Anyone know what this plant is?
by
Jane P
+93
I have a friend who just bought an older house in Northern/Central Indiana, and these are coming up all over the garden beds through the weed-protecting fabric. She's not sure if it is a weed or an intentional plant.
94 answers
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Looks like evening primrose...which many consider to be a weed
Walter Reeves
on May 04, 2012
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Def evening primrose. I made the mistake of planting these and now they are outlawed as weeds. They are pretty, yes, but very, very VERY invasive. Their little root systems truly take over as quickly as you can pull them. Pulling is the only way, but pull all the weed system out of the ground because they are prolific in very little time!
Melissa K
on May 04, 2012
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Wow, that is what my friend was worried about. She and her husband put down some pretty thick garden fabric in their garden beds and she said these things are growing right through it.
Jane P
on May 04, 2012
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"Showy Evening Primerose." Have these in my yard too, but I bought them from a farm market.
Rebecca D
on May 04, 2012
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Evening primrose may be a weed to many but I like them so I have some planted in a contained area. They have been there for about 10 years with no problems at all. I think the flowers are very beautiful so I keep some around. You can see patches of them on the sides of the road all around Atlanta every spring.
Paul M
on May 04, 2012
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Considered a wildflower!
Rebecca D
on May 04, 2012
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Down south we call that a buttercup. It is most certainly a wild flower. However, when the levees are covered with them it looks so pretty. We would break of the flower and tell a friend to smell it and when they did we would sshould the flower on their nose and the pollen would make their nose yellow. Little id I know that I had an allergy to pollen. However, they are evening primrose.
Pam
on May 04, 2012
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i love evening primrose, my kids used to call them firecracker flowers with the way they would burst open every night.
Michele B
on May 04, 2012
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Buttercup, that's what my mom called them.
Donna M
on May 04, 2012
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I hate those things. They strangle everything!
Donna B
on May 04, 2012
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It is a Mexican Primrose. Very lovely!
Elaine V
on May 04, 2012
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So can she plant on top of them and have her beds grow or will they just make that impossible? Thanks everyone for your information!!! I love this site!
Jane P
on May 04, 2012
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They are starting to sell these around where I live. They also grow wild.
Donna M
on May 04, 2012
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Oenothera speciosa. I have it planted at my house too. I love it!
Karen D
on May 04, 2012
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Pam D, I live in the south and I've never seen a buttercup look like that. Buttercups are bright yellow. However, I have seen primrose and this is definitely a variety of that flower. I have primrose in a window box container, which I've had for 4 years. A weed is just a flower that hasn't been classified as such!\
Debi M
on May 04, 2012
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Primrose?
Susan B
on May 04, 2012
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Here in TN our buttercups are wild pretty weeds with small yellow flowers all over the plant. They grow in the pasture field and wher ever they can find a place to pop up. So pretty. Wish they could be contained. Maybe I should try. The flower above is pretty. I think I have seen it in different colors in flower gardens. Would like some. I think that primrose is the name too.
Eileen M
on May 04, 2012
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if it's in a contained space like a planter they're fine because they are pretty but in an open garden they sadly have to be dealt with ruthlessly they'll choke the daylights out of everything else in no time
Michael C
on May 04, 2012
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Buttercups in Missouri are daffodils...........but these primroses are definitely invasive............regular primrose is not
Sandy H
on May 04, 2012
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Evening Primrose. It is invasive and some people consider them a weed. I personally love them. Easy to pull out where you don't want them.
Donna B
on May 04, 2012
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I have to go w/you Debi on this one. NOT a buttercup as I know it!!
Susan S
on May 04, 2012
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a weed is a plant out of place! i have creeping jenny, which i like, as a ground cover, most people don't even want it on the place, as it takes over. but that is what i grow it for. so, a weed is like beauty, all in the eye of the beholder. i vote for evening primrose, buttercups are yellow.
Diana L
on May 04, 2012
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In Texas this primrose is also known as "Buttercup" and it is extremely strong willed...lol. (I'm not sure why we call it 'buttercup' except that it has pink petals with a deep yellow center... so perhaps someone thought it looked like a 'cup of butter'?) I don't think she can plant on top of them in the hope of strangling them out...lol. More likely it will be the opposite! ....not sure how large the area is, but is it possible she might very carefully put a bit of weed-be-gone directly on the flowers... (or perhaps there is something organic) that would systemically kill the root of each plant? I've gotten rid of weed trees that persistently came up in the cracks of my patio for years... last summer I finally just dabbled 'weed-be-gone' only on the tips of the returning tree stems... there are still a few, but not nearly so many. Good luck to your friend. She might also consider adding 10-12 layers of wet newspapers over the weed cloth.... or she may just be stuck with lots of weeding for several years. Tell her to make sure she gets the roots.
Jeannie D
on May 04, 2012
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A "weed" is anything that is undesirable...including trees. If you like it, keep it !
Brent S
on May 04, 2012
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Mexican Primrose, they come back every year and are drought resistant.
Cin R
on May 04, 2012
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a weed is a plant in an unwanted place
Joyce B
on May 04, 2012
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Are they good in pots? Fragrant?
Sandi K
on May 04, 2012
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I LIVE IN THE DEEP SOUTH LOUISIANA OUR BUTTERCUPS ARE PINK..GROW WILD EVEN IN OUR YARDS..THEY LOOK A LOT LIKE THIS BUT A DEEPER PINK.
LORRAINE H
on May 04, 2012
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buttercup.. a,k,a, showy primrose... one of my favorite flowers... drought and deer resistant... tough, very pretty little wild flower...
Lesa K
on May 04, 2012
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Its a primrose they grew in the yard where I grew up. Smell pretty to
Patricia B
on May 04, 2012
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could be china plate have seen in virginia...either way is beautiful!!
Susanne M
on May 04, 2012
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You think you are rid of the pink Primrose and you go out in a day or two and they are right back. The more you mess with the roots ~ the more they come back!
Carol K
on May 04, 2012
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Well maybe the term "buttercup" is kind of a catch all phrase. I THINK the operative work here is BUTTER - as in yellow, thus the name butter and it's sort of shaped like a little cup. Maybe the rest of y'all have pink butter, dunno!!! ; ~ }
Susan S
on May 04, 2012
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I like it. It's funny how some think it's a weed and others love it. It's a flower and it's pretty...
Carol M
on May 04, 2012
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I find plants with interesting flowers all the time...I tend to dig them up and replant them in a flowerbed...they may be weeds but if the flowers are beautiful I keep 'em...I like dandelions too...just not millions of them...lol..something about a dandelion makes me feel all cheerful...
Laurie V
on May 04, 2012
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I LIKE DANDELIONS TOO!
BONNIE J
on May 04, 2012
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Technically, aren't dandelions edible? I've also heard of dandelion wine and putting the greens in a salad so it must have some redeeming qualities!!
Susan S
on May 04, 2012
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God's free of charge and free of planting gift to all the gardeners.
THERESA B
on May 04, 2012
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I think I have the evening yellow primrose. The flower is so pretty growing in masses. They do spread FAST
Dana R
on May 04, 2012
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buttercup, if you smell it, it will close up around your nose.
Lois R
on May 04, 2012
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I love buttercups. My mom let the grow up in the yard at Easter so we could have lot of places to hide eggs. I guess you'd consider them wild flowers here in Texas but we love our wildflowers.
Karen A
on May 05, 2012
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Buttercups are yellow and are on longer stems than this appears to be. Lois is right, if you bring the buttercup up to your face you will end up with yellow pollen on your nose.
Kathy W
on May 05, 2012
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The DOT deliberately throw these seeds out as ground cover and wild flowers into the Mediums down here in Georgia on our Highways, and I have always loved them. Dainty and beautiful like Mimosa, but these little Prim Rose have thorns. Ours are always Pink, and I thought they were from the Poppy family because of the way they propagate and spread.
Karen V
on May 05, 2012
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Petunia's smell better and will close up around your nose.
Karen V
on May 05, 2012
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A weed is something that grows where it isn't wanted. Some people may be defined as weeds. Your call.
Christine F
on May 05, 2012
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ive lost all my primrose over the years and i loved them.
Terry S
on May 05, 2012
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Jeannie D (Spring, TX) - If you have weed trees popping up where you don't want them, I'd love them! Pull em out and send them my way! I need trees around my house - we live out in the fields of ks...no wind break around our house and no shade.
Jennifer E
on May 05, 2012
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The reason they were called buttercup down south is because when you smelled them and another child bumped it against you nose, you looked like you had butter on the tip of your nose from the large amount of pollen. They varied from whitish, tol ight pink to darker pink. Definitely they are invasive. We still have them all over south Louisiana. In fields where they grow wild, it makes a beautiful sight. Light blue bonnets in Texas growing across fileds. The little yellow flowers some of you wrote about we called wee wee flowers. My grandmother told me when I was a small chid that if you playedd with them they made you wee wee in you pants. The good old days and memories of being a child and family members long gone but cherished memories none the less.
Pam
on May 05, 2012
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I love these - yes they take over - so why not plant them in a pot or in an area where it is not a problem for them to take over.
Margaret K
on May 05, 2012
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It is a Mexican evening primrose. They are invasive around here. Whether it is a weed or not depends on whether you want it or not. If you don't mind it spreading, great, you've got a pretty flower. If it goes where you don't want it, its a weed.
Kelli E
on May 05, 2012
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BTW, Mexican evening primroses were all the rage about 15 years ago when "cottage gardens" were the big thing.
Kelli E
on May 05, 2012
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Mexican primrose(at least that's what they are called here-we see in pale pink.
Rosemary S
on May 05, 2012
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One invasive I've been battling for a couple of years is Bindweed, also known as Wild Morning Glory. Sure, they're kinda pretty, a smaller white flower than real Morning Glory, but not only are they invasive, they actually vine around other plants, choking them out. They actually killed my boyfriend's (fairly young) clematis vine, and one of our hosta plants, before I knew what I was dealing with. I read you've gotta get the root, which can grow YARDS below the ground, and don't let it flower&go to seed, 'cause that'll just start it all over again. [Apologies for hijacking this thread]
Nicola G
on May 05, 2012
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It's a primrose. Here in NM, we have them in pink, yellow & white. The white ones, if I'm not mistaken, are Oenothera caespitosa aka Tufted Evening Primrose or Fragrant Evening Primrose. They look beautiful in drifts. I much prefer the white ones over the yellows & pinks.
Elaine S
on May 05, 2012
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Almost every place that sells flower seeds sell seeds for EVENING PRIMROSE. But, beware, they are invasive. I planted them once and it took me years to irradicate them and I was diligent. They self seed (even blows in the wind) and also by runners. I agree that they are pretty but not worth it for me.
Phyllis P
on May 05, 2012
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it is in the primrose family. I have a gazillion of them!
Carol D
on May 05, 2012
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I do to and yes it is EVENING Primrose. It spreads like wild fires. I always liked it. It will grow on landscaping fabric with a dusting of soil. Easy to pull out if you don't want it somewhere. Shallow roots. Multiply"s .
Gigi Moore
on May 05, 2012
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We call them simply a primrose, and they are all shades of pink. I would love to have the blue added to my wildflower gardens.
Judy W
on May 06, 2012
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Primrose! And is preads like fire. I love it.
Lily
on May 06, 2012
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It is a primrose, I have them in a windowbox on a mini-barn above my cactus. Buttercups are bright yellow flowers (weeds if you are so inclined), I'm also from the south and I know what buttercups look like! They are called so because they are the color of light butter...not white
Debi M
on May 06, 2012
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I have to smile when I read all the posts about Primroses being so invasive. Every Primrose I've ever planted never made it.
Becky H
on May 06, 2012
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There are lots of weeds that are not so invasive that can be transplanted to flower gardens. I won't go into the names of them. Many I don't know, and that have beautiful flowers. Most flowers were all, once up on a time, weeds of many kinds. Humans have placed them in flower beds in years gone by. They have become house plants, yard plants, annuals, perennials and so many times taken in to be nurtured and raised so that the seeds have carried on through centuries of passing them around or taking them from fields to homes. God made all of these plants. Humans have given most of them names. God named many that are mentioned in the Bible, mostly trees and shrubs are mentioned there. God made them and we have cultured them into our likes or dislikes of what we desire in and around our homes. Orchids and green houseplants were once parts of the Rainforests around the world and on mountain tops where they thrived and grew. I love all things through God and His Son Jesus Christ who lives today. He loves all things and gave them to be enjoyed by His human children. I am sooo blessed by Him and His lovely world. God Bless everyone on this day that we show our love for God and worship Him. I have said what one of sweet nephews calls TMI. (Too Much Information) I am a writer and philosopher of sorts, so bear or bare with me all you lovely people. <3 :)
Eileen M
on May 06, 2012
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@Becky H have you ever planted primrose in a container? I love them and have a window box where I plant them just above a small cactus garden
Debi M
on May 07, 2012
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Becky H: lol... I resemble that remark!
Jeannie D
on May 07, 2012
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Debi M, no, I've never used window boxes. Everything I've planted (other than straight into the ground) has been in a large clay pot, outside, or an indoor plant in a pot.
Becky H
on May 08, 2012
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LOL, you answered the question...when you stated that you planted in a container.
Debi M
on May 09, 2012
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Primrose...ground cover. Beautiful!
Jacqueline W
on May 09, 2012
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@ Susan S., yes, dandelions are edible...baby greens in salads (read about them before noshing), and I remember collecting dandelion flowers with my grandfather when I was 7, and him making wine from them ('77)......that I sampled later in life...after it had aged a decade or so!
Jennifer
on May 25, 2012
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@Jennifer - thanks for the tip - I don't think I'm actually curious enough to want to ever eat dandilion greens but I won't rule it out completely!! LOL I will look them up though - I'm sure there's probably more to the story than just whacking them off, washing and throwing on some salad dressing ;~) That wine your grandfather made was probably some pretty fine stuff - I remember my former father-in-law used to make grape wine and one year it was just supurb - probably a good thing it wasn't a big batch. I could've become a wino!!!
Susan S
on May 25, 2012
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I would mix them with lots of other greens, as I've heard they are a little bitter. Maybe a nice spring mix?!?! Beet greens, dandelion greens... then the organic lettuce mix from the store.... ;) I've never tried them yet, but they ARE on the list!! :)
Jennifer
on May 26, 2012
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Jennifer you sound like you might have been a southern girl originally??? You can give us a report if you try it. Yeah, I imagine if you mixed the dandilion greens w/enough other stuff you could probably mask any unpleasant taste!!! Good luck w/that!
Susan S
on May 26, 2012
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Its amazing to me that the things I am trying to now rid my garden of (like evening primrose and monkey grass), my husband has taken an interest in and calls them pretty. Let's hear it for all those garden beds that have now been taken over by the root systems of monkey grass! Evening primrose is a dellicate little flower at first glance, but do not care about anyone but themselves. Eats up all gardening space and anything else they can find.. Monkey grass invades with its root system. Enemies mine!
Melissa K
on Jun 04, 2012
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I planted some primrose in a container and took it to the non-gargening neighbor. Within a year, it ahd disappeared from the container.
Melissa K
on Jun 04, 2012
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Down here in Southeast Texas we call them buttercups and they grow wild everywhere in the spring/summer. Gorgeous when you see a field of pink growing
Susan N Ricky Lemieux
on Nov 18, 2014
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We call it Mexican Primrose and can be very invasive.
Ctharp
on Feb 22, 2015
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Mexican primrose they sell them at Lowes and etc
Delores Snellen
on Jun 08, 2015
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are you sure it's not Cosmos. That's what it looks like to me.
Debbie
on Jun 11, 2015
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Probably a week because it's pretty:)
Ann
on Jun 11, 2015
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That is primrose. Grows all over north Texas along with the bluebonnets and Indian paint brush. Lovely little wildflower.
Nancy lee
on Jun 11, 2015
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We have something like it in MT....in the morning glory family I think...grows along the ground in a vine....most here think it is a weed...I think they are pretty.
Momba
on Jun 11, 2015
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This is a prairie primrose.They are wildflower here in East Texas, but we always called them buttercups.
Ruthann Hurst Harris
on Jun 11, 2015
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Primrose. We have it in Missouri, one of our wildflowers so does not need a lot of care. Mine have spread down the road in the ditch which at this itme of the year is a carpet of pink.
DORLIS
on Jun 11, 2015
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Primrose vines and spreads... grows wild in Oklahoma
Jo botkin
on Jun 11, 2015
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primrose..
Sondra Childs
on Jun 15, 2015
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Evening Primrose here in Murrieta California, I live in an arid part and they grow very well with no watering - too well
Cam
on Jun 20, 2015
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Here in New Mexico that is called a Mexican Primrose
Rose Bonilla
on May 13, 2016
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I have it all over my garden - it's impossible to get rid of! It takes over everything!
Kathy
on May 13, 2016
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Looks a lot like Missouri primrose and yes they do spread. I have them in a rocky ditch by the road.
DORLIS
on May 13, 2016
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I agree with the primrose and they will take over everything! If you don't want them try the vinegar, salt, and water mixture that you find online to kill them.
Kay Foote
on Jul 11, 2016
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wild geranium~~~ they come in pink,blue and white. Darling plant, but very invasive !
Judy ashland
on Jul 13, 2016
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No, wild primrose, pretty but invasive. Fortunatly, I live in the woods and where they are growing is fine. They spread by runners and by seed.
DORLIS
on Jul 14, 2016
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This is a wildflower Evening Primrose, grows here in my state of Texas. It is seen along side the roads.
Debbie
on Sep 26, 2016
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My Mom called them evening primrose and we love them! Gives the garden a very English cottage sort of feel!
Shawna Curee
on Oct 12, 2016
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Mine keep dying and I love them
Cleo Howard
on Oct 19, 2016
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