A Rose by Any Other Name . . .

So why did I choose the name "Evening Primrose" for Iffy Magic's faux fairy godmother? Quite honestly, there was no other rose I would ever pick besides a primrose to be my protagonist's name. Years ago, my sisters and I asked our mother what her favorite kind of rose was, and she named the primrose because it is wild. It can survive and thrive where other delicate hothouse posies would wither and perish. Likewise, Primrose Goodwing is no tame flower fairy.

In researching primroses, I poured through the gorgeous illustrations of Wild Flowers of America by H.W. Rickett, which contains 400 flowers in full color from paintings by Mary Vaux Walcott, as well as additional paintings by Dorothy Falconn Platt.

I must admit I was a bit shocked to discover just how much the primrose does not match the multi-whorled image of a traditional rose sold on Valentine's:

Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis

Evening Primrose, Pachylophus hirsutus

Feisty flowers indeed!