Hooker's evening primrose (Oenothera elata) is a perennial that blooms copiously and is very showy, with large flowers that vary in color from yellow to orange.  As with other "evening" primroses, the flowers close up during mid-day. The flower stalks arch up 3 to 5 feet high from a basal rosette of leaves and flowers bloom in the spring and summer of the plant’s second year.  The leaf base is usually 1 to 3 feet wide. There are two recognized subspecies, ssp. hookeri and ssp. hirsutissima.

Although this plant is typically found in moist areas in the wild, it  is also surprisingly drought tolerant, tough and easy to grow in the garden. Give it full sun or part shade and well-draining soil of any kind. It tolerates virtually any soil.  It develops a stout taproot and woody stems with age but can be pruned radically in winter to control ranginess and recovers quickly. It is a prolific seeder, and gardeners will need to be prepared to pull up numerous seedlings from areas where it is not wanted. 

A number of insects use this plant, particularly the large Sphinx moths. It hosts a likely total of 15 species of butterfly and moth. Hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers, and smaller birds such as Goldfinches are attracted to the seeds in fall.