Invite pollinators to your yard by planting the best perennials for pollinators. Adding just one plant that attracts pollinators can impact the local habitat. Add multiple perennials for pollinators if you have the space and time to do so. You could even add an entire garden for pollinators!
Best Perennial Pollinators for Sun
There are plenty of choices for perennials that grow in the sun. Luckily many of these perennials attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Suggested below are 20 sun-loving perennials that attract pollinators. They are all hardy in zones 4-8.
- Black Eyed Susan
- Coneflower
- Bee Balm
- Butterfly Weed
- Swamp Milkweed
- Salvia
- Veronica
- Culver’s Root
- Liatris
- Blackberry Lily
- Globe Thistle
- Catmint
- Honeysuckle Vine
- Allium
- Tall Phlox
- Sedum
- Trumpet Vine
- Cranesbill Geranium
- Russian Sage
- Daylilies
Several cultivars and varieties of these perennials listed above can be planted to attract pollinators. Therefore, a wide variety of color choices, heights, and flower shapes can be added to the pollinator garden.
Best Perennial Pollinators for Shade
Yes, believe it or not, butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds like to play in the shade too. While there aren’t as many options for shade perennials that will attract pollinators to the garden a few choices are available.
The last one on the list of shade perennials for pollinators may have you scratching your head. Ferns don’t produce flowers. However, they provide habitat and protection for pollinators, especially butterflies in their larval stages. Hosta leaves can be an excellent source of water for pollinators. Hosta varieties like Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hosta hold water like a cup which small insects and pollinators like to drink from.
Garden Kits for Pollinators
Holland Bulb Farms has made it easy with garden kits that attract perennials. They have a range of perennials included in these kits. Therefore, you don’t even have to decide which perennials to choose.
- An excellent starter kit is the Pollinator Pleaser Garden.
- A complete package all-in-one garden kit is the Perennial Pollinator Blend.
- To attract butterflies they offer the Perennial Butterfly Garden Collection.
- For cut flowers to bring indoors and attract pollinators try the Perennial Cutflower Garden.
Plant Perennials This Spring to Attract Pollinators
This spring make a plan to plant perennials in your garden. Planting perennials from bare roots will produce strong root systems and healthy plants. The bonus of planting bare-root perennials from Holland Bulb Farms is they are free of neonicotinoids. These are a class of pesticides that aren’t good for pollinators, therefore, plants treated with them should be avoided.
With the newly planted perennials in your garden this spring and summer you can be sure to celebrate National Pollinator Week each and every year!
