If you have tomatoes and green peppers, you have probably seen the hungry tomato hornworm, or if not the worm, the evidence that the pest has been present. These worms love to munch on tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, too. You may have never seen the moth that laid the eggs. The sphinx moth usually goes unnoticed, flying during the darkness of night. Yet moths are important pollinators. Having evening primrose can entice nocturnal pollinators like the sphinx and other hawk moths.
The Sphingidae are a family of moths commonly called sphinx moths, colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as hornworms. These magnificent insects have long narrow wings and thick bodies. They are fast flyers and are often highly aerobatic. Many species can hover in place such as the hummingbird hawk-moth or the white-lined sphinx, which can hover in midair while they feed on nectar from flowers. Some can also briefly fly backwards or dart away. Hawk moths are experts at finding sweet-smelling flowers after dark. They are especially fond of Datura (Jimpson weeds), Mirabilis (Four O’clocks), and Peniocereus (Queen-of-the-night cactus) blossoms. These are highly fragrant with long floral tubes concealing pools of abundant nectar. The caterpillars (larvae) of hawk moths are the familiar green hornworms or tobacco worms, familiar to anyone who plants tomatoes.
Evening primrose, or Oenothera biennis, is a leafy-stalked biennial native to much of the United States and Canada. Other names include weedy evening-primrose, German rampion, hog weed, King’s cure-all and fever-plant. Its flowers open near dusk and remain open through the night, then mostly close by midday, thus requiring nocturnal pollinators. Historically, evening primrose was used as a source of food and medicine by Native Americans, including the Cherokee tribes. The roots were boiled like potatoes and the leaves eaten as a cooked green, and teas and poultices made from the plant were used medicinally for stimulant and pain-relief effects.
Evening primrose loves disturbed areas and is vigorous enough to overtake other desirable vegetation if not managed. It can grow up to 8 feet tall. To cultivate evening primroses, sow seeds in a well-drained location with full sun or ask someone if you can help control their patch by carefully digging up a clump from the edge. Once established, it will typically reseed itself.
You do not need to plant an aggressive patch of evening primrose in your own garden, however. Consider signing up for this year’s Southeast Pollinator Census in Hitchcock Woods. The event is free. By signing up, you are supporting a Hitchcock Woods Foundation event. This event will be held in the morning of August 22 at 10:00 AM. Registration is required and car-pooling is encouraged. To participate you must be able to hike to Ridge Mile Track where the group will disperse to locate flowers and conduct a count. Participants are encouraged to travel to other entrances or locations within the Woods to provide wider coverage. You can scout your plants beforehand. Data sheets and clipboards will be provided.
About the count: Each participant locates a pollinating plant and counts the number of different pollinators landing on it during a 15 minute period. Pollinators do not need to be identified to species and are categorized broadly into groups.
To learn more about Aiken’s Hitchcock Woods, visit, hitchcockwoods.org. Hitchcock Woods, nestled in the heart of Aiken, South Carolina, is the largest urban forest in the United States at 2,100 acres. Open daily from sunrise to sunset, its 70 miles of trails offer a haven to the public on foot and horseback. Owned and managed by the Hitchcock Woods Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Woods comprise a mosaic of mature pine forests and bottomland hardwood forests, supporting a diversity of plants and wildlife. The Woods is protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement held by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and is a designated South Carolina Heritage Preserve Trust site.
If you wish to contribute information during the upcoming Great Southeast Pollinator Count on Aug. 22, put this date on your “to do calendar today and sign up to participate online at eventbrite.com.
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