If you want your garden to bloom with heavy yields of fruit and seeds, it is essential to get the help of many different songbirds, moths, butterflies and bees who will come to pollinate your plants and help keep them producing food fast and healthy.
While we tend to think primarily of exterminating pests and other undesirable insect intruders as ‘pests’, many of those insect species are actually among the hardest working members of our ecosystem and big contributors to pollination.
Without being able to count on the natural pollination provided by flowering plants, you can expect to miss out on all the great things associated with having a lot of fruit and seeds that many of us do not even recognize.
In this article, we will introduce you to 11 plants that can attract a variety of pollinating species, as well as a description of the importance of using plants to attract pollinators.
Pollinators Are Essential to the Integrity of Ecosystems
Pollinators play an essential role in the ecosystem and support the productivity of our food and flower-producing industries by maintaining an array of delicate ecosystems (eg. wildflower meadows).
Pollinator species make a major contribution to agriculture
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Pollinator contributed over $18 Billion to U.S. crop production in a year with approximately 33% of all agricultural outputs requiring service of one or more pollinator species such as; birds, insects and/or small mammals.
Best Pollinator Species
A variety of pollinators enrich biodiversity with spring and summertime visits to gardens across the country.
Here are some of the best:
- The most notable pollinators for anyone thinking of their own—but not the only!—backyard are bees. The honeybee is one representative of the many bee species that help achieve pollination such as mason bees, bumblebees, miner bees, etc.
- On the other hand, moths do the nighttime pollination job done by the majority of all the daytime pollinators, which also promote the same specie of plants.
- Wasps, the insect of most people’s worst nightmare, however, also pollinate while hunting for both food (nectar)and prey(insects).
- Butterflies, being among the most efficient pollinators “spend” their time during a day, pollinating hundreds of plants while foraging for nectar. Precious nectar is found primarily on certain butterfly-attracting plants such as Buddleja, which show an attractive (colorful) flower structure with clusters of flowers, creating a place to land on when feeding from nectar.
- Birds are also known to act as pollinators. This process for bird pollination, is called ornithophily, and many birds such as hummingbirds, either purposefully gather nectar from flowers, or are pollinators by coincidence. Pollinators come into contact with pollen from flowers.
- Bat pollination is referred to as chiropterophily. Pale flowers that bloom at night lure bats, who feed on nectar deep within them.
Transform Your Garden into a Pollinators Paradise With 11 of the Best Plants for Pollinators
Choosing plants that attract pollinators is one of the great benefits of having a garden; you will have beautiful flowers and aromatic scents along the edges of your garden bed.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s “Gardening for Pollinators” Guide will assist you in deciding what type of pollinator plants should be grown in your garden. This guide includes information on 11 of the best garden applications available today.
1. Love-in-a-mist
Nigella, also called Love-in-a-Mist, is perfect for gardeners that want to help nature out with their carefree gardening style.
In the summertime, Nigella has attractive bush growth covered with feathery leaves and dainty, bright blue blooms measuring about 4 cm across which are followed by decorative seed pods that will produce new Nigella plants year after year.
2. Dahlia
Dahlia coccinea is a stunning, repeat-flowering perennial, bringing you bright ornamental blooms from the summer through autumn!
Dahlia coccinea is typically grown in rich soil with good drainage in full-sun locations.
A perfect plant for a patio or a balcony in a city, where a long summer will encourage local bees, who will thank you for providing them with a nectar-rich source.
3. Climbing Hydrangea
Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris & Hydrangea scandens Maxim) is a self-clinging climber that has wide, oval, leafy leaves and prefers to climb on walls or other structures using hooks for support.
It has large clusters of flowers in the summer and fall, with a variety of small, fertile flowers found within the center of the inflorescence and many larger petals surrounding the center.
4. Sage
If you’re interested in starting your own medicinal or herb garden, local bee populations will appreciate your effort to provide their source of food.
Sage (Salvia), while still having aromatic qualities, has some very nice ornamental characteristics as well: sage produces blue, pink, or white flowers just before producing seeds.
Sage thrives in a warm environment and will provide bees and you with its sweet-smelling leaves and flowers.
If you want to limit the abundance of seeds that sage produces and thus, limit the number of plants created by sage; you should remove the flower heads when sage begins producing them.
5. Garden Speedwell
Veronica longifolium (Garden Speedwell) is a tall herbaceous perennial plant that can grow to about 1.5 meters. It has two narrow leaves and large flower spikes filled with small trumpet-like flowers with purple-blue tubular blooms. These flowers bloom from summer through autumn.
This plant is ideal for planting in a more rustic setting. The blooms of the Garden Speedwell will be extremely attractive to many types of insects, including honeybees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects.
6. Crocus
Crocuses are an excellent choice for their ability to provide a constant source of pollination throughout the growing season.
These low-growing flowering plants belong to a family of plants that grow from bulbs. They are also great for planting in spring, summer, and fall.
Crocus plants require little care and will continue to bloom each year over time.
Plant them in your garden’s flower bed, along pathways, or in your yard by sowing them randomly throughout the area.
7. French and Spanish Lavender
While English lavender is viewed as the most popular species by gardeners, the two European “types” of lavender – specifically French and Spanish Lavender – will still attract pollinators in gardens.
They each produce a beautiful array of colours of crimson, mauve, aiqi, purple and so on but the flowers grow in clusters with tuft-style petals that resemble a bunch of grapes.
When adding Mediterranean flair to your patio, consider planting these beautiful aromatic fragrant plants that will have pollinating insects buzzing with excitement.
These plants flower from late spring to the early autumn months.
8. Californian Poppy
The delightfully bright California poppy is an exciting and vibrant colors of an annual flower that makes gardens fun!
When planting these flowers, you can put lots of seeds in, and then go do things you enjoy, while the flower grows in the summer for both yourself and the bees!
Planting California poppies is an awesome way to teach your children about the importance of conservation and gardening.
9. Spurges
Euphorbia (also called spurges) is a large and diverse group of flowering plants which offers a wide range of beautiful plants that can be used year-round for their foliage and flowers!
Unlike other flowering plants, spurges do not have any petals or sepals.
Instead, the flower head has bold shapes and colours that attract abundant nectar, as well as offer support to pollinators while they are foraging.
Euphorbias offer a wide variety of options to consider, including: E. Blackbird, E. Wulfenii, and E. Amyg Purpura.
10. Fuschia
This plant is brilliant for attracting beneficial local insects into your garden as well as being an attractive, colorful addition to any garden throughout the country.
Fuchsias are exceptionally easy to grow, even though they appear to be quite striking due to their many different colors.
There are two ways you can grow fuchsias — either as a bush or in a hanging manner.
Provide ample sunlight and good drainage for these lovelies, and they will reward you by producing fuchsia fruit that will attract local birds to feed on.
11. Hyssop
If you have warm weather, plenty of sunlight, and great drainage, Hyssop is an exotic herb that will help get pollinators out and about in your backyard!
Hyssop (also known by its Latin name, Hyssopus officinalis) is a perennial flowering herb that belongs to the mint family and is easy to grow on its own or in containers.
Hyssop helps attract pollinating insects by producing long, leafy half-whorled flower spikes in lovely shades of blue and pink and a fragrant aroma.
Hyssop has many culinary and medicinal uses, so you can use it in your cooking (such as roasted lamb) or for making herbal remedies. The possibilities are endless!
Quick Tips for Selecting Your Plants for Pollinators
- To continue enjoying the floral displays of your garden all year, you should choose different plant species that bloom at different times!
- To provide the best support for pollinators, try to avoid using flowers with multiple petals, as they can often be more difficult for bees to pollinate.
- To encourage wild bee nesting, avoid using pesticides and create nesting sites and crevices.
Rounding Up
The best way to support a healthy ecosystem and help promote environmental sustainability is to support your local pollinators.
A diverse and well-balanced variety of native, near-native, and exotic plants will help boost the diversity and activities of pollinators in your garden.