(by Diane De Luca)

Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) is a native plant that attracts bees, birds, moths, and butterflies. Bright yellow, fragrant flowers bloom from June through October. The flowers are partially to fully closed during the day and open in the evening. Fertilization is primarily by night-flying moths that are attracted to their lemon fragrance and by bees during the early morning before closure. Hummingbirds visit the flowers to obtain nectar and insects.

Common Evening Primrose is a biennial that produces a rosette of leaves in the first year with flowers growing along an upright stalk in the second year. This plant grows to 3-5 feet with large seed capsules that persist through the winter. The seeds provide food for many birds through the winter. The right photo depicts a Swamp Sparrow feeding on the seed capsules.

Common Evening Primrose is widespread across the US where it grows in dry open fields, roadsides, waste areas, and open woods. Care should be taken to avoid takeover by this plant in smaller garden spaces.