xeriscape garden. If you happen to be looking for an easy to care for perennial ground cover for your garden look no further than Mexican Evening Primrose.

This is such an easy plant to grow and care for; no fuss or muss....just add water! Basically it's just that simple. This is an extremely hardy plant that can take all that winter has to dish out and comes popping back to glorious life in the spring. Native to all of the desert southwest and Mexico Mexican Evening Primrose has a very delicate, almost papery, looking flower that starts somewhat white and finishes as a pastel pink. Leaves are roughly 1-2 inches long and fairly insignificant. Flowers open during daylight hours hours, and bloom from early spring to late August/September.

It's best if you can plant Mexican Evening Primroses among other full sun loving plants. Make sure to plant them with plants of complimentary colors for a fabulous and striking look. Be prepared to divide the clumps every 3 years as this will help promote healthy new growth and consistent flowering. Keep in mind this plant can readily self-sow so be sure to plant these in well defined planting beds where growth can be controlled. Mexican Evening Primroses are a great perennial for novice gardeners to grow because they are simple to grow and maintain. They are relatively pest or problem free.

These plants can be used as either a small shrub as well as a ground cover but it is generally best to consider Mexican Evening Primroses a ground cover because they generally won't grow more than 18 inches tall but can, and will, spread 4 feet wide. Definitely keep this in mind when considering this plant for your garden. For a naturalistic look make sure to plant these among rocks or boulders.