Pollinator Project – Spring – Bluebird Garden Club

Pollinator Garden Development Class

Pollinator Garden Steps here.

Care for pollinators
Honey and bee garden
Butterfly Garden
Garden-friendly bugs
Naturalized spaces – Gardening for Wildlife
Garden journaling

Pollinator Garden – Southeast Chart

PDF pollinator plants_southeast-region_Download

Plant List

Early

1 Golden Alexanders – black swallowtail butterfly, grass miner moth; also attracts small beneficial wasps, bees, and flies.

2 White wild indigo – very attractive to bees; host for hoary edge and frosted elfin butterflies, and the black-spotted prominent moth

Early–Mid

3 Butterfly milkweed – Host plant for monarch and queen butterflies, and the unexpected cycnia tiger moth; fantastic nectar source for many insects

4 Clasping coneflower – excellent for mass plantings

5 Eastern smooth penstemon – Attracts bumble bees and mason bees, who squeeze into its beautiful tubular flowers.

6 Lanceleaf – Extended bloom period makes coreopsis a valuable addition to pollinator gardens; host plant for the common tan wave mothMid

7 Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia – Supports bees and birds with nectar and seed; host for the gorgone checkerspot and bordered patch butterfly; easy to grow

9 Wild bergamot – Along with dotted mint (M. punctata), is excellent for bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds

Mid–Late

10 Eastern rosemallow – Showy flowers offer nectar to many insects; a host for the specialist hibiscus bee, gray hairstreak, and Io and other moths

11 Joe Pye weed – Excellent late-season nectar source for bees, hummingbird moths, and other insects; host for common pug and arctiid moths

12 Marsh blazing star – butterfly magnet that is also wonderful for bees late in the season. L. squarrosa is good for drier sites

13 Narrowleaf mountain mint – Mountain mints (Pycnanthemum spp.) have fragrant foliage and are visited by blue and copper butterflies, bees, wasps, and flies

14 New York ironweed– Attracts many butterflies and bees, including Melissodes denticulata, a specialist longhorn be. V. gigantea is also recommended

15 Wingstem – Supports a great diversity of bees and wasps; host plant for the silvery checkerspot, the summer azure, and the gold moth

Late

16 Narrowleaf sunflower– Supports many longhorned bees that are sunflower specialists; host plant for numerous butterflies and moths

17 Wrinkleleaf goldenrod – Goldenrods support a huge diversity of bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, and flies; vital resource for fall-migrating monarchs