Although you might call up it ’s difficult to create a pollinator - favorable garden , it is n’t . There are several great book write about the theme , include two personal favoritesAttracting Native Pollinators : protect North America ’s Bees and Butterflies(Storey Publishing , 2011 ) by the Xerces Society andPollinators of Native Plants : Attract , Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants(Pollination Press , 2014 ) by Heather Holm . Both books offer of import information on identifying native pollinator , as well as how best to ask for them to your garden by providing them with tidy sum of suitable nectar sources and a pesticide - free home ground .
To get you started on creating a pollinator garden of your own , I ’d wish to say you about a few plant life that are especially good at attracting and supporting a full range of pollinator . As you project your outflow garden , be sure to include these wonderful plants on your must - have list . They , in addition to a stumble to the library or bookstore to peck up one of the above cite books , will localise you on the way of life toward a hopeful future for the M of pollinate insects that call North America household .
1. Asters (Symphyotrichumspp.)
Our many species of aboriginal asters , including the New York aster , the New England aster and the heath aster , provide pollen and nectar to foraging aboriginal bee late in the season , a vital clock time for dirt ball that are soon to figure winter dormancy . Asters also serve as a legion plant for several species of butterfly stroke larvae and are highly tolerant of less - than - idealistic soil and sun conditions .
2. Hyssop (Agastachespp.)
This is a pollinator magnet in my own garden I grow anise Hyssopus officinalis ( A. foeniculum ) . On any founder day , I can find upwards of two dozen unlike species of pollinator foraging in the blooms . The industrial plant thrive in dry to average soil across most of the U.S. , except for the extreme Southeast . The purple , white , yellow-bellied , dreary or orangish bloom hap all summer long .
3. Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemumspp.)
If ever there was a works that is abuzz with pollinator activity , this one is it . I grow two dissimilar mintage of wad mint ( Virginia and vauntingly - leaved ) , and both are perfectly smother with stacks of tiny native bees , fly and mallet from July through the first fall hoarfrost . These well-situated - to - uprise plants are beautiful , and unlike truthful muckle in the Mentha genus , they are not overly aggressive . I will never garden without them .
4. Sunflowers (Helianthusspp.)
sunflower are not only lovely plant , they ’re also super good at supporting gross ton of pollinator . repeated varieties , such asH. divaricatus , H. petiolaris , andH. salicifolius , are reliable , hardy bloomers , and annual types ( H. annuus ) come in closely every color , shape and form . Avoid the double - petaled type and pollenless varieties , as the former have nectary that are hidden or absent and the latter lack the protein - plenteous pollen many insects necessitate to regurgitate .
5. Purple Coneflower (
Echinaceaspp . )
This large - flower group of perennial is already quite common in many gardens across North America , and deservedly so . It ’s a tough - as - nail genus of industrial plant that includes such beauties as the purple coneflower and the minute - leaved coneflower . Every year , my coneflowers are alive with bumblebee , perspiration bees and quite a little of butterfly . The checkered fritillaries seem to relish it more than any other plant I rise in my garden . I admonish you against planting the novel motley of double - petaled coneflowers in an attempt to lure in pollinators . They are beautiful to depend at , but they miss the exposed nectaries of “ bare ” coneflower and therefore can not support pollinators closely as well .
