I find the changing topic and confusion interesting since 4 or 5 varieties of the evening primrose grow wild on my land. Telling the O speciosa from the O kunthiana can be hard.. It is confusing out there in the front field. Normal wild Oenothera Kuntianas are a paler pink than this magenta creation which has been hybridized and jerked with. The OP plant is not representative of the wild plants around here. The spreading characteristic of O. speciosa will drive the orderly gardener bonkers but the one who likes to work with plant characteristics in their design will appreciate this and the accidents that enrich garden.. My first garden that I saw with it used years and years ago was a really sensitive example of plant characteristics used appropriately. It was a tall bluff with a rock wall about 6' tall and the "lawn"(I use that term loosely) rose in a grade above i the wall. The owner mowed the grass pretty short in early spring and the grass grew and the EP grew up through it and the rocks on the wall making a beautiful cascading effect and covering the grass completely where it grew . Then as summer drew near it disappeared and the owner mowed her grass again. It made me search it out years ago and , believe me, at the time it was not very available in the trade, except by raiding the fields. I got my start from her of the tall bluff. Here in Texas The pink Oenotheras are "spring ephemeral of sorts. It goes dormant and disappears with the beginning of EARLY summer.. SO do not get this plant and expect it to last through the summer. This is its behavior in Texas. Maybe it's behavior is different in Concord New Hampshire or Lansing Michigan. Heat does make it go away till the next year..Also the caterpillars love to eat its foliage. They are long gone in my garden right now. I like the idea for this "does your garden look like your character Thread". YES, YES AND YES. Mine is as disorderly as I am, absolutely.Good thread idea. I think that all should have tolerance of the latin name/common name confusions. Besides, Those latin names change with the mounting regularity these days pushed by the committees of arguing scientists. They do help but there is as much name confusions in them as there is in the common names. Eupatorium, ageratatina, conoclinium , what is it? I asked a salvia guy was it Salvia Reptans or Salvia leptophylla . It seemed like a simple question but he could not give me a simple answer because he did not know what one was the days right one today. The committees were't clear in their last statement... We can educate people to loose their fear of the mysterious latin name. and we can be tolerant of those like me who abuse all language that is given them. I think it is a mark of an intelligent person who is fluid and fills in the blanks and looks for the intended meaning , even when it is through muddy waters. - Mara, Queen of the Maraprop ( I mean malaprop)

Thanks Al. So basically the "sickly" look is just them dying. And since they seed, there's no difference in me pulling them up versus cutting back, huh? You think enough seeds have set already so that they'll come back next year -- even if I pull them all up NOW? Or should I wait a bit and let them die off for awhile longer? Thanks, Bonnie

Oenothera, aka Mexican primrose, is a native desert plant where it behaves quite well on minimal rainfall. It's blooms grace the high desert that spreads out beneath my hilltop home. It becomes invasive when planted in garden beds that get regular water and more than a few inches of rain per year. And yes, it will spread it's seeds far and wide. : ) There are some new varieties that are said to be more manageable. You might want to check them out and forgo the native species unless you can assure it won't get ANY late spring or summer moisture. Diana

Are you talking about the pink flowering trailing type? This will probably make you feel worse but I planted this once from seed and thought I would never get rid of it after it became invasive. Every single little piece of root, which were brittle and broke easily, would grow a new plant and lots of it was under a rock path. I had to lift the rocks to dig it out. So, on that note, I would suggest that any roots you can get planted underground may just make it finally even if they die back on top and you think the plant is dead. I had to practically sift the dirt to get it all out. It does go into shock after transplanting but I really can't believe some of it won't take hold after what I experienced. Wait and see because I bet some of it will come around that you planted. I see these plants in nurserys often but not Home Depot or Wallmart type of places. I wonder if you got some bad seeds since they really do come up easily?