(Clarkia amoena- Onagraceae)
Other common names: summer’s darling, herald-of-summer, atlas flower, lovely farewellto-spring, Rocky Mountain garland flower, godetia, satin flower, red ribbons, fairy fans

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Viridiplantae
Superdivision: Embryophyta
Division: Tracheophyta – vascular plants, tracheophytes
Class: Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Clarkia
Species: C. amoena

Farewell-to-spring is an easy-to-grow, early-blooming annual. Growing from erect stems, it has thin, green leaves and bright pink flowers and is a colorful addition to gardens and wildflower meadows. Found primarily in coastal regions of the West, it grows quickly and is visited by a variety of pollinator species. It serves as more than just a pollen and nectar source. Leafcutter bees cut pieces of the flowers to use as nesting substrate.

A syrphid flying over a clarkia, photo from OSU Extension Service, by Devon Johnson_OSU

Clarkia amoena ssp. lindleyi, © 2006, G.D. Carr_USDA

Photo by A. Young-Mathews, Corvallis Plant Materials Center, 2011_USDA

Learn more about Farewell-to-Spring and 9 other species you can grow to support wild bees in Oregon with OSU Extension Service’s “Native Plant Picks for Bees”.

More information on Clarkia amoena can be found on the NRCS-USDA Forest Service site here.