Even in your backyard, you can you create a wildlife haven for birds, bees and butterflies that will also look fabulous. The most important thing for your garden is diversity. Different pollinators prefer different flowers. An abundance of different flower shapes, sizes, scents and colors appeal to a variety of pollinators.
Why adding pollinator friendly plants is important:
Many fruits and vegetables can’t produce a crop without help from pollinating insects such as bees, hoverflies, and butterflies. It’s estimated that more than 70 per cent of the flowering plants on Earth need pollinators to produce fruit and seeds, including many of the crops we rely on for food. Bees and other pollinators are in decline for a variety of reasons, including modern agricultural techniques, the spread of towns and cities, and the loss of natural habitat. By helping pollinators we’re helping both nature, and ourselves. Within towns and cities, our gardens can create vital corridors of plant life for vulnerable populations of pollinators.
In your diverse garden, plan for a succession of blooms so that you provide a constant supply of pollen and nectar for pollinators to feed on. As one flower stops blooming, the next unfurls. As well, pollinating insects tend to move from flower to flower of the same plant. Plant together multiples of the same flower so that bees and butterflies can easily feed without having to search far and wide.
As your garden grows, you will discover pollinators that you have never seen before and you will be endlessly amazed by their behavior! Walking through the gardens in the morning you will find bumblebees snoozing on the top of your zinnias and their butts hanging out of your foxgloves.
From our garden, we found these flowers to be our busiest hubs for pollinator activity:
Figwort - A native perennial that adds a textural element to bouquets. It has a smokey scent and honey bees and native pollinators swarmed this plant from July on. This plant is where I saw the most natives.
Zinnias - The bright colours are a magnet for pollinators. Bumblebees, butterflies and hummingbirds were frequent visitors. Their broad faces provided comfy beds for the bumblebees each night and a place for butterflies to rest their wings and feed during the day. One morning I was delighted to have a hummingbird come take a sip from a bouquet of zinnias I was harvesting. It was magical.
Foxglove - Another favourite of the bumblebees. On one plant we would find 2-3 bumblebee butts poking out. These hardy plants begin flowering in late spring and carry on right through the summer. Although biennial, you can get first year flowering varieties (Chamelot, Dalmatian) and they are prolific self-seeders so once you grow foxglove you can always grow foxglove. :)
Sweet peas - A favourite of hummingbirds and another early summer flower. Early season
flowers are beneficial in providing food for pollinators when there are fewer sources available. Here in 6a/5b you can plant your small sweet pea seedlings in the beginning of April and simply cover with leaf mulch or frost cloth. Their leaves may get a little frost nipped but beneath the surface their roots are expanding. They don't like the hot summer so the earlier you can get them in the better.
Celosia - As I have never noticed a scent from celosia, I was surprised with how many insects they attracted. They were the most attractive plant to native wasps and hoverflies and I encountered wasps that I had never seen before. Not to worry, they had no interest in me, even when harvesting the celosia.
Phlox - I grew both annual and perennial phlox and both attract a lot of pollinators. These are very fragrant plants so it makes sense. Both flower from early summer through to fall so provide a full season of food. I prefer the growing habit of perennial phlox and in the future it will be the only phlox I grow.
Bee balm - A perennial and the name says it all. To avoid powdery mildew (which is common on these plants), plant where they get at least 6 hours of sun and cut them back in the fall and discard the stems. Many butterflies, moths, beneficial wasps, and hummingbirds love it too.
Icelandic poppies - A very early season flower, I had these in bloom near the beginning of May. They will bloom from May to July and then again in September and October. Their open flat faces provide a resting place for bees to dust themselves with pollen.
Joe Pye Weed - Another native perennial that grows down in the marshlands on the property. It attracts butterflies and other pollinators. I found this plant and our milkweed to be the most attractive to butterflies.
Milkweed - You can grow pretty varieties! We grow soulmate (pink flowers) and bright wings (red & yellow flowers). I haven't found a way yet to cut them without having them wilt but the butterflies love them and they look pretty in the gardens so they are a keeper.
Snapdragons - This was my first year growing snapdragons and I will now forever grow
snapdragons. Their smell is divine and they are a cut flower workhorse. They began blooming in early July and they were still producing flowers even after a few hard frosts. With fall planting, I am hoping to have these hardy snapdragons in spring this year. The Potomac variety are mostly pollinated by bumblebees as they need to push into the closed blooms, but the open face Madame Butterfly and Chantilly also saw other bees and hoverflies visit to feed. For spring/early summer blooms you will want to grow Chantilly or Legend (or Group 1 Costas). For summer you will want Potomac, Madame Butterfly or Group 2 Costas).
Sunflowers - Their tall and bright blooms are great for being a beacon to let pollinators know that you have created a space for them. Our sunflowers were always bustling with pollinator activity and were a welcome resting place for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Plants I plan to add next year for pollinators:
Mountain Mint - A great greenery for bouquets, this native mint is not a super spreader (a problem with many mints) and is often deemed as one of the top native pollinators in terms of attractiveness to pollinators and diversity of pollinators that it draws.
Veronica - I grew a little bit this year but am adding a 15 foot section as this plant is a perennial has a long bloom period and usually tops lists as a draw for honey bees and butterflies.
Yarrow - A wonderful perennial filler for your cut flower bouquets, it mainly attracts solitary foragers like mason bees and beetles. Yarrow often comes in mixes so that you will have diverse colours to attract diverse pollinators. Yarrow also helps build soil health as its deep root system can bring potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and copper to the surface, improving the soil quality for other plants around it.
Asters and Heirloom Mums - These late season blooms prolong the season for pollinators. Note that heirloom mums are different than the hybrid mums you find in the grocery store. They are big, magnificent, unique and produce way more pollen than the hybrid mums. You will find that pollinators will have very little interest in your grocery store mums but will love your asters and heirloom mums.
You can't really go wrong in choosing plants as long as you create a space of diverse colour, shape and bloom time. If you have any suggestions for pollinating super flowers, please share below!
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