Imagine if everyone starting a new garden made the conscious decision to plant for our pollinator friends? It wouldn’t have to be 100%, but enough to increase the pollinators in their yard and neighborhood? Reducing the use of chemicals: pesticides, herbicides and fungicides also needs to be part of the plan as well to encourage the increase of bees, wasps, moths, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Agastache – Anise Hyssop, long blooming, scented foliage, blue flowers
Asclepias – Butterfly Weed, there are three forms : swamp or incarnata, orange or tuberosa, and the common milkweed syriacus, that are hardy here.
Baptisia – False Indigo, this shrub like perennial has blue flowers and grows about 3’ x3’
Bottlebrush Buckeye – this shrubs grows 10’ x 10’, slowly colonizing. White bottle brush flowers are held above the foliage, thick with pollinators when in bloom, likes part shade.
Buttonbush– likes damp soil and the pollinators go crazy for the white round flowers. They can be a large shrub 5 ft or larger.
Chrysogonum – this is a really tough groundcover perennial with yellow flowers.
Coreopsis– native to more southern regions, but many forms are hardy here. The single flowers are favored by pollinators.
Echinacea– Coneflower Research has shown that the single, native forms are favored by pollinators, in pink or white.
Elderberry– our native Canadensis and the Nigra have white flowers for pollinators and deep purple black fruit, loved by humans and birds.
Gaillardia– Blanket Flowers in the single, yellow forms are favored by pollinators especially.
Geranium– perennial geraniums are the true geranium and come in many flower colors. Pollinators prefer white and blue flowers.
Golden Rain Tree – long yellow flowers on a 25 foot tree.
Inkberry– in the holly family, this broad leaf evergreen, has small white flowers and likes moist, well drained soil.
Japanese Tree Lilac– fragrant white flowers on a tree that grows 25 feet. Attractive cherry like bark.
Lavender – you can grow perennial or tender lavender, bees love them all.
Liatris – this prairie native has tall stems with purple flowers, visited by many species of bees.
Lindens – this is the bee tree. Fragrant white flowers in summer, heart shaped leaves, oval shape at maturity.
Lobelia – lobelia with red flowers is cardinal flower- loved by hummingbirds. The plant is happiest in moist soil. Blue perennial lobelia syphillatica is visited by bees.
Lysmachia – the lysmachia most visited by a host of pollinators, including wasps is gooseneck loosestrife. This plant is aggressive and best used in contained areas, and a great cutflower as well as pollinator favorite.
Mints – pollinators love herbs that go to flower, mints being just one of many that flower easily.
Mockorange – bees especially like the single flowers, humans especially love the fragrance.
Monarda – also known as beebalm. Red is loved by hummingbirds. Clip a few leaves to add to a cup of tea for Earl Grey or Lady Grey type tea.
Nepeta – Catmint with its blue flowers, and reblooming quality is loved by pollinators and gardeners alike, and not eaten by woodchucks or deer. If you have a cat, stuff a few snippets in your pocket, and get some extra loving at the end of the day.
Ninebark – small pink to white flowers along arching stems, bees love ninebarks
Oregano – the culinary types bloom early than the Fall blooming so you can have a succession of oreganos in flower for the bees.
Penstemon – this Rocky Mountain native, with blue, purple or white flowers is favored by bees and wasps.
Phlox – all the different species of phlox attract pollinators: bees, wasps, moths and butterflies, especially with white, blue and lavender flowers.
Polemonium– Jacob’s Ladder, happiest with a bit of shade, blue flowers.
Rose Virginiana – this native has a sweet single pink flower, a small cluster of bright red hips in the late fall, and awesome fall foliage, gets about 4 ft and disease resistant.
Sweetspire – this plant grows 4-5 feet has white bottle brush flowers, and attractive fall foliage color.
American Yellowwood – white flowers in June, July, disease resistant, slow growing native tree.
RGN Hummingbird & Butterfly List
RGN New England Native List