One day, at the end of July 2025, I noticed a Monarch butterfly flitting around the native plants that Toronto Nature Stewards have planted at TNS Leaside Park. Eventually, it settled on an Evening Primrose plant. I managed to take a photograph, and then I began to think how long it had taken to get to the stage where a native plant had grown so large that it was was creating habitat for the butterfly.

The story of the Monarch and the Evening Primrose began way back in October 2023. I was walking in the Moore Park Ravine and I noticed the mature seed heads of some Evening Primrose plants. I broke off a couple of the seed heads, put them in a paper bag upside down, and shook them from time to time as I continued my walk. By the time I returned home I had a collection of small dark seeds that I poured into a small envelope, whicj I then labelled and stored in a dry cool place.

In late November I planted the seeds in four inch pots and sealed them in a wooden box in my garden until early spring, when I unsealed the box and let sunlight get to the seeds. They germinated and I soon had a collection of small Evening Primrose plants.

In May 2024, TNS volunteers planted out the Evening Primrose rosettes, along with many other native plants.

By mid-July 2024 the evening primrose first year rosettes were well established. As the plant is a biennial, it does not bloom in the first year. The whole growing season is devoted to establishing a good root system to allow for rapid growth in the second year.

Now, in July 2025, the Evening Primroses have grown to five feet in height, standing out in front of the sunflowers that were planted at the same time. They are growing only 3 kms away from where I collected the seeds, so they are truly local native plants. In a few more months they will create seed pods, so I can collect more seeds and start the whole process over again.