Planting for Pollinators

Attracting Birds, Bees & Butterflies is Easy

Not only are birds, bees, & butterflies fun to watch, they also help sustain our ecosystem! With a decrease in population of many native bird & pollinator species, there’s never been a better time to help provide them with essential habitat requirements.

Planting Tips

Plant flowers for pollinators to collect pollen and drink nectar, and fruit and seed-bearing plants for birds to feed on. Mass plantings of flowers are more effective for attracting pollinators rather than solitary plantings. Choose plants with various blooming/fruiting times to provide wildlife with year-round food. Create a border on the edge of your yard using various trees and shrubs that meet the needs of native songbirds throughout the year. Adding a few evergreens such as spruce, holly or juniper into this border will help the birds keep cover during winter months.

Fruit & Seed-Bearing Plants For Songbirds

Apple & Crabapple Black-eyed Susan Blueberry Chokeberry Coneflower Dogwood Eastern Red Cedar Grapes Holly, Winterberry Mulberry
Northern Bayberry Oak Tree Pampas Grass Raspberry Serviceberry Spruce Sumac Sunflower Viburnum Virginia Creeper

Nectar & Pollen Plants For Bees

Basswood/Linden Bee Balm Blanket Flower) Blue Mist Shrub Borage Butterfly Bush Catmint Coneflower Cosmo Fruit Trees Goldenrod Grape Hyacinth
Hyacinth Hyssop Lantana Lavender Milkweed Ornamental Onion Pineapple Sage Redbud Russian Sage Sedum Verbena Zinnia

Nectar-Producing Plants For Butterflies

Aster Beebalm Black Eyed Susan Blanketflower Blue-Mist Shrub Butterfly Bush Cardnial Flower Coneflower Daisy, Shasta Daylily False Indigo Goldenrod Heliotrope
Hyssop Lantana Lavender Magnolia Milkweed Onion, Ornamental Pentas Petunia Phlox Russian Sage St. John’s Wort Verbena Zinnia

Nectar Producing-Plants For Hummingbirds

Beardtongue Beebalm Bleeding Heart Buckeye, Bottlebrush Butterfly Bush Milk Weed Cardinal Flower Catmint Columbine) Crocosmia Foxglove Fuchsia
Hibiscus Honeysuckle Vine Hyssop Lantana Larkspur Lupine Red Hot Poker Sage, Perennial Snapdragon Spider Plant Trumpet Vine Weigela

Additional Tips

Provide water for bathing & drinking at all times of the year. Birdbaths and ornamental ponds are a great source for this. To provide water for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, place pebbles or small rocks for landing in a shallow dish of water, preventing them from drowning.

Provide shelter such as bushy plants, nesting boxes or even a brush pile. Ornamental grasses provide cover for wildlife during the winter months. Wait to cut back your grasses until early spring. Eliminate the use of harsh chemical applications on plants. The effects can be harmful and even fatal to wildlife.