Ornamental orange-red buds, an over-the-top floral display and outstanding cold hardiness earned ‘Fireworks’ a 5-star rating at the Chicago Botanical Garden’s recent Oenothera trail. Single, canary-yellow bowl-shaped blooms appear in scores, embellishing a prismatic foil of bronzy-green lance-like leaves with maroon overtones and compact red-hued stems. Admirable in the cottage garden or tucked among rocks, this highly treasured native Sundrop offers additional enticements when distinctive seed pods appear and burgundy-imbued leaf rosettes warm the winter landscape.

Blooms June–August

Size: 15" – 18" high x 12" – 15" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

In 1790, this notorious beauty made its way from Patagonia to England in the pockets of a ship’s surgeon. With flowers that are known for opening in perceptible movements at dusk, the Evening Primrose is a temptress that draws gardeners to her side as the sun goes down. The fragrant flowers, which begin as yellow, turn peach, and then shimmery coral-red, and the narrow, linear leaves, all crinkled and wavy-edged, make this plant a spectacular specimen in the rockery or in a more informal native setting.

Blooms May – August.

Size: 2-1/2' high x 2' 0" wide.

Hardy to zone 7.