We all know just how important pollinators are to our local ecosystem, biodiversity, and growing crops. But, even with the best intentions, it's easy to unknowingly make gardening mistakes that harm pollinators.

You don't have to hand over your entire yard as a pollinator garden to support bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other beneficial insects. Just making conscious choices when tending to your plants can go a long way in supporting wildlife and ensuring your outdoor space is a safe haven for them.

From using unnecessary chemicals to removing vital habitat, there are several errors that can put pollinators in harm's way. Here, we talk through the top three most common mistakes and what to do instead to achieve your dream garden while keeping buzzing bees and beautiful butterflies safe.

1. Only Planting Hybrids

Hybrid plant species are beautiful, but they aren't always the most resourceful for pollinators in search of nectar.

This is because many have been bred for aesthetic, ornamental purposes and don't necessarily have the abundant nectar available in naturally-occurring species.

That's why it's important to prioritize native planting where you can, as these are naturally-occurring plants in your region that coexist with the pollinators in need of their nectar.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with adding your favorite showy hybrids to your garden, just take care to also mix in lots of natives to serve the pollinators seeking resources in your yard.

If you don't know where to start, wildflower gardens are invaluable to pollinators. They're easy to grow, too, just take a pack of pollinator-friendly wildflower seeds (like this mix from Burpee) and sprinkle it in your borders or a wild part of your lawn.

You can take it a step further by introducing specialist pollinator plants in your garden, such as Heuchera americana (available at Nature Hills) for alumroot cellophane bee.

2. Using Chemical Pesticides

It can be easy and convenient to grab pesticides in the panic of spotting pests that destroy plants, but what we don't necessarily see is how these harmful chemicals impact the pollinators in our yards.

Chemical garden products can harm and kill bees, butterflies, and other insects that work in our favor in the yard. In fact, the beneficial insects that prey on pests can be wiped out by these pesticides.

Instead, consider natural pest control methods. This includes introducing predators, like these ladybugs from Amazon and other predators that eat aphids, for example.

You can also position the best pest-repellent plants around your yard to deter pests. This pack of marigolds from Walmart is a reliable choice, with the scent and chemical compounds of the blooms repelling a wide range of spring and summer garden pests.

3. Over-Tidying Your Yard

Many of us are eager to get out in the garden and remove spent flower blooms and stems as soon as they start to fade. But, this actually takes away vital habitat for pollinators.

Many types of bees, for example, are cavity nesters and use hollow stems for shelter. Likewise, fallen leaves, deadwood, and long grass provide habitats for other insects and even small mammals.

That's why you should avoid cutting down fading plants for as long as possible, and why you shouldn't over-tidy your yard in fall at the end of the growing season.

Instead, embrace this part of the plant's lifecycle. Many fading perennials are architectural and provide some structure and beautiful silhouettes to the late-season garden landscape.

When it is time to remove dead plant matter, make sure to use sharp and clean pruning tools to maintain plant health. These Felco F2 pruning shears from Lowe's are a popular choice.

You can also provide supplementary habitats for pollinators if you're keen to tidy up the yard. This bug hotel from Amazon, for example, has lots of nooks for them to find refuge in. Likewise, this mason bee house from Amazon doubles as a charming garden feature.

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There are so many different ways to support pollinators in your garden. You can create a singular pollinator strip, for example, or even paint your fence the best color for pollinators to attract them.

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Growing verbena in containers is a great way to bring summer color and attract pollinators if you don’t have the luxury of a large garden. Any smaller space can be lifted by the long-lasting, cheerful blooms that a verbena bonariensis can provide. The slender, branching stems can also create a gentle screen on a balcony or patio, provided you get the conditions right for verbena to thrive.

Getting the drainage right tops the list of priorities, which determines the type of pot and compost you need to use. For guaranteed success growing verbena in pots, you should also find a sunny spot, be careful with watering, and regularly fertilize the plants to keep the verbena flowering for longer.

If you are looking for a low-maintenance plant that can bring quiet beauty to a deck, patio, or balcony, and also support your local bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, then you should consider growing verbena in containers. To ensure yours thrive, here are six vital points you need to know.

Can I Grow Verbena in a Pot?

Yes, growing verbena in containers is a great way to enjoy their bright colors in smaller spaces, or if your soil is too damp to grow these pollinator magnets permanently in the ground.

Verbena is a large genus that includes different annual and perennial varieties. Bedding verbenas can add bright color in containers for the summer, but hardy perennial verbenas can also be grown successfully in pots.

If you want to grow perennial verbena varieties in pots, it is beneficial to opt for compact cultivars, such as the ‘Lollipop’ or ‘Purple Homestead’. Get a live Verbena ‘Purple Homestead’ plant at Fast Growing Trees that reaches just 1-2 feet tall and attracts pollinators to its vibrant purple blooms.

1. Pick a Pot With Drainage Holes

Growing verbena in pots successfully requires getting the drainage right, as the plants really dislike sitting in sodden soil for long periods. If you want yours to be happy and bloom plentifully, stop them from sitting in standing water; they will sulk and may even suffer root rot.

A key part of getting the conditions right is making sure any pot or planter has drainage holes in the bottom so excess water can escape. Check that any pot has these before using it, though it is easy to add drainage holes to planters made of any material if yours doesn’t. It is a necessary step to ensure verbena enjoys container life.

A container for growing verbena in pots can be any material, allowing you to pick one for your style and budget. Bedding verbenas are even suitable plants for hanging baskets in summer, where trailing types can cascade over the edges for a waterfall of colorful blooms.

They can sometimes be more expensive, but terracotta pots offer a stylish Mediterranean feel and do help prevent waterlogging. This terracotta pot at Walmart is inexpensive, is large enough at 12 inches to grow verbena (either bedding types or a compact perennial cultivar), and comes with a drainage hole in the bottom.

2. Use Well-Draining Compost

This advice fits well with point one, as it is about ensuring that verbena in pots don’t sit in wet soil for extended periods. A good potting soil for container gardening needs to hold onto moisture, but also drain well to prevent root rot – so choose wisely.

It is imperative to fill pots with a well-draining potting mix. I would go for a product like this organic potting mix, available at Burpee, which contains moisture-retentive but well-draining coconut coir, as well as fertilizer to feed plants with essential nutrients for up to three months.

It might seem like a quick alternative, but never cut corners and use old garden soil in your pots. The soil is too heavy and dense, meaning it will sit far too wet, and your verbena will certainly not be happy in it.

3. Place the Container in a Sunny Spot

Verbenas like the sun, and will flower their best in a bright, sunny spot in the garden. Place the pot somewhere that gets at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight every day. This amount of sun guarantees strong stems and bountiful blooms.

The plants can cope with a bit of light shade, but you will get fewer blooms. However, give them too much shade and the stems of taller varieties will be leggy as they desperately search for sunlight.

The one scenario in which shade is beneficial for verbena is restricted to growers in warmer, southern US hardiness zones. In such a climate, a spot where the plants can get some respite from the exceptionally hot afternoon sun can protect against heat stress.

4. Keep on Top of Watering

When growing any plants in a container garden, they need more watering than their counterparts in the ground, especially when the temperatures rise in summer.

The secret to growing verbena in containers well is to check them often and allow the top inch or two to dry out between waterings.

In the peak of summer, verbenas in pots may need watering every day or two. Whereas some plants like consistently moist soil, verbenas do not mind the soil drying out a little. To water plants in containers effectively, check the top few inches of the soil.

If the top 1-2 inches feel dry, it is time to water plants. If that top zone still feels moist, step away. Don’t add more water when the top inches are wet, as overwatering plants is a sure-fire way to have poorly verbenas or root rot.

A soil moisture meter, available at Amazon, can be a sound investment to help you decide when to water a container plant.

5. Feed Plants Every Few Weeks

Verbenas growing in flower beds can get all the essential nutrients they need from the soil; they don’t need fertilizing throughout the season.

It is a different case when growing verbena in containers, though, as these plants don’t have such an infinite resource. They can use up all the nutrients in the limited potting mix, and need regular fertilizing to keep them flowering gloriously all summer long.

A good potting mix is likely to contain feed for the first month in the pot. If it doesn’t, use a granular, balanced fertilizer when you plant the verbena into the container (such as this organic plant food from Burpee).

After that first month, the plants will benefit from a dose of a liquid tomato feed every week or two. Such products are high in phosphorus and potassium, which encourage ample flowering and provide vital nutrients for your verbena to put on a long-lasting display.

A natural alternative is to make comfrey fertilizer by chopping up the leaves of this attractive, beneficial plant and steeping them in water to make a tea. This brew is rich in nutrients and can be diluted and used when you water plants.

6. Overwinter Container Plants Indoors

Hardy perennial verbenas can overwinter outdoors in US hardiness zones 7-11. However, verbenas in containers are more susceptible to cold – you may need to protect pots from frost to ensure they survive the winter.

It can be as simple as moving the pot to a protected spot, such as a porch or greenhouse, for the cold months. Alternatively, if you have many containers, you can move pots together for winter to retain warmth. Grouping them against a south-facing wall or beneath an overhang can provide extra security against the elements.

Individual pots can be wrapped in burlap or winter pot covers (you can get a four-pack of winter pot protectors at Amazon) to protect the precious roots from low temperatures and increase the chances of your verbena springing back into life come spring.

If you want an insurance policy, you can take verbena cuttings in summer, just in case your plants succumb to winter. The cuttings will need to be kept protected from the cold before being moved outdoors in spring, and they will flower that summer.

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To keep any verbena blooming for longer, it is advisable to deadhead verbena throughout the summer months.

Cutting back old blooms stops the plant putting energy into producing seeds, and also reduces the height of the stems. Start once the first blooms are fading, and it will encourage a flush of new flowers to prolong the blooming period.

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As warm and sunny days arrive in June, you may start to notice a few herbs putting out blooms. Some gardeners will be tempted to harvest to prevent flowering, or may even collect the edible flowers to use in the kitchen. But, it's invaluable to leave some of these blooms for pollinators.

In fact, herbs are some of the best aromatic plants to attract wildlife, especially when in bloom. The likes of marjoram, borage, and thyme all display charming flowers this month in preparation to later set seed. Removing them can extend the harvest season (and preserve flavor), as it redirects the plant's focus to more leafy growth. However, allowing the blooms to form provides a vital nectar source for bees, butterflies, other important insects, and, in some cases, hummingbirds.

Here, with some insights from a garden pro, I talk through five herbs to let flower in June for pollinators.

1. Borage

Borage is a herb that is actually primarily grown for its edible flowers, which have a mild cucumber taste. Though, the leaves and stems can also be used in salads.

With distinct blue star-shaped blooms, it's worth leaving some of these beautiful flowers on display when they come out this month. Not only do they provide a unique blue flower for your planting, they're known to be frequented by several types of bees and butterflies.

'In my garden you will always find honeybees on borage. Bumblebees don't seem to bother as much (I think they are too large), but for smaller bees and solitary wasps they seem to love it,' says gardening expert Matt Tutt.

You can grow borage as an annual herb with these borage seeds from True Leaf Market.

2. Marjoram

Growing marjoram is easy and rewarding, with aromatic leaves that have a fresh, woody-citrus taste. By the time June and July come around, this herb is putting up flower spikes, topped with pink and mauve flower clusters.

These flowers are edible, offering a sweeter taste that is often used in a herbal tea. But, they're also a great source of nectar for many beneficial insects.

Bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and even moths visit marjoram flowers through summer. The tight clusters of the flowerheads provides a landing pad and easy access for them.

You can purchase a marjoram plant from Walmart or use these sweet marjoram seeds from Burpee for planting outdoors from late May-June, when the risk of frost has passed.

Marjoram is considered half-hardy and in most growing USDA regions (other than zone 9 and 10) should be overwintered indoors as a perennial. Or, you can treat it as an annual.

Don't forget to regularly deadhead the spent blooms (with these Fiskars herb garden scissors on Amazon) to encourage repeat flowers.

3. Cilantro

Depending on where you grow cilantro, you'll typically get white clusters of flowers between April and July. Of course, many home gardeners choose to let cilantro flower to later collect coriander seeds, but this isn't the only reason to let the blooms appear.

'There are lot of very small flies and pollinators that like the flowers of coriander,' says Matt.

This includes honeybees, hoverflies, and tachinid flies (which are beneficial parasitoids). They're all attracted to the sweet scent of the lacy flower clusters.

You can also eat cilantro flowers, which have a much more concentrated flavor than the leaves of the herb. Or, as Matt does, 'I like to let it go to flower, so I can collect and save seed for sowing next year.'

You can find cilantro seeds at Burpee, sowing them in early spring as a fast-growing annual. Sowing little but often until summer will provide a continuous supply and even more blooms for pollinators.

4. Thyme

June is a peak flowering month for thyme, with pink, purple, and white clusters. Just before the flowers appear, thyme's flavor tends to be most potent, so it is popular practice to harvest right before.

However, allowing the herb to flower will bring the likes of honeybees and bumblebees, as well as some butterflies. Plus, the leaves can still be harvested during this time, though they will be slightly milder.

After flowering through summer to fall, you should cut thyme back by a third to stop it going woody and to encourage some fresh, bushy growth.

Make sure to use sharp and clean pruning tools for this (like these Fiskars garden scissors on Amazon).

As a hardy evergreen, you can keep thyme outdoors for winter across USDA zones 5-9. Though, it is recommended to provide some shelter and mulch for insulation.

You can find thyme seeds at Eden Brothers, or purchase a thyme plant from Walmart.

5. Bee Balm

Bee balm is an unusual herb that you may be more familiar with as an ornamental, grown for its brightly colored, tufted blooms.

It actually belongs to the mint family, and both the leaves and flowers can be harvested for a citrusy-mint flavor. The most common types of bee balm used for culinary purposes is wild bergamot, lemon bee balm, and scarlet bee balm.

As its name implies, bee balm is hugely popular with all kinds of bees, from honeybees, bumblebees, and other solitary native bees. In fact, this is also a great plant for hummingbirds, as bee balm has tubular flowers that suit their long beaks. Plus, its bright reds and pinks are effective at attracting all these pollinators.

What's great about bee balm as a June-flowering herb for pollinators is the fact it blooms all the way from until fall, providing a long season of nectar.

You can typically grow bee balm varieties as reliable perennials across USDA zones 3-9.

Explore the range of bee balm plants at Nature Hills, or use these wild bergamot seeds from Burpee to grow your own.

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As well as these herbs to let flower in June, there are also several flowering weeds for pollinators to consider leaving through summer. This includes dandelions and clover, which you may spot on your lawn.

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20 May marks World Bee Day, an opportunity to celebrate the pollinators working hard in our yards to maintain a healthy ecosystem. While we undoubtedly know how important they are for pollinating plants, there are also several hidden jobs bees are doing in your garden that you may not know about.

This goes for all types of bees, with the likes of mining bees helping to aerate soil and specialist pollinators ensuring the production of berries for other wildlife to feed on, for example. The truth is, there are so many things these adorable insects are doing in our gardens that go unnoticed. But, without them, our gardens would be sparser and quieter.

Intrigued to find out more? Here, pollinator experts tell all on three hidden jobs bees are doing in your garden.

1. Aerating Soil

There are several bees that live in nests underground, rather than in hives. You'll be surprised at how much this habit helps soil health by improving drainage.

'Unlike honey bees, these native pollinators don’t live in hives or make honey. In fact, nearly 70% of bees nest underground, including gentle bumblebees that build their homes right beneath your feet,' says Jen Rose, founder of Bee Cups.

Mining bees are also a huge group that live underground, as their name suggests. If you look closely at the bare spots in your yard in spring, you might spot the perfect holes they drill.

'Far from harming your garden, these tiny tunnel builders actually improve it. As they dig, they naturally aerate the soil, helping oxygen reach plant roots and allowing rainwater to soak in more effectively,' Jen continues. 'The result? Healthier plants, better soil structure, and less surface water runoff after heavy storms.'

You can help these ground-nesting bees by providing undisturbed, sparse areas of the ground. In return, they'll help efficiently pollinate your garden – mining bees are thought to pollinate 15 times more flowers than honeybees in one day.

2. Attracting Wildlife

You may not realize it, but bees actually play a huge role in maintaining a wildlife garden and a balanced ecosystem. They help provide shelter and food sources for birds and small mammals.

'Without the bees, your plants wouldn't produce berries and seeds,' says Lindsey Chastain, homesteader and founder at The Waddle and Cluck.

'Birds and squirrels are drawn in by those tasty treats, so are many beneficial insects. Without the bees, that wildlife wouldn't be supported,' she explains.

This is especially true for the wildflowers and native plants that feed birds in winter with lots of seeds and berries.

'The seed production also help those plants to spread,' Lindsey notes.

Growing lots of nectar-rich plants for pollinators, including scattering this mix of pollinator wildflower seeds from Burpee, is the best way to offer bees support in this role.

3. Recycling Plant Material

Bees are incredibly resourceful when building their nests. Many species use plant materials found in the garden, which is part of a natural cycle in which plant matter is repurposed.

For example, leafcutter bees are solitary bees that cut neat circular or oval pieces from leaves to line their nests.

Other bees, including some mason bees and stingless bees, collect sticky plant resins to seal their nests and help protect them from moisture.

In return, these bees are highly effective pollinators, helping flowers produce seeds, fruits, and vegetables.

You can help them by leaving piles of fallen leaves, not cutting back perennials and leaving dead hollow stems. Essentially, delaying a spring clean-up goes a long way in providing resources for bees to work with.

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If you're keen to encourage more bee activity in your yard, then consider growing the flower colors that attract bees, including purple plants. Likewise, you can attract bees to your garden by not using pesticides and providing a safe water source.

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If you're looking for a charming way to support bees this spring, then I urge you to consider adding a mason bee house to your yard. It's similar to a bug hotel, with lots of cavities for bees to seek refuge in. The best part? It looks adorable and will boost pollination in your garden.

Just like bug hotels, which support a wide range of insects, mason bee houses provide a safe spot for cavity-nesting bees (which includes leaf-cutter bees) to lay eggs. This Amazon mason bee house has caught my attention because it has a large capacity and is shaped like a hexagonal honeycomb segment, which is a beautiful touch.

As cavity-nesting bees don't dig their own nests and rather seek existing nooks, this is an invaluable addition to the yard for them. In return, they'll help maintain a rich biodiversity in your garden. Reading the reviews of those who already have it, it appears to serve its purpose: '[the] bees moved in quickly after setting this outside,' one person shares.

Why Get a Mason Bee House?

Despite their name, mason bee houses support more types of bees than just masons. Most notably, leafcutter bees also seek refuge in cavities.

As we tackle our spring gardening checklist and remove dead plants, hollow stems are removed. This reduces the number of natural nesting spots for cavity-nesting bees.

Mason bee houses provide artificial cavities for these solitary beneficial insects year-round, with lots of hollow tubes for them to nest in and lay their eggs.

It's important to provide this habitat for mason and leafcutter bees because they're incredibly efficient pollinators. Having a mason bee house in your garden boosts bee populations and ensures pollination in your yard.

In fact, a single female mason bee is thought to do the same pollination work as over 100 honeybees, so they're invaluable to encourage to the garden.

Why Shoppers Love It

Shoppers of the Amazon mason bee house express just how much they adore it in the reviews.

'The quality of this bee house if amazing. It is sealed in bees wax and is well made of natural wood, so the appearance is aesthetically pleasing,' one five-star reviewer describes.

These natural materials make the bee house easy to slot into your yard's landscape. The fact it's sealed by wax also makes it much more durable in adverse weather. Plus, the bees won't be exposed to any harmful chemicals when using it.

The tubes inside the bee house also keep bee health a priority:

'The easily-replaceable paper tubes are important since keeping tubes around year after year can cause disease outbreaks in the bee box,' one shopper describes.

'So you want to buy new tubes yearly, which are very inexpensive. That's what makes this type of bee box so much better than the permanent bamboo ones, which at a minimum need to be cleaned and decontaminated every year,' they explain.

You can find bee house paper tubes on Amazon to refresh your mason bee house when it needs a clean.

It's also very easy to install, thanks to the attached string. 'Take it out of the box and hang it,' one reviewer describes.

It's best to place this bee hotel somewhere visible, not blocked by vegetation. You could hang it a wall, with bee-friendly plants growing below to create the ultimate safe haven for them. Try scattering this pack of pollinator wildflower seeds from Burpee.

It's difficult to find a downside to this Amazon mason bee house. It provides a safe nesting spot for important pollinators, looks attractive, and is made to last for many years.

Perhaps the only point to mention is that it is over $20 and it's cheaper to actually make a bee hotel using materials in your yard.

Nevertheless, if you're not looking for a DIY, want a professional finish, or want to gift something to the garden-lover in your life, then this is an excellent pick.

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Other ways to bring more bees to your yard is by planting the flower colors bees are most attracted to. This includes purple, blue, and yellow. Lavender (like these starter plants from Walmart) is a great pick, guaranteed to have bees buzzing around it all summer long.

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Nectar-rich blooms might be the priority when it comes to attracting pollinators, but hydration is just as important. It's easy to forget that bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are searching for fresh water as well as food sources – and this is where bee cups come in.

While I've only recently discovered bee cups, I now can't imagine a garden without them. Crafted from porcelain and finished in a variety of colorful glazes, they serve as mini hydration stations for a range of pollinators, and they happen to be both gorgeous and affordable. (You can pick up a set of 5 bee cups from Amazon for $39.99.)

Even better, these handmade dishes also introduce a delightfully decorative touch to any space. So, if you're keen to attract bees to your garden, I'd say that a set of bee cups is the perfect blend of style and function.

What Are Bee Cups? And Do You Really Need Them?

While you might have spotted bees drinking from bird baths or even pet bowls in your garden, they are most likely to seek out sheltered sources of fresh water – especially if these happen to look like flowers.

Bee cups are designed with this in mind: each one features a colorful, cone-shaped basin which allows bees to perch and drink safely. And since bees can't swim, this narrow shape ensures that they can hydrate without the risk of drowning.

Additionally, the surface of each bee cup is finished in an ultraviolet glaze in the colors attract bees. (Bees can, in fact, view different ultraviolet wavelengths to humans, meaning that some hues are more likely to catch their attention.)

As a result, you'll primarily find bee cups in shades of blue, purple and yellow. (This set of 3 bright yellow bee cups from Amazon is my current favorite garden accessory.)

Each of these dainty hydration stations is best nestled in flower beds or placed next to your most strongly-scented, nectar-rich plants. Since they're made of porcelain rather than plastic, bee cups are impressively weather-resistant, and the vibrant colors won't fade in bright sunlight.

A flourishing pollinator garden does, of course, start with pollinator-friendly plants, but I love that bee cups will also double as decor. So, while you fill your yard with beautiful blooms, you can add even more pops of color in the form of elegant accessories like this.

And if you prefer an even more whimsical look, you can opt for something like these flower-shaped watering stations (which are also from Amazon) or these metal butterfly feeders from Wayfair.

Why Shoppers Love These Bee Cups

While there are plenty of watering stations on the market, these particular bee cups are in fact a patented design – and they've garnered countless five-star reviews online.

'Super high quality and the colors are so cute,' says one shopper. 'A great addition to my garden bed!'

Some shoppers describe the bee cups as smaller than expected, which means they need to be refilled regularly. (However, this is ultimately beneficial for bees, since fresh water reduces the spread of diseases, and smaller basins allow for safe perching.)

'Obviously the less water you have, the faster it dries up, and these cups are small,' explains one reviewer. 'This isn’t a design flaw, just the water cycle! I love that the cups are not made of plastic and they hold up well in all weather conditions, too.'

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Want to create the very best bee-friendly space this year? Check out our guide to flowers that attract bees, or read up on the best plants for pollinators.

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Pollinators play a crucial role in garden biodiversity and food production, but they need a helping hand as populations have declined over the years. Don’t worry that a garden for these beneficials will be high maintenance, though, as you can create a beautiful drought-tolerant pollinator garden with native plants.

Many studies have found that pollinator populations have declined steadily this century. Thankfully, attitudes have changed in recent years, and more gardeners are adding plants for pollinators to their outside spaces.

The best choices are native plants, which have evolved alongside your pollinators and are suited to local conditions. This makes them low-maintenance and drought-tolerant. Below are seven great native plants for a drought-tolerant pollinator garden that will look fabulous and provide a reliable food source throughout the seasons for bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds.

1. Bee Balm

Bee balm, also known as monarda or bergamot, is ideal for a drought-tolerant pollinator garden as its colorful, tubular petals are a beacon for bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds.

This North American native plant prefers moist soil but can survive drier periods without too much fuss. It will need regular deep watering to help the perennial bed in, but it is more drought-tolerant once strong roots are established.

In periods of drought, though, watering at least every 10 days will keep the flowers coming for pollinators to enjoy.

If you are after the most drought-tolerant Monarda varieties, look for spotted bee balm (Monarda punctata) or wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). This collection of bee balm seeds at Amazon contains packets to grow both of those drought-tolerant varieties.

2. Blanket Flower

Blanket flower, or gaillardia, is a native wildflower of drier regions of the US. The bright plants come in perennial and annual varieties that can be grown in zones 3-9.

These native plants are perfect for drier, hotter gardens, where they will brighten up flower beds with fiery hues of red, orange, and yellow. They are long-blooming plants, capable of putting on a show from June to October.

Many types of bees and butterflies are attracted to the bright flowers. Indeed, blanket flowers make great plants for fall pollinators as they offer nectar late into the season. After that, the seed heads make great food for birds.

Blanket flowers are tolerant of heat and drought conditions once established. They prefer drier conditions and will only need watering every two weeks when water is scarce. These drought-tolerant plants are very low-maintenance, but deadheading blanket flowers will help to extend the flowering display.

This SpinTop Orange Halo Blanket Flower at Nature Hills is an ideal variety for smaller gardens, as it reaches just 1-2 feet tall and wide yet puts on a dramatic show that attracts bees and butterflies.

3. Blazing Star

Blazing star, known as liatris, is native to the prairies of North America, and its tall spikes of purple, pink, or white blooms dazzle from late summer into fall.

The vertical blooms not only add drama and height to any garden, but are high-nectar magnets for butterflies and bees. This includes being a beneficial food source to fuel Monarch butterflies ahead of their migration in late summer.

As these drought-friendly perennials naturally grow in prairies and drier locations, they are ideal for rock gardens, prairie planting, or xeriscaping, as well as more classic mixed herbaceous borders.

New plants will need watering during their first year after planting, but afterwards will only need watering during extended drought periods.

You can get a mix of purple and white Blazing Star bulbs at Burpee to add to your garden.

4. Ceanothus

If you seek a drought-tolerant shrub to add to any pollinator or wildlife garden, a ceanothus ticks all the right boxes.

Also known as a California lilac, it comes in various sizes and is covered in clouds of blue flowers (though some cultivars have white or pink blooms) from early spring to summer, depending on the variety.

Those flowers are highly fragrant and nectar-rich, which is why bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds flock to them during the blooming season.

Ceanothus can grow in US hardiness zones 4-10 and is drought-tolerant once established. The shrubs don’t like wet roots, so adding compost ahead of planting can improve heavier soil types, making them more suitable.

You can get a live Ceanothus americanus shrub at Amazon, a white-flowering variety that grows 3-4 feet.

5. Coneflower

Coneflower, or echinacea, makes one of the best choices for a drought-tolerant pollinator garden thanks to its deep roots.

The bright perennials come in shades of purple, pink, red, orange, yellow, white, and green, and the plants have deep roots when established. This means they seek out moisture deep down in the ground. This trait makes them one of the most drought-tolerant perennial plants.

Native to the eastern and central United States, coneflowers bloom over a long period from summer into fall, with their daisy-like flowers attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

Later in the year, the dried seed heads are a vital food source for many birds, such as American goldfinches, cardinals, and chickadees.

The purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is one of the most popular coneflower varieties, and it reliably attracts pollinators to its light purple blooms season after season. You can get purple coneflower plants at Nature Hills.

6. Coreopsis

There are more than 100 species and a huge number of different hybrids of coreopsis, including annual and perennial types. Also known as tickseed, the native plants have bright, nectar-rich, daisy-like blooms in vivid shades of red, orange, and yellow,

Coreopsis can be one of the longest-flowering perennials you can add to a garden to attract lots of pollinators throughout the year. Add these vibrant, showy plants to your borders or containers, and bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds will flock to them from summer through fall.

Perennial varieties can be grown in US hardiness zones 4-9 and have good drought-tolerance once established after the first year. Coreopsis is perfect for locations with hot, dry summers, but regular deep watering during extended hot, dry periods will help prolong the blooming.

For a stunning, darker coreopsis, this ‘Mercury Rising’ coreopsis plant from Burpee has dark wine-red blooms with frosted white tips.

7. Milkweed

Milkweed produces clusters of colorful, fragrant flowers from late spring to late summer. Its name doesn’t do it justice, as it is certainly not a weed and thoroughly deserves a place in any drought-tolerant pollinator garden.

A great reason to grow milkweed is that they are a host plant for Monarch butterflies. When you grow milkweed for Monarch butterflies, it helps to support the sharp decline in their numbers by providing food and habitat.

On top of helping Monarchs survive, milkweed’s nectar-rich flowers attract bees, hummingbirds, and other types of butterflies. The plant is very valuable to garden biodiversity and can work in borders, container gardens, or meadows.

Milkweed plants are very low-maintenance and can tolerate dry, arid conditions. They only need watering once the top inch or two of the soil dries out, and they can handle periods of drought once established in the ground. Plants in containers will require more frequent watering.

The common milkweed is one of the best native varieties for supporting Monarchs, and you can get a live common milkweed plant at Nature Hills.

Seeds for a Drought-Tolerant Pollinator Garden

If you want to create a pollinator pit stop in your yard, you can purchase plants, sow seeds, or take cuttings. Spring is a great opportunity to grow new pollinator-friendly plants from softwood cuttings, and the likes of bee balm, lavender, salvia, and nepeta are among the best plants to propagate in May through cuttings.

If you are already growing any of these pollinator plants, you can easily get new ones for your garden for free at this time of year.

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I recently watched the most extraordinary thing happen on my lawn: a little mining bee dug a perfectly round hole into the ground. This interaction completely altered my mindset when it comes to the once-mysterious holes I stumble across in the yard: mining bees are not destructive but bring many benefits to our gardens, with their presence indicating a healthy ecosystem.

Mining bees are a type of bee that earn their name from the habit of burrowing into the ground. As solitary bees, they seek undisturbed ground to create a safe nest for their young, though it's common to spot numerous nests in one area as they gather in larger aggregations. But don't fret. These holes don't cause long-term damage to lawns, as mining bees don't feed on plant roots. Rather, the bees are seeking refuge and tend to only be active for 4-6 weeks.

David M. Burrows from the pollinator project company Arkearth says their presence in your yard actually has many benefits. Mining bees are efficient pollinators, they aerate soil, and are an overall sign of thriving biodiversity in your garden. Here, David explains more about mining bee habits and what it means to have them in your yard.

What Are Mining Bees?

Mining bees (Andrena) are ground-nesting bees that burrow solitarily into the ground to lay larvae. They're typically only active for 4-6 weeks, emerging from March to May, before the adults die off.

'Mining bees are an amazing category of solitary bees. In fact, there are over 1,500 species represented all around the world of these pollinator-friendly insects,' says David.

'Unlike honeybees, mining bees don’t make honey, have no queen bee, and live mostly alone in communities of other similar bees.'

Some US native mining bees include the smooth-faced mining bee and spring beauty mining bee, which is a specialist pollinator that seeks the spring beauty flower.

It can be quite easy to spot mining bee activity in your yard. They look for sunny, dry, sparse patches, including sandy lawns and flower beds. As they burrow, they create a mound of fine soil around a hole.

Benefits of Mining Bees

There are so many different benefits to having mining bees in the yard, and the holes they create pose no long-term threat to your lawn's (or nearby plants') health.

'These solitary bees are prolific pollinators and reach 15 times more flowers in a day than honeybees because they’re not managing a hive,' David explains. 'Most mining bees are native to the area where they live and thrive. The holes produced by the bees are more beneficial than destructive.'

It actually indicates some good soil health in your garden, as they need well-draining, loose soil to burrow.

He adds: 'The burrowing behavior opens areas of the soil for ventilation, and rain to penetrate and avoid surface water run-off. Ground bees also add to the nutrition of soil, providing nutrients, nitrogen, and other elements which benefit surrounding plant and tree roots.'

For this reason, they help flower beds and vegetable patches thrive, aerate your lawn, and contribute essential plant nutrients to the soil.

This is enhanced by the fact that they live in large aggregations, building nests in proximity to each other. This means you likely have multiple mining bees working hard to make their own nests in your yard, around 100-300mm deep each.

How to Help Mining Bees

There are so many ways to turn your yard into a pollinator garden for mining bees.

'Homeowners can encourage these beneficial insects by providing cover crops, water features, and pollinator habitats of undisturbed land where they can create a nest for their young and leave a population of helpful pollinators for the next spring season,' says David.

Cover crops, like clover (which you can grow with these clover seeds from Amazon) and buckwheat, provide nectar for mining bees with their early blooms. Their roots also keep the soil loose, making it easier for these bees to excavate their nests. It also provides shade, keeping the ground cool for them.

Many mining bees are generalists, so they will also appreciate wildflowers you grow (you can scatter these wildflower seeds for bees from Amazon).

You can also add these bee islands from Walmart to a shallow dish or a bird bath to provide them with easier access to water.

Above all, leaving an undisturbed, sparse, or bare patch of ground in your yard provides these bees with a safe spot to build their nests.

What to Shop

You may find that you don't have mining bees, but rather ground wasps. These critters have an aggressive habit, and they live socially. You can deter them by planting lots of wasp repellent plants in your yard, including aromatic herbs.

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Pollinators play a crucial role in any garden, and their work moving pollen and producing fruits, vegetables, and seeds cannot be undervalued. May is a great time to get lots of new pollinator-friendly plants for your garden for free by taking cuttings of existing ones.

Spring is a perfect opportunity to take softwood cuttings of shrubs, perennials, and herbs adored by bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. New growth on these plants is ideal for taking plant cuttings that root quickly, and you can add these new pollinator-friendly plants to your garden in early fall or next spring.

Here, I look at some of the best plants to propagate in May for free pollinator plants. I also reveal some tips I have picked up over my years as a professional gardener to ensure your cuttings root well and grow healthily. New plants at no cost – what’s not to love?

1. Lavender

The dreamy purple flower spikes of lavender are rich in nectar. When you grow lavender in a garden, you’ll often see lots of bees and butterflies flock to the fragrant flowers during the long blooming season.

Gardeners can propagate lavender from softwood cuttings in spring and early summer, with May an ideal time to get new bushes for free. You can buy lavender plants or plant lavender seeds (if you have patience), but taking cuttings offers a great way to get clones of your favorite types.

TIP: The ideal stems for softwood cuttings are 4-6 inches long and this year’s growth. They should not be flowering and should be free from any sign of damage, pests, or disease. And you remove the lower leaves, leaving the top few on a few inches of bare stem.

2. Bee Balm

The name gives this one away, as, unsurprisingly, bee balm is very attractive to many different types of bees. But wait, there is more. Bee balm, also known as monarda or bergamot, is also popular with hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths.

It means you’ll see a range of pollinators around this native plant whether you grow it in flower beds or pick compact monarda varieties to grow in containers. All types of bee balm are prime for softwood cuttings in late spring to early summer when they are actively growing.

TIP: Make a cut at the bottom of the cutting, just below a node, and dip the end of the cutting in rooting hormone. Such a product mimics the plant’s natural hormones and helps to speed up rooting. It is an optional but recommended stage of cuttings.

You can get gel or powder rooting hormone – an example of the latter is this rooting powder on Amazon.

3. Salvia

Salvia is a large plant genus, which includes perennials and annuals in a wide range of colors, sizes, and forms. If you do want to grow salvia in your garden, there is such a variety that there will be one for any size or style – you can even grow salvia in pots on a deck or patio.

Most gardeners love them as one of the best perennials for vivid color in flower beds. They are also a magnet for pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, which love the nectar-rich tubular flowers of salvia.

If you have a favorite type of salvia in your garden, taking softwood cuttings guarantees you identical plants. It is a great way to propagate salvia this month. Whereas if you collect seed, you can suffer from cross-pollination, and there is no guarantee you’ll get the same blooms you adored on the parent plant.

TIP: After taking and preparing your cuttings, place them in a small container filled with a good potting soil, such as this premium potting soil at Amazon designed for seedlings and cuttings. You can place up to six cuttings in one four-inch pot.

4. Mint

Even though mint has a reputation for being thuggish (which, admittedly, it can be), there are ways to control it, and growing mint is a staple for any herb garden or kitchen garden.

The leaves can be used in cooking and medicine, plus the flowers of the aromatic herb attract lots of pollinators. If you have a patch of flowering mint in your yard, you’ll see bees, butterflies, and moths going after the nectar.

Of all the different mint varieties, mountain mint (you can get live mountain mint plants at Nature Hills) and spearmint (get spearmint seeds and plants at Burpee) are great options if you want to attract lots of pollinators. And you can propagate these, along with any other types of mint, quickly and easily from softwood cuttings in May.

TIP: A simple way to propagate mint is to place the cuttings in water. Take your cuttings the same way as explained above, then submerge the cutting into a container or glass filled with water. Place it somewhere it can get warm, indirect sunlight, and roots should appear within 1-2 weeks. You can plant the young mint into a pot once the roots are a few inches long.

5. Nepeta

Catmint, or Nepeta, always impresses with grey-green foliage, trumpet-shaped lilac blooms, and a citrussy fragrance. It is well-known as being attractive to cats, but do all gardeners appreciate how adored nepeta is by pollinators?

The plant has nectar-rich flowers for bees and butterflies. The pollinators will appreciate the plentiful, long-lasting food source, as nepeta is one of the longest-flowering perennials and can bloom from late spring to early fall.

You should act fast to take nepeta cuttings to get healthy non-flowering shoots before the plants start bursting into bloom for the season. Thankfully, nepeta has a reputation for rooting in just a matter of weeks.

For success, take 4-6-inch cuttings of healthy shoots, snip just below a node, and dip them into rooting hormone. Place the cutting in a small pot filled with free-draining potting mix.

TIP: You can improve the chances of successful rooting by covering the pots with a clear plastic lid or bag. Doing so creates a warmer, mini-greenhouse environment and increases the humidity levels. This reduces moisture loss and stops the cutting from drying out.

You can get nursery pots with humidity domes at Amazon that are perfect for raising healthy cuttings.

6. Buttonbush

There are at least three good reasons to grow buttonbush. Firstly, the native flowering shrub has some of the most unique, spherical, pin-cushion-like flowers. Secondly, it is a low-maintenance shrub to add seasonal interest to borders. And, thirdly, it attracts a plethora of pollinators.

The fragrant white blooms are made up of lots of smaller flowers and are a magnet for many types of bees and butterflies. Furthermore, buttonbush is a host plant for several types of moths. Later in the year, the shrub develops fruits that provide food for lots of species of birds – all in all, these factors make buttonbush an underrated shrub for any wildlife garden.

An existing buttonbush can provide many softwood cuttings in spring. As the shrubs naturally thrive in moister conditions, cuttings tend to root quickly. Plant the cuttings in a moist, well-draining potting mix, and keep the compost moist but not waterlogged. The shrub should happily root in two to four weeks.

TIP: Any cuttings must be taken with clean, sharp pruning tools, such as pruning shears or garden snips, such as these micro-tip plant shears at Walmart.

Heading out with your sharp tools early in the day to collect material for cuttings is recommended, as the stems contain more moisture in the morning. As you collect cutting material, place the stems in a clear plastic bag to prevent them from drying out.

7. Weigela

Weigela shrubs have trumpet-shaped blooms in vibrant shades of pink, purple, or red. These traits make the flowers hugely attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds throughout the season.

If you want more of these flowering shrubs, the window to take weigela cuttings is open in May. Taking softwood cuttings is a reliable, cost-effective way to expand your collection of these striking shrubs and fill any space with flowers that pollinators adore.

TIP: The cuttings want warmth and bright, indirect sunlight. These ideal conditions can be achieved by placing them into an unheated greenhouse or cold frame to root. However, to speed up rooting, you can place the pots in a propagator or onto a heat mat (like this seedling heat mat at Burpee) for extra warmth.

Shop Gardening Essentials

May is a busy time for any gardener. As well as understanding which plants to propagate in May, it is also a prime month for sowing, planting, and pruning.

Thankfully, we’ve got you covered with expert guides to a range of seasonal tasks. One such example is this guide on what to plant in May for a low-maintenance summer garden. You can also find pieces on easy vegetables to plant in May and fast-growing flowers to sow this month.

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Turning your backyard into a haven for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds is rewarding – offer them nectar-rich blooms and they'll help establish a healthy ecosystem in return. But not all pollinators appreciate all flowers. Specialist pollinators exclusively rely on specific plants, and by adding them to your planting you can boost your yard's biodiversity.

Specialist pollinators are beneficial insects that have very specific diets. These bee and butterfly species often rely on just a single genus of plants. Meanwhile, generalist pollinators visit a wider range of plants. This makes specialists highly vulnerable to habitat loss and environmental changes, making it more important than ever to grow the plants they need.

This is something Summer Rayne Oakes of Flock Finger Lakes prioritizes at her New York homestead. 'The vast majority of our insects here are specialists, so our pollinator garden does look a little different to what you might expect,' she says. Here, Summer Rayne shares her top five specialist pollinator plants to grow so you can help these important insects in your own garden.

What Are Specialist Pollinators?

'We have a slightly different take on the pollinator garden, as our New York homestead doesn't just get generalists like honeybees and bumblebees,' says Summer Rayne.

Generalist pollinators are those that feed on a wide range of nectar-rich plants, while specialist pollinators are species of bees, butterflies, moths, and more that exclusively rely on one type of plant, such as squash and blueberry bees.

Specialist species have co-evolved with their corresponding plants to emerge at the same time. This makes them vulnerable to environmental changes, so it's important to help them by catering to their needs and making resources readily available.

'These specialist pollinator plants aren't just a source of pollen and nectar for specialist bees and butterflies, but actually also a leaf source for insects to eat.

'In turn, this results in having more birds, because 96% of our birds rely on insects for their food,' Summer adds.

1. Fringed Loosestrife

• Best for: oil-digger bees

'A lot of loosestrife, or Lysimachia, grows in wetlands or wet meadows,' Summer describes. 'The oil-digger bee specializes not in the nectar or the pollen, but the resin of loosestrife to line their brood chambers,' she explains.

Oil-digger bees collect the oils of Lysimachia to make their underground nests waterproof, while also feeding their larvae with a special oil mixture.

One of the top picks is the native Lysimachia ciliata (fringed loosestrife) which can grow in USDA 4-8. It's loved for its lance-shaped foliage and star-shaped yellow flowers, and thrives in a full sun position while also adapting to partial shade.

However, many Lysimachia are considered invasive plants and should be avoided, including creeping jenny and purple loosestrife, which is actually a plant that is illegal to grow in California.

2. Heuchera Americana

• Best for: alumroot cellophane bee 

'We have some Heuchera americana in our pollinator garden, which is our native heuchera,' Summer Rayne says.

'Heuchera is a plant that has been cultivated for many different leaf colors and flower colors, but it's the Heuchera americana that attracts a specific kind of bee that coincides with its emergence,' she explains.

The type of bee in question is the alumroot cellophane bee which forages for pollen during the spring and early summer blooming period of this heuchera.

Heuchera americana is a beautiful variety with lobed evergreen foliage in purple, brown and bronze hues that tend to mature into green shades. Sprays of brown-green flowers spikes emerge in late spring, lasting through summer.

You can grow heuchera across USDA zones 4-9, where it performs best in full sun to partial shade, in a well-draining consistently moist soil.

'Green spice' is a pretty purple-veined cultivar of Heuchera americana available at Nature Hills.

3. Sedge

• Best for: skipper butterflies and specialist moths

'We actually opted for a sedge lawn over a conventional one because skipper butterflies and some moths use sedge grasses as their main foodstuff,' Summer Rayne describes.

While sedges are largely wind-pollinated plants and don't rely on specialist pollinators, the likes of brown skipper butterflies and certain types of specialist moths (including caterpillars of eyed brown and Appalachian brown moths) use sedge as a larval host plant.

Not only this, but sedge is also a great addition a pollinator garden to provide native insects with nesting space, shelter, and protection, especially for ground-nesting bees.

There are lots of sedges to choose from, but Appalachian sedge (Carex appalachica, which is available as a starter plant on Amazon) is a popular native pick, with its fine textured foliage.

4. Milkweed

• Best for: monarch butterflies

Although adult monarch butterflies are not necessarily specialist pollinators, they are specialist when it comes to the larval stage, exclusively feeding on milkweed.

Monarch caterpillars rely on milkweed foliage. By consuming it, the monarchs become poisonous to predators, as milkweed contains toxins.

Without milkweed, monarchs wouldn't survive, and they're already an endangered species. For this reason, it's important to grow milkweed for monarch butterflies.

It can grow across USDA zones 3-10, needing 6-8 hours of direct sun for optimal flowering. Once established, these perennials are fairly drought-tolerant.

You can use find milkweed to plant in your garden at Nature Hills.

5. Gumweed

• Best for: oligolectic bees

'Another plant specialist insects like is gumweed, or Grindelia,' says Summer Rayne. 'It's a super interesting flower with a gummy top, as if you took a marshmallow and put it over an open fire,' she describes.

This is a powerhouse pick of specialist pollinator plants, supporting at least 75 different oligolectic (pollen-collecting) bee species. They rely on gumweed for late season pollen and nectar, as it blooms from late summer into fall.

It has daisy-like yellow blooms with sticky flower buds, which resin-collecting bees also use to build their nests.

It can grow across USDA zones 3-10 and is found as a native wildflower across North America.

What to Shop

There are so many different ways to help bees, butterflies, and birds in your yard. You can make a pollinator strip, pollinator pit stop, or create a hummingbird planter this spring.

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There's nothing more joyful than the sight of butterflies in your yard, and it can feel a little disappointing if you don't happen to spot any once spring finally gets underway.

Fortunately, however, these gorgeous creatures don't require much encouragement to stop by your garden; in fact, I'd say that there's only one plant you really need to help you attract butterflies. The clue is in the name: butterfly bush, or buddleia.

This evergreen shrub isn't just beloved by butterflies – it's also known to attract bees, orioles, and hummingbirds. And since it happens to bring a glorious burst of color to your yard, there's no better time to plant it. (You can pick up a bicolor butterfly bush from Nature Hills, or opt for a striking purple butterfly bush from Fast Growing Trees.)

Why Add Buddleia to Your Yard?

Blooming from late summer through fall, butterfly bush is one of the best fast-growing shrubs to plant at this time of year – particularly when it comes to choosing plants for pollinators.

There's a reason why buddleia claims the title of 'butterfly bush': its cone-shaped flowers are packed with nectar, and their large clusters offer the perfect spot for butterflies to land and feed.

Colorful, fragrant, and packed with goodness, it's no wonder that buddleia is so tempting to butterflies. It's also a brilliant choice for a wildlife garden, attracting a host of pollinators and other insects which in turn can provide food for birds, too.

It's important to note that buddleia is classed as an invasive plant in some parts of the country, including the Pacific Northwest, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. It can start to dominate in sunny areas, out-competing other shrubs and native flowers.

Before planting, it's advisable to check the US Invasive Plant Atlas, or consult your local extension service to make sure planting is not restricted or banned.

Regular deadheading and pruning will help to control the plant in your own environment, and prevent the spread of airborne seeds.

Conversely, buddleia's dense, energetic growth is what many gardeners are looking for: It makes this joyful plant particularly ideal for the back of borders, or anywhere in your yard where you're craving a little privacy.

When it comes to upkeep, you'll want to consider when and how to prune buddleia. Large hybrids usually require yearly pruning, and even smaller varieties should be trimmed to prevent them from looking unruly.

Pruning will also encourage vigorous growth and more abundant blooms, which is crucial when it comes to attracting pollinators.

Luckily, spring is the perfect time to check this task off your list: you can prune buddleia using pruning loppers (like these from The Home Depot) and shears (like these from Amazon).

Long, scratch-resistant gardening gloves are another useful buy; this pair from Walmart is ideal.

Other Plants to Consider

If you're hesitant about planting a dense, fast-growing species like buddleia, there are plenty of other butterfly-friendly flowers you can try.

After all, the best butterfly gardens are those that incorporate a wide variety of plants, ensuring that butterflies and other pollinators can access a reliable source of nectar and pollen all year round.

Classic options like lavender and milkweed are brilliant choices for the summertime, while flowers like zinnias and aster will bloom until the end of fall.

You can pick up 'sensational' lavender plants from Fast Growing Trees, or colorful mixed zinnia plants from Burpee. To create the perfect conditions for butterflies in your yard, you can also try a wooden 'pollinating palace' (like this one from Walmart).

Crucially, butterflies require plenty of fresh water – which means a butterfly feeder (like this one from Amazon) or a decorative watering station (also from Amazon) is a wise investment, too. These will help to keep many pollinators hydrated, from bees to hummingbirds.

Tending to a city garden? It won't take you long to create a butterfly balcony, or cultivate a thriving butterfly border in your yard.

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In our hectic lives, we spend so much time in pursuit of perfection – a picture-perfect home, say, or a Pinterest-worthy garden – that we can forget about what really matters. Earth Day is an antidote: a welcome reminder to slow down, connect with nature, and commit to a few small changes to help protect the environment.

With this in mind, there is one plant swap you can make if you're looking to create a wildlife garden: replacing sterile cultivars with nectar-rich plants.

You might be keen to stock up on plants that won't self-seed, but this leaves bees, butterflies and other insects with a distinct lack of feeding sources. While sterile cultivars promise to keep your garden neat and free of weeds, a tidy yard can, in fact, be rather detrimental to pollinators – and prioritizing nectar-rich flowers can make all the difference.

Why Replace Sterile Cultivars?

No gardener wants to spend their spare time digging up fast-growing weeds, so it's only natural to seek out sterile cultivars.

Since they produce almost no viable seeds, these specially-bred species provide manageable alternatives to traditionally invasive plants, helping you to maintain a neat and tidy yard.

For all their logistical (and aesthetic) benefits, however, sterile cultivars have one crucial drawback: they do virtually nothing to support pollinators.

Of course, a lack of nectar and pollen is ideal for anyone with spring allergies, but it also means that insects will miss out on vital feeding sources, and many other wildlife species will be less inclined to visit your garden.

Sterile cultivars might be bred to look good, but they often have no viable pollen or nectar, which prevents pollinators like bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds from feeding on them.

Above all, a pollinator garden needs a variety of nectar-rich plants that can support wildlife all year round.

By prioritizing sterile cultivars, you might ensure that your garden is orderly and fuss-free, but you'll miss out on the buzzing, lively feel of a teeming pollinator haven – and you'll end up with a much weaker ecosystem.

What to Plant Instead of Sterile Cultivars

With all of this in mind, the best plants for pollinators are those that provide plenty of nectar and pollen – especially at this time of year, when many flowers aren't blooming just yet.

Swapping out even a few sterile plants for nectar-rich alternatives can have a huge impact on your garden, helping to attract not only insects but birds and other wildlife.

When it comes to choosing plants, there are a few classic options, from Grosso lavender (which you can find at Burpee) to native purple coneflowers, like these from Plant Addicts and May Night salvia, which you can shop at Fast Growing Trees.

Coneflowers are one of the easiest swaps to make; they are hardy and low-maintenance, and they're especially popular among bees. Wildflowers like goldenrod and black-eyed susan are also ideal, especially since they bloom all summer and through fall.

In fact, timing is a particularly important consideration: while you'll want to provide early-blooming plants which can support wildlife right now, you'll also need to incorporate flowers that bloom later in the year.

'I try to ensure that something is blooming from early spring through the end of summer,' reflects Dr Anne Leonard, bee expert and Professor of Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno. 'It's all about providing a variety of options, and counting on my neighbors to also make thoughtful choices about their gardens.'

Even the plants that you might be inclined to remove from your yard can be vital for pollinators. Take cowslips and dandelions: they might be viewed as the enemy, but 'weeds' like these are a rare food source that pollinators can rely on during the earliest days of spring.

Unlike specially-bred species, these flowers are inherently useful for wildlife – even if they can look a little unruly.

'In my own garden, I watch carefully to see what plants bees visit most and try to put in more of them,' says Dr Leonard. 'A larger patch to visit makes it even more appealing to pollinators.'

Shop Pollinator-Friendly Garden Essentials

If you're looking for more Earth Day inspiration, check out our guide to creating a pollinator pit stop, or stocking up on aromatic plants to attract wildlife.

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While spring is finally underway, it doesn't mean that your garden is brimming with blooms just yet – and this can cause problems for pollinators.

At this time of year, bees will be eagerly returning to your yard in search of nectar and pollen. Since many plants will bloom in late spring, however, these hungry pollinators will find themselves lacking in vital energy sources. The solution? Early-blooming garden flowers like bluebells, Aubrieta, and dogtooth violet.

These really are some of the best plants for pollinators in April and early May, helping to provide the first vital nectar before the rest of your plants burst into life. Plus, early-blooming flowers are a brilliant way to bring some color and fragrance to beds and containers – so there's no better time to add them to your garden.

1. Dandelions

They might be seen as nothing more than weeds, but dandelions are at the heart of every pollinator garden. Often overlooked, they provide a source of nectar and pollen when both are scarce – helping to bridge the pollinator hunger gap before the summer arrives.

If you find that your garden is frequented by bees but distinctly lacking in nectar-rich flowers, dandelions are the answer. In fact, they are particularly easy for pollinators to feed from thanks to their wide, flat shape.

With all this in mind, the easiest thing you can do at this time of year is simply let dandelions populate your borders or your lawn. (But if you want to go the extra mile, you can shop heirloom dandelion seeds at Amazon.)

2. Bluebells

Bluebells might be the foundation of any fairytale-inspired nostalgia garden, but they also happen to be crucial for pollinators: they are a reliable source of nectar and pollen for queen bumblebees, butterflies, and even hummingbirds.

You're sure to find bluebells in shady woodland spots and sprawling flood plains – but if you're looking to buy a container or two, Virginia bluebells (which you can find at Plant Addicts) are a particularly good choice.

Once they're settled in rich, well-draining soil with partial sun, these native wildflowers require almost no maintenance at all, and they are guaranteed to fill your garden with glorious color.

Crucially, bluebells bloom early enough to feed many different insects at this time of year: depending on the growing zone, they can start to flower from March onwards, providing both nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinators as they emerge from hibernation.

3. Aubrieta

Aubrieta is a wonderfully nectar-rich plant that makes the perfect addition to your garden in April. It's one of the best plants for a butterfly garden, producing tiny purple flowers which serve as a real pollinator magnet.

'Cascade purple' Aubrieta (which you can pick up at Walmart) is a hardy, deer-resistant option. It thrives in full sun, forming a dense mat of foliage that will eventually become populated by those delicate blooms.

Butterflies might gravitate toward Aubrieta, but it's also beloved by both bees and hummingbirds. Like bluebells, Aubrieta will flower far earlier than other plants, helping to support pollinators throughout the early spring period.

Aubrieta is also known as rock cress – and it is, unsurprisingly, a popular rock garden plant. So, while you might be accustomed to bees and butterflies crowding your borders and raised garden beds, plants like Aubrieta will help to encourage pollinators to populate dry areas, too.

4. Dogtooth Violet

Dogtooth violet, or Erythronium, is one of the best spring bulbs you can choose, especially when it comes to creating a thriving wildlife garden. Erythronium ‘Pagoda’ is a pale yellow variety that is particularly helpful for pollinators. (You can shop for Erythronium pagoda bulbs at White Flower Farms.)

Also known as trout lily or fawn lily, this hardy bulb will start blooming in April. It does best in partial shade – you'll often find it blooming under trees or shrubs – and it requires rich, moist, well-draining soil.

Native bees are the primary pollinators of Erythronium pagoda, though it also attracts butterflies, moths and hummingbirds. The nectar-rich flowers will bring plenty of spring joy to your borders, while supporting these insects before the summer arrives.

5. Hellebores

Growing hellebores will reward you with dense, weed-suppressing groundcover (thanks to the plants' thick, layered foliage), but it will also help to feed pollinators.

Many varieties of hellebores serve as a crucial nectar source as early as December, sustaining bees and butterflies through winter and spring.

Hellebores also do best in shaded conditions and well-drained soil. Lenten roses are the most widely-grown variety; options like the Frostkiss elemental lenten rose, which you can find at Plant Addicts, will produce handsome, two-tone flowers until well into springtime (and display striking, deep green foliage all year round).

What to Shop

Want to encourage even more bees to visit your garden this spring? We asked experts how to create the perfect pollinator pit stop.

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Pollinators are a crucial part of any garden, and you can plant for them in gardens of any size. Don’t be afraid to fill even the most compact of spaces with small pollinator plants to enjoy that will attract bees, butterflies, and pollinators to tiny spaces.

Small pollinator plants measure anywhere between four and 12 inches. They may be small in stature, but they can pack a punch with outstanding blooms to provide nectar to pollinators throughout the seasons.

The likes of creeping phlox, stonecrop, tickseed, wild strawberries, and dwarf varieties of popular perennial plants are perfect for small borders and containers and will attract a wealth of pollinators. So let's focus on small plants for pollinators and why they deserve a place in any compact garden space.

7 Native Plants for a Small Pollinator Garden

Native plants are always the best picks for attracting pollinators to any space. These plants have evolved in collaboration with local pollinators and are ideally suited to fill the needs of the wildlife in your area.

If you want a buzzing pollinator pitstop on your deck, courtyard, patio, or balcony, put native plants at the forefront of your plans.

The following small pollinator plants are all native and stay compact throughout their lifespan:

1. Creeping Phlox

Creeping phlox, or Phlox subulata, is a low-growing plant native to the Northern Midwest US that reaches no more than 4-6 inches tall.

Its low mounds are carpeted in blooms in shades of pink, purple, blue, and white. These nectar-rich flowers appear in early to mid-spring and attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds looking for food early in the season.

Creeping phlox is a very versatile plant for spaces of any size. It can be a good native plant to stop weeds, and it works well for edging borders and paths. However, in smaller spaces, it can also work as a container plant when allowed to cascade over the edge of pots.

You can get a Purple Beauty Creeping Phlox at Nature Hills to grow in zones 3-9, which will be covered in lavender blooms to entice early pollinators.

2. Stonecrop

There is such a wide variety of stonecrop (sedum) plants, ranging from tiny ones to large border varieties. It is such a broad genus, but in there are some low-maintenance, drought-tolerant small pollinator plants that are perfect for tiny spaces.

Stonecrop produces clusters of star-shaped flowers. The flat-topped blooms are perfect stopping places for pollinators, and the flowers provide vital nectar for a variety of bees (including honeybees and bumblebees) and butterflies.

Sedum ternatum is native to the Eastern US and grows just 3-6 inches tall. Also known as wild stonecrop, it has white flowers with black stamens in mid-spring to early summer.

You can get a live Sedum ternatum plant at Amazon that prefers light shade and can even grow in a crevice on a wall.

3. Dwarf Beardtongue

There are many different types of beardtongue, or penstemon, native across the US, and dwarf varieties make great small pollinator plants. And they don’t come smaller than the Dwarf Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus 'Pygmaeus') that reaches just 6-8 inches tall.

This dwarf plant offers shiny leaves that are green in summer and turn maroon in fall, along with purple-blue flowers featuring a white throat from early summer onwards. Beardtongue blooms are tubular and full of nectar, making them a great flower for hummingbirds and also attracting bees and butterflies.

A dwarf beard tongue can be planted in a small cottage garden, compact rock garden, or in a container filled with well-draining potting soil. Give it part or dappled shade, and deadhead penstemon to keep it flowering.

4. Wild Strawberries

If you want a native small pollinator plant that gives you edible harvests, then look no further than the wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana).

These native types of strawberry are low-growing and do spread where allowed. But you can grow them in a container garden for flowers and small fruits in compact spaces.

The 6-8 inch plants produce small white flowers with yellow stamens in spring, attracting a wide range of pollinators. They are a supporting plant for many butterflies and moths, plus the flowers are suitable for short-tongued native bees.

Wild strawberries can be grown as perennials in zones 4-8, or as annuals in zones 9-10. If you want to grow your own, you can get a packet of wild strawberry seeds at Amazon.

For the best results, stratify seeds in a refrigerator for a few weeks before planting. Sow the seeds indoors in spring or fall into pots filled with seed compost (such as this seed starting mix at Burpee), but don’t bury them as they need light to germinate. Simply cover them with a fine layer of soil or vermiculite.

5. Tickseed

There are over 100 species of native tickseed, also known as coreopsis, across North and South. The wide range of forms, types, and colors includes annual and perennial plants that measure anywhere from six inches to four feet.

Even the smallest dwarf varieties will support many pollinators, and there is a great range to choose from if you want to find a small pollinator plant under two feet that can be a low-maintenance plant for a pot.

Tickseed is a valuable food source for many native bees and acts as a host plant for the larvae of some butterflies.

The pollinators are attracted to the daily-like blooms, which come in a wide variety of colors. And, as tickseed is one of the longest flowering perennials, there is a long season of flowers for wildlife and you to enjoy.

There are different flower shapes across the wide varieties and cultivars. However, the single-flowered varieties are always the most beneficial to pollinators as they can easily access the nectar.

I like the look of this Lil Bang Daybreak Coreopsis at Nature Hills. It is a compact form that can be kept at one foot tall, and the bright orange and yellow blooms will stand out to pollinators.

6. Dwarf Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susans are fantastic pollinator plants, and known to attract bees, butterflies, beetles, flies, and more to flower beds from early in the summer right until the first frosts hit in your region.

Among the many colors and sizes that rudbeckias come in, there are dwarf varieties that can be grown in pots or planters on a deck, patio, or balcony, allowing you to enjoy the daisy-like flowers and wildlife in tiny spaces.

A great example is Little Goldstar. It is a compact black-eyed Susan that reaches up to 16 inches tall, yet is jam-packed with bright yellow flowers with dark centers. You can get a Little Goldstar Black-Eyed Susan at Nature Hills.

Don’t cut back Black-eyed Susan until spring, as the dried seed heads are also perfect food for birds as part of a winter wildlife garden.

7. Melampodium

Butter daisies (Melampodium divaricatum) are fast-growing annual flowers in the aster family that grow to 12-18 inches tall.

The short plants have bright green foliage and daisy-like flowers that come in different shades of orange or yellow. These vibrant flowers are flat and hugely popular with bees and butterflies.

Melampodium plants are really low-maintenance, and that includes being self-cleaning. They don’t need deadheading, but will continue to bloom for a long period of time, potentially from late spring to the first frosts.

If you grow butter daisies from seed, the plants will start flowering within eight weeks of sowing. You can get Jackpot Gold Melampodium seeds at Burpee, which will develop into compact plants for beds or containers.

What to Shop

If you want to attract pollinators to your garden, you need to understand that some colors will tempt them into a space more than others.

If that has you intrigued, this guide to colors that attract bees reveals the shades of blooms you need to plant to entice the beneficial insects into your yard.

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Creating a pollinator pit stop can be easier than it sounds, and it's perfect for gardens of all sizes. If you want to support wildlife and build your own pollinator-friendly habitat, here are five key steps to get right.

It all comes down to using native plants, selecting different flower colors and shapes for different pollinators, and providing essential habitat and water. Going vertical is a great idea too, especially in smaller spaces, so you can pack lots of beneficial plants into a small square footage.

To create a busy pollinator pit stop where bees, butterflies, and other beneficials can stop off, relax, recharge, and go, it starts with choosing the best plants for pollinators. I spoke to gardening and wildlife experts to discover what they would recommend as essentials for any pollinator pit stop, even for those of us with smaller, urban spaces.

1. Use Native Plants

Native plants are essential for pollinators. When choosing plants for pollinators, native species are always the best option, since your local wildlife has adapted to specific plants that meet their needs.

‘Flowering native plants have co-evolved with pollinators to provide forage at the time when specific pollinator species need those plants,' explains horticulturist and author Kim Eierman. ‘Always use regional native plants for the best pollinator support in your locale.’

‘The Biota of North America Program website is a great resource for determining the regionality of native plant species,’ recommends Kim.

Native plants also benefit gardeners as they are better adapted to local soil and climatic conditions. Adding these plants to flower beds and containers creates a pollinator pit stop that wildlife will flock to.

Some of the best native plants for pollinators include milkweed, bee balm (get a live Rockin Raspberry Bee Balm at Nature Hills), purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan (you can get a live black-eyed Susan plant at Fast Growing Trees), and butterfly weed. All of these plants can grow either in the ground or in pots.

You can easily build a container garden for pollinators using many of those plants, and they will even be happy in a thriving wildlife garden on a balcony.

2. Plant a Mix of Flowers

Different pollinators will flock to different flower colors, shapes, or structures. For a busy pollinator pit stop, mixing different types of blooms and planting for a long season will attract the widest variety of pollinators into your garden.

Ana Herrera-Ruiz from Tudor Place Historic House & Garden in Georgetown (which is home to a diverse mix of native plants) highlights how color and shape are equally important in attracting pollinators.

‘Bees tend to go for blues, purples, whites, and yellows, while butterflies are more drawn to brighter pinks and oranges. Hummingbirds usually prefer red, especially tubular flowers,’ says Ana.

‘Flat, open flowers like coneflowers or black-eyed Susans are easy landing spots, while tubular blooms like bee balm and columbine are better suited for hummingbirds.’

Ana highlights milkweed or Joe-Pye weed as two particularly valuable plants for pollinators, as they flower in clusters and offer lots of nectar in one place. You can get a live milkweed plant at Fast Growing Trees that is a perfect plant for a butterfly border.

Consider size, color, and form when picking plants for your pollinator pit stop, and try to include something to accommodate all forms of wildlife.

‘A long-tongued bee or a hummingbird can access nectar from flowers with long corolla tubes, like Delphinium exaltatum (Tall Larkspur), while a shorter-tongued bee or a wasp will need to feed on flowers with a shorter corolla tube, like Mountain Mints,’ advises Kim Eierman. You can get live mountain mint plants at Amazon.

It is also recommended to plant for a long season. As not all pollinator species are active at the same time, a long succession of blooms ensures there is food throughout the seasons.

Think about spring insects with columbine and serviceberry, summer wildlife that will flock to coneflowers and bee balm, and plants for fall pollinators, like New England aster and goldenrod.

3. Add Vertical Elements

In smaller spaces, it becomes even more beneficial to take advantage of vertical elements, which can offer vital habitat space without robbing away square footage of a more confined garden.

There are lots of vertical garden ideas that can attract pollinators, such as living walls packed with native plants, while even certain fence colors, like pink, yellow, and red, will bring more pollinators into a space.

‘Vertical elements like trellises and wall planters help maximize growing space, while native plants can thrive in containers for a smaller yard,’ advises Ana Herrera-Ruiz.

The gardening expert adds: ‘Layering plant heights from groundcover to mid-level and taller species will also make an impact in attracting pollinators.’

Simple ways to add vertical planting to a pollinator pit stop include using hanging baskets, planting climbers like trumpet vine or passionflower (you can get a live passionflower plant at Fast Growing Trees) to scale trellises, or making a simple green wall using a modular system like this one from Amazon that features 12 pockets.

4. Provide Fresh Water

A well-rounded pollinator pit stop needs more than just flowers and nectar; also, think about providing a safe water source for beneficial wildlife.

Adding a shallow bee watering station or butterfly puddler means they have access to essential fresh water, which is especially valuable during drought periods.

It is not difficult to add a safe, accessible hydration station for pollinators to your garden, ranging from having a shallow edge of a garden pond to smaller-scale water sources in more confined spaces.

‘In a smaller space, this could include using a shallow dish or saucer and adding pebbles or stones for landing spots,’ says Ana.

Place the container in a shady spot to provide valuable respite from the sun and prevent overheating, ideally somewhere near some nectar-rich native flowers. You do need to refresh the water regularly to keep it clean.

5. Provide Habitat

Along with providing safe water, creating habitats will significantly support pollinators, and even a small garden can provide critical habitat.

Different pollinators require varying habitats, but you don’t need grand spaces to provide essential habitat for a wide variety of pollinators.

Ana shows how gardeners can easily ‘replicate natural ecosystems on a miniature scale’ at home.

She says: ‘Install bee hotels for native solitary bees, create small brush or twig piles in tucked-away corners, incorporate native grasses for seasonal shelter, and leave stems standing in winter, as many insects can overwinter inside them.’

Gardeners can leave a corner of the yard wilder as a pollinator strip where long grass, weeds, and piles of twigs or logs can be a haven for a range of beneficial insects.

Even a small patch of bare soil can be a perfect spot for those native bees that nest in the ground and seek out bare, sunny ground.

You can buy a bug hotel, such as this wooden insect house at Amazon, or make your own bug hotel using a combination of sticks, logs, dead stems, and old bricks put into an old wooden pallet. It doesn’t need to be too neat; just fill any gaps with natural materials and place the hotel in a warm, dry, and protected space.

We mentioned earlier how some native bees nest in the ground and some prefer holes in wood. Indeed, not all bees want the same plants either. Therefore a good pollinator pit stop should try to have something for all different bees.

To make sure you are attracting as many as possible, our guide to types of bees and what to plant to attract them gives you lots of useful tips to entice lots of bees to your garden.

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When spring finally arrives, it can feel like every garden is suddenly bursting to life – but that isn't always the case. In fact, gardening experts often talk about the 'pollinator hunger gap': at this time of year, plants aren't quite flowering yet, but pollinators like butterflies and bees are desperate for nectar.

This shortage of pollen sources can be detrimental to insects, leaving your garden a little sparse. It sounds disheartening, but there is a solution. In my view, in fact, there's only one plant you really need to bridge the hunger gap: dandelions.

While we commonly view them as nothing more than weeds, dandelions really are some of the best plants for pollinators. (And if you want to add some to your garden, you can pick up heirloom dandelion seeds at Amazon.)

What is the Pollinator Hunger Gap?

As spring arrives, many flowers haven't quite reached their full potential, and many will take a little longer to bloom.

For pollinators, however, now is a pivotal time to start feeding. After months of colder weather, insects are returning to our gardens to find nectar – but this means that there are far more pollinators right now than flowers they can feed on.

'Bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other insects are all emerging as the seasons shift,' explains Rachel Bull, Head of Gardens at Homes & Gardens. 'They need to feed after winter, but since there isn't a huge amount of flowers in bloom, "weeds" such as dandelions are in fact a lifeline.'

Why Are Dandelions Helpful For Pollinators?

It's easy to overlook flowers like dandelions, but they are some of the best plants you can choose to attract early spring pollinators, and they're ideal for providing that extra source of nectar.

'At this time of year we all start to notice dandelions popping up on our lawns and around the edges of borders,' says Rachel.

'Rather than fret over weeds growing once again, I love to see them appear in my garden. They really are vital food for bees and butterflies before much else is really blooming.'

If you're keen to create a wildlife garden this year, dandelions are a crucial component. They make feeding extremely time-efficient for pollinators like bees and butterflies, and they guarantee a reliable source of nectar.

'The vibrant yellow hue of dandelions means they are unmissable in any yard, and they are incredibly easy for pollinators to feed from owing to their large, flat tops,' explains Rachel. 'Overall, dandelions help to make feeding very low effort for hungry insects.'

Other Flowers to Consider

Your yard might not be a riot of color just yet, but there are plenty more flowers that can help you bridge that hunger gap and welcome more pollinators.

The secret? Weeds – and any other flowers that you might otherwise overlook. (Alliums are a brilliant flower that attracts bees, for example; you'll find gladiator allium bulbs at Amazon.)

'Cowslips, too, are nectar-rich.' says Rachel. 'Their bell-like flowers are ideal for long-tongued insects to feed from. These so-called weeds are crucial to ecosystems and the biodiversity of your garden, so try to leave as many as you can this spring.'

You can pick up a container of marsh marigold at Nature Hills, which early pollinators would adore.

Shop More Pollinator-Friendly Plants

Want to really bridge the pollinator hunger gap and transform your yard in the process? We asked experts to explain how to create a garden for pollinators – and we've also compiled a list of the best container plants for pollinators, if you happen to be short on growing space.

Plus, if you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

14 March marks National Learn About Butterflies Day in the US, and to celebrate I've been researching how to prepare your yard for returning monarch butterflies. These gorgeous winged creatures migrate south for winter and start to return in spring to lay eggs. Before their arrival, there's much to be done to ensure our gardens are resource-rich sanctuaries for them and their soon-emerging caterpillars.

In the monarch butterfly migration, these beauties travel up to 3,000 miles from North America to Mexico before returning north when temperatures warm up again in early spring. But, the sad news is they're an endangered species with the number of overwintering monarchs significantly decreasing over the last decade. That's why it's never been more important to provide them with a slice of paradise in our backyards – from offering water sources and nectar-rich blooms, to protecting caterpillars to ensure survival of the next generation.

In fact, March is a great time to prepare your yard for returning monarch butterflies so that everything is in place for them by the time they come along later this month and into April. Here, Tad Yankoski, Senior Entomologist from Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House at Missouri Botanical Garden, explains three practical (and easy) ways to attract butterflies and support monarchs this spring.

How to Prepare Your Yard for Returning Monarch Butterflies

There's so much more you can do to help monarchs than simply grow plants for a butterfly garden – though these nectar-rich blooms are an invaluable resource to them.

The actions below may seem simple but they make a huge difference to this threatened population.

1. Plant Milkweed

It's no secret that monarchs rely on milkweed, which is why it's the best plant to get in the ground now for their return.

'Milkweed is the only plant that the caterpillars of monarch butterflies can eat. As the butterflies move north during their migration, females are on a non-stop mission to find milkweed plants to lay eggs on,' Tad explains.

For this reason, this pretty flowering plant is a lifesaver for this species.

'Plant species of milkweed native to your region, and avoid non-native species such as tropical milkweed (also known as bloodflower).

'Studies have shown that offering multiple species of native milkweed in your garden will lead to more eggs being laid than if all of your milkweed plants were the same species,' Tad adds.

You can find common milkweed at Nature Hills and swamp milkweed at Nature Hills. Or, grow milkweed from these seeds at Burpee, though they need to be started in fall for spring flowering.

2. Grow Summer and Fall Wildflowers

While it can be easy to think of spring-flowering plants for pollinators, Tad urges not to neglect the fact returning monarch butterflies will stick around right through to fall.

'Monarchs need nectar early in the spring, throughout the summer, and into the fall. As you plan your garden, choosing plants that bloom at different times of year will have the biggest impact on these butterflies,' he explains.

'Monarch butterflies will sometimes fly hundreds of miles in the spring as they expand northward in their search for milkweed. This is incredibly energy-intensive, so they need to fuel their journey with as much nectar as possible,' Tad adds.

Luckily, there are plenty of wildflowers to choose from. Alongside milkweed for spring, you can grow coneflowers (you can find seeds at Burpee) for summer, and Joe Pye weed (you can find seeds on Amazon) for blooming into fall. This butterfly wildflower mix from Amazon has 16 varieties to grow.

'One monarch butterfly may fly over 2,000 miles during its fall migration. They need nectar all along their route to successfully complete their journey,' Tad notes. 'As you think about your garden, consider including plants such as asters that bloom in the fall,' he suggests.

When making your selection, consider native planting in your local area. This is the best way to support beneficial insects of all kinds.

3. Keep Monarch Caterpillars Safe

Monarch migration lines up with the time in which females lay their eggs. The emerging caterpillars need crucial protection in your yard to ensure they survive.

'As monarchs spread northward each spring, they lay eggs on milkweed along the way. There are ways you can make your garden a safer and more welcoming place for developing monarch caterpillars,' Tad says.

'Many pesticides on the market are incredibly toxic to insects, with some chemicals taking as little as billionths of a gram to kill a caterpillar. Additionally, many pesticides may remain lethal for days, weeks, or even months after application.

'Reducing or eliminating pesticide use can make your garden a safer habitat for all native insects, including monarch butterflies and their caterpillars,' he explains.

If you are experiencing spring garden pests, turn to natural pest control methods instead. This includes planting pest-repellent plants and using ladybugs (which you can purchase from Amazon) to take care of aphids for you.

'You should also reduce light pollution at night for monarch caterpillars. Studies have shown that even small amounts of man-made light, such as from a porch light or street lamp, can dramatically increase the amount of nocturnal predation that happens to caterpillars,' Tad says.

FAQs

Do Monarch Butterflies Need Shelter?

Yes, monarch butterflies seek shelter for protection from predators at night, especially important to protect their delicate wings. You can provide this in your yard with plenty of dense shrubs, trees, and ornamental grasses.

While commercial wooden butterfly houses are a charming idea, the reality is not many butterflies use them, as they can actually attract predators like wasps and spiders.

If you're keen to support butterflies more widely, consider planting a butterfly border in your yard full of their favorite blooms.

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Shop Pollinator Gardening Essentials

Wildflowers not only create a vibrant and sustainable landscape in your yard, but they attract more pollinators by providing nectar-rich sources. From sweet alyssum to yarrow, there are lots of dazzling wildflowers to plant in March – do it now and you'll have an abundant meadow all spring and summer long.

The more diverse your wildflower garden, the more pollinators these blooms support, and you don't need loads of room to add these flowers to your yard. Whether you plant swathes of wildflowers in your border or simply sprinkle some wildflower seeds (this wildflower pollinator mix on Amazon is a good choice) in a container on your patio, they'll be sure to attract a whole host of beneficial insects. Plus, they'll add a wide range of colors to your planting for minimal effort.

A good starting point is to check which plants grow abundantly in your local area. As rewilding becomes ever more popular and we lean towards more naturalistic garden designs, growing native wildflowers for pollinators is one of the best things you can do this spring. Here, I talk through my seven top picks of wildflowers to plant in March.

1. California Poppy

There is something uplifting about a mass of poppies with their crinkled, papery petals shifting gently in a summer breeze. As wildflower varieties go, they're one of the most prolific as well as one of the easiest to grow.

The variety that has a firm hold in my garden are California poppies (Eschscholzia). They grow with ease in cracks and crevices as well as flowerbeds.

Known for their vibrant flowers in shades of hot tangerine and canary yellow, they're good for drought-tolerant planting ideas and the star of wildflower gardens everywhere, self-seeding freely after a long growing season.

Some people are wary of them in case they become invasive but this has never been a problem in my garden.

Pollinators love them too as their bowl-shaped flowers are easy to access and they are a rich source of pollen. To increase visibility to pollinators, a California poppy flower has a large central spot that helps bees identify ultraviolet patterns to locate nectar.

Sow poppy seeds directly in the ground, staggering your sowing to get a continuous show of poppies.

Buy orange California poppy seeds here at Amazon, and yellow California poppy seeds here at True Leaf Market.

Sprinkle the seed mix thinly over the soil to create natural looking drifts, choosing a sunny spot with good drainage.

2. Yellow Daisy

The bright Yellow daisy (Chrysanthemum multicaule) is an annual that readily reseeds itself in my warm and sheltered garden. Generally I'm not keen on yellow flowers but I lovely these sunny little ones that pop up every year without fail.

Pollinators such as bees and butterflies love the landing pads offered by the shallow cup-shaped fragrant flowers.

These prolific plants thrive in a sunny well-drained border, offering masses of single daisy-like flowers that grow to around 10 inches tall throughout the summer season.

Direct sow seeds after the last chance of frost, and they will thrive in USDA zones 4-9.

You can sow their seeds indoors too, at a temperature of 70°F until germination, then harden off the seedlings before moving outside. When grown from seed, these will develop flowers in about 3 months.

You can buy Yellow daisy flower seeds from Amazon to start your own daisy collection.

Alternatively in late summer cut off the flowers when they turn brown and spread them out to dry away from direct sunlight. Then lightly shake to separate out the seeds, and store them in a cool, dry place for next year – these DIY seed packets from Amazon will keep them safe.

3. Baby Blue Eyes

This spring-blooming wildflower gets its name from the bright blue flowers that cover the plant.

The joy of this variety is that they prefer cool spring weather and are one of the fastest growing spring flowers, with flowers appearing 50-60 days after sowing. This makes them one of the top wildflowers to plant in March.

I find them one of the best wildflowers to direct sow outdoors in spring. They are so easy to grow from seed along with other annuals either in a wildflower mix or scattered into flowerbeds.

I sow these seeds in my wildflower patch, which I think of as a small urban meadow planted to attract pollinators. Try baby blue eyes seeds from True Leaf Market and soon your yard will be filled with their soft blue flowers.

These California natives now grow as a wildflower in many areas across North America too. They thrive in either full sun or partial shade, and don't need a lot of water.

Also known as Nemophila, this variety specializes in attracting bees and pollinating moths to the garden. Blooming all season long until the first frost of the fall, they will also reseed.

4. Sweet Alyssum

Sweet alyssum is a one of the best plants for pollinators, and always attracts beneficial insects to my garden, drawn to the mass of fragrant, honey-scented flowers. They are beautiful and provide necessary habitats for all the good kinds of bugs.

I mix them into the flowerbed with other plants like pansies, Johnny jump-up and wild thyme to provide early season interest and color. This cascading beauty is also an easy addition to container gardens.

Plant seeds outdoors straight into the garden bed in mild climates, once the danger of frost has passed. They thrive in full sun to part shade.

If you live in a cooler zone, germinate seeds indoors under a grow light (like this one with an automatic timer from Amazon) then harden off seedlings gradually outdoors.

Plants are mature around 50 days after sowing seeds.

Sweet alyssum plants are annual in USDA zones 3-8, and perennial in zones 9 and above.

Find sweet alyssum seeds here at True Leaf Market if you would like to add these beauties to your garden.

5. Joe Pye Weed

One of the best wildflowers to plant in March, this long-blooming, nectar-rich perennial has clusters of pink or white, fuzzy flowers in September and October that pollinators swarm over. This plant is vanilla scented too, which explains the attraction.

Hardy in USDA zones 4-9, pick up a plant at your local garden center and once settled in moist, rich soil in full sun or partial shade it will be so happy that a couple of years along the line you'll need to divide this plant as it will have outgrown the space.

This plant can grow to 6-7 feet tall, so it's a good idea to pinch back the main stem to encourage branching – and more flowers.

Offering color from midsummer through fall, 'Gateway' Joe Pye Weed, available here at Nature Hills Nursery, has won the GreatPlants Award from the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. Its useful height, dark green leaves and strong stems will lend structure to your garden year-round.

6. Blue False Indigo

This really is the plant that does everything in the garden. As well as being a pollinator favorite, blue false indigo plants will quickly fill out a flowerbed with gorgeous blooms, working as an anchor for your planting scheme, and adding color and texture.

It's often a feature of firescaping and xeriscaped garden designs, as well as being low-maintenance.

This brilliant blue native perennial has sweet pea-like blooms that open in early spring, and attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

Long-lived and hardy through USDA zones 3–9, it dies back each winter but always returns stronger in spring. The good news is it expands slowly over time and is not invasive.

Thriving in full sun or partial shade, this plant tolerates a wide range of soil types but performs best in well-drained, moist conditions.

Choose a blue false indigo plant like this one from Nature Hills Nursery rather than seeds, as you need to sow them in fall and break the tough seed coat with a period of cold stratification.

7. Yarrow

Another great choice if you're looking for pollinator-friendly wildflowers to plant in March is yarrow, a rugged sun-loving perennial that's also known as achillea.

It's a good choice for drought-resistant planting, as well has having a profusion of flowers from early summer through fall that bees and butterflies love.

In my experience, yarrow are vigorous growing plants with abundant flowers that love the full sun of my back garden and are a magnet for pollinators.

I like them because they're easy-care too, and you can plant them then forget about them. They can be grown from seed directly in the garden in spring as long as there is no risk of frost.

You will also find plenty of potted yarrow plants to buy at the garden center (like this yellow yarrow starter plant at Walmart).

Thriving in USDA zones 5-8, a range of wonderful colors are now widely available, like this Cherries Jubilee Achillea Mix from Burpee in shades of bright red, rose and violet.

These umbrella blooms are good for prairie planting schemes and meadowscaping, while providing valuable nectar and pollen for pollinators.

Our round-up of wildflowers to plant in March for a pollinator-filled spring and summer offers you plenty of choice. You can also add complementary features, like with pollinator strips and even paint the best fence color for pollinators.

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Shop Pollinator Gardening Essentials

Now that it's starting to get warmer, it can be tempting to get out in the yard and give it a good tidy up for spring. But, there is actually danger in cleaning up your garden too early, specifically when it comes to wildlife.

Wildlife experts say there's one spring clean-up task to delay in March: removing dead stems. It's for the simple reason that many beneficial insects use hollow stems of faded plants for shelter in winter and may still be present in early spring. This includes pollinators using these spots as nesting sites – removing them now could reduce the bee population in your yard, affecting your vegetable harvests later on.

Instead, the experts urge to wait until temperatures are consistently warmer to remove all garden debris. Here, they explain why you shouldn't remove dead plant stems in March and why it's so important for your garden's biodiversity.

Why You Should Leave Dead Stems in March

While there are lots of uses for fallen leaves in the garden, it's best to wait until the spring season has fully arrived to clean them up. This is because many insects overwinter underneath garden debris, including inside dead plant stems.

'Other than fallen leaves, dead flower stalks may be the most important thing in your garden right now,' says Jen Rose, founder of Bee Cups.

'Many pollinators use hollow stems and dead wood as nesting sites for the next generation,' she adds.

For this reason, you shouldn't remove dead plant stems in March, as it tends to be too soon for these pollinators to emerge.

'Inside those stems, native bees have been developing all winter, waiting for their chance to emerge and pollinate your garden.

'If you bag up the stems before temperatures are consistently above 55°F, you may accidentally reduce the pollinator population in your yard,' Jen explains.

Of course, the exact timing of this will vary across US hardiness zones, so it's important to monitor your local forecast. You can also use this outdoor thermometer from Amazon to take a reading.

'Leave the stems standing a little longer if you can. If you need to trim them, place the clippings in a brush pile at the edge of your property. Bees tuck their brood in tightly, so the nests can usually tolerate a bit of gentle moving,' Jen advises.

It's not just pollinators than benefit from fading plants in early spring. Spent flowerheads are beneficial to leave around to feed birds.

'Those dried flowers and seed heads you see after the blooming season are a lifeline for wildlife,' says Peter Gros, wildlife expert and co-host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

'Birds and small mammals rely on the seeds for food through to late winter and early spring, when other options are still harder to find,' he explains.

When it does come to cutting plants back and removing dead plant matter, always use clean and sharp pruning tools. These Fiskars bypass pruning shears from Amazon are a good choice.

FAQs

How Can I Check for Nesting Pollinators?

You can spot nesting pollinators in your yard by looking for signs like small holes in bare soil (ground-nesters) and activity around old wood and hollow stems (cavity-nesters). It's best not to disturb these sites and avoid using pesticides to support them and maintain it as a safe area while they seek shelter there.

Spring is a great time to expand your wildlife garden. The below accessories can help you turn your yard into a safe haven for pollinators, small mammals, and birds.

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March 3 marks World Wildlife Day, and there's no better opportunity to turn your backyard into a safe refuge for birds, insects, and mammals. This year's international celebration is all about medicinal and aromatic plants, which just so happen to be some of the best for supporting biodiversity and wildlife in your garden.

While traditional wildlife garden features are important to have (like this gorgeous ceramic blue bird bath from Amazon), the key to supporting a wider range of wildlife is growing plants that offer them food and shelter. Aromatic herbs and fragrant flowers are some of the best for attracting them.

Plus, the bonus of growing aromatic plants to attract wildlife is that many of them have healing properties, so you can grow them to improve your own health, too. Here, with the help of experts, I explore five of the best to grow this spring.

5 Aromatic Plants to Attract Wildlife

Supporting the wildlife in your yard isn't just reserved for World Wildlife Day. You'll find that growing a wide range of plants for pollinators, birds, mammals, and beneficial insects creates a bustling haven year-round. Here are five beautifully aromatic and (some) medicinal plants to get you started.

Note: You should always seek professional medical advice before attempting to use any plants medicinally.

1. Bee Balm

• USDA: Zone 4-9
• Attracts: Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds

As its name not-so-subtly gives away, bee balm is one of the best plants for pollinators. Not only does it boast vibrant colors in a range from red, pink, and purple to white and yellow, but bee balm is also loved for its cross of citrus and minty fragrance.

'Traditionally, it has been known for digestive, respiratory and stress relief,' notes Anna Hackman, a Rutgers Master Gardener and owner at The Naked Botanical.

'As for growing it, bee balm loves sun but shouldn't become crowded because it can suffer from powdery mildew, especially if you have overhead irrigation,' Anna adds.

Bee balm also attracts like likes of butterflies and even hummingbirds, so it's a valuable shrub to add to quieter areas of your yard to encourage these visitors to stop by.

You can find a bee balm shrub to plant in your garden at Nature Hills.

2. Elder

• USDA: Zone 3-9
• Attracts: Songbirds, pollinators, and deer

Some of the best fragrant trees are also on this list of aromatic plants to attract wildlife.

Elder is one of the best choices, with spring flowers that have a sweet perfume and striking dark berries in fall that feed birds in winter.

Elder has flat-topped clusters of flowers, which are great for insects to land on and feed from. They give off a sweet, heady scent which attracts a wide range of insects, including bees, butterflies, and hoverflies.

When it produces berries in fall, it turns into a vital source for a range of birds, including American robins, bluebirds, orioles, and cardinals.

You may also spot white-tailed deer browsing an elder, along with squirrels and mice.

From an aesthetic point of view, it's a striking addition to the garden, especially unusual varieties like black elder, with dark foliage and pink blooms.

'As one of the best edible hedge plants, elderberries are used as an antiviral, and the flowers are uses to support respiratory health and reduce sweating in fevers,' adds Alison Mitchell, a professional naturopath and medicinal plant expert.

You can purchase elder starter trees on Amazon.

3. Moonflower

• USDA: Zone 10-12
• Attracts: Bats and nocturnal pollinators

Plants that bloom at night hold a lot of value because they support nocturnal wildlife. This includes bats – it might make you shudder at first, but having bats in your yard is actually a sign of a healthy ecosystem.

The reason moonflower is a top pick for attracting bats is because its glorious sweet perfume brings the likes of moths and other nocturnal pollinators which bats feed on.

It's a beautiful addition to moon gardens in particular, with large white reflective petals that add some brightness to the garden's night-time landscape.

You can enhance your moonflower's support for bats by growing it near to a garden pond, likely to also bring moths and mosquitoes for them to feed on.

Grow moonflower in your yard with these moonflower seeds from Amazon.

Warning: this aromatic plant for wildlife is not medicinal but rather falls on the list of toxic plants.

4. Hyssop

• USDA: Zone 4-9
• Attracts: Bees, butterflies, and goldfinches

Not only is hyssop a wildlife garden staple, it's also one of the hardest plants to kill and makes for a low-maintenance addition to your planting scheme.

'Hyssop is a small shrubby plant with pretty purple flowers that grows easily in a sunny place with well-draining soil,' describes Alison.

'It's traditionally used for respiratory issues such as sore throats and bronchitis, as well as topically to treat bruises,' she adds.

Aromatically, hyssop releases a unique liquorice, anise scent. It's one that brings a wide range of songbirds, especially goldfinches who enjoy eating seeds from the dried flower spikes.

If you're looking for deer-resistant plants, this is a good pick too, as these creatures dislike the strong smell, aromatic oils, and fuzzy nature of the blooms.

You can grow hyssop easily from seed, using these hyssop seeds from Amazon.

5. Yarrow

• USDA: Zone 3-9
• Attracts: Ladybugs, lacewings, and birds

Yarrow is one of the easiest, low-effort plants for wildlife, supporting pollinators, including ladybugs and lacewings, and birds, particularly goldfinches.

It has a sweet and slightly spicy scent that actually has medicinal qualities.

'Applied to wounds it can help to stop bleeding and provide healing properties,' says Alison.

Yarrow comes in a wide range of hues, too, and often reaches heights of three feet, making it a great filler for a range of garden color schemes in borders.

The fact it attracts ladybugs makes it a great choice for some natural pest control, as ladybugs prey on destructive insects like aphids.

Just remember to deadhead yarrow after flowering to encourage a second flush of blooms, though leaving fading flowerheads will provide seeds for finches and other birds to eat from.

Find yarrow seeds of all colors at True Leaf Market.

FAQs

Does Rosemary Attract Wildlife?

Yes, rosemary attracts lots of wildlife to gardens, especially when in bloom in spring. This herb's purple-blue blooms provide early nectar to bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects.

There are so many ways to make your garden more wildlife-friendly this month. Try planting a pollinator strip or making a DIY wildlife shelter, for example. For something even more low-effort, try adding the below wildlife features to your yard.

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We're on the cusp of spring now, and the one thing I'm most looking forward to is watching bees buzz around blooms in my yard once again. In particular, I'll be keeping an eye out for my birth month bee this year.

Just like birth month birds, there are 12 different bees associated with the 12 months of the year. It isn't a definitive list (like birth month flowers), but rather our list of birth month bees is based on which bees can be spotted or need extra help each month.

It's the perfect way to make pollinator spotting more meaningful. Even better, you can do things throughout the year to support all of these bees and encourage a biodiverse wildlife garden.

12 Birth Month Bees

No matter your birth month bee, there's plenty you can do to attract bees to your garden year-round. This includes planting nectar-rich plants for all types of bees (you can even sprinkle this pack of wildflower seeds for bees from Amazon).

January: Honey Bee

There's no better birth month bee for January than the adorable Honey Bee.

While you're unlikely to spot them in winter, these bees are one of the few species that don't hibernate.

Instead, they cluster together inside their hive to keep warm, even generating heat by vibrating their muscles. During this time, they survive by eating stored honey.

They will occasionally appear on a 'cleansing flight' where they leave the hive on warmer days to clean the hive and reset it.

The best way to support honey bees during this time is by leaving their hive undisturbed and ensuring it is safe, dry, and insulated.

February: Queen Bumblebee

In February, Queen Bumblebees are waking up from winter hibernation. As they emerge, their focus turns to searching for nectar to start colonies.

You can identify a Queen Bumblebee as being significantly larger than a worker (usually between 18-33mm in length).

During this time, having early spring blooms in your yard will be a beneficial resource to them.

Some of the top picks include hellebores (pack of mixed seeds on Amazon), lungwort, mahonia, wallflowers, and flowering currant.

March: Mason Bees

As one of the first bees to emerge in spring, Mason Bees take the title of March birth month bee.

They typically appear when temperatures reach 55°F or warmer, and instantly search for nectar in spring flowers like crocus and dandelions.

Their appearance lines up with the blooming of fruit trees, too, with Mason Bees helping to pollinate them.

Having blossoming fruit trees in your yard can therefore help these bees during this time, like plums and some cherries.

Having a bee hotel (like this from Amazon) also provides a safe shelter and a nesting spot for these pollinators.

April: Sweat Bees

As wildflower meadows bloom abundantly by April, the beautiful Sweat Bee can be spotted buzzing between flowers.

These bees have unique metallic bodies, often in green or dark blue, so they're beautiful to spot.

The females nest in the ground in bare soil, which is why leaving some bare ground in your yard is one of the most valuable ways to help them.

Likewise, you can grow native wildflowers to provide a food source. From California poppies to black-eyed Susan, bright spring flowers like these provide lots of nectar for these bees. You can even use a bee wildflower seed mix on Amazon to add a variety to your yard.

May: Blue Orchard Bees

The stunning Blue Orchard Bee is identifiable by its metallic blue body. In May, they are at the peak of their 4-6 week lifespan, pollinating spring flowers (including fruit trees, hence their name) and establishing nests for offspring.

They're solitary bees, so they don't have hives. Rather, they nest in mud-sealed cavities, meaning they're a type of Mason Bee.

For this reason, leaving some deadwood and hollow stems in your yard is beneficial to them.

Keeping bare soil for them to collect mud is one way to help them during this time, alongside providing sources of nectar with lots of flowering fruit trees and berries.

June: Long-Horned Bees

In June, Long-Horned Bees can be found foraging for nectar on plants like sunflowers, lavender, black-eyed Susans, squash, and coneflowers, among others.

Their distinctive long antennae are hard to miss, often measuring 13mm long. It enhances males' olfactory sensitivity (smell) during mating season to locate females.

The best way to support them in early summer is by leaving some undisturbed ground in your yard for nesting and using native planting to provide lots of nectar sources.

Yellow and purple blooms in particular attract these bees, so consider planting things like sunflowers (explore the range at Burpee) and asters (like this starter plant on Amazon), which will provide nectar through to fall.

July: Carpenter Bees

Known to drill circular holes in wood to create nests, Carpenter Bees are out in full force in July.

They can be spotted near wooden structures during summer, locating nesting spots. This is just before adults come to the end of their lifecycle, leaving their larvae to develop in the wood galleries they create.

Of course, you may want to get rid of Carpenter Bees if they're causing damage to your fencing, pergolas, decks, and more.

You can seal your wooden structures (like with this sealing wood oil from Amazon) to put a protective barrier in place and prevent carpenter bees from drilling into it.

Then, provide an alternative wood source, like leaving deadwood in your yard or even softwood blocks, like these cedar blocks from Lowe's.

August: Leafcutter Bees

Leafcutter Bees cleverly use their jaws to cut out circular discs from leaves, using them to create nests and keep their larvae warm.

By August, these bees are actively collecting leaf material for their nests. You don't have to worry, though, as their activity doesn't tend to harm the overall health of plants.

Some of the best plants to provide them with food during this time include roses, hostas, lilac, and ash. They prefer foliage that isn't hairy and is soft to cut into.

September: Squash Bees

If you have a kitchen garden and love to grow squashes, then look out for the Squash Bee in early fall.

These bees are fundamental to the pollination of squashes, pumpkins, and gourds, as well as other Cucurbita crops. Their peak activity during this time aligns with the flowering of these crops.

They tend to forage for nectar early in the morning, before many other types of bees are active.

You can support them by planting plenty of squashes, and in return, they'll pollinate the bright yellow blooms and aid an abundant harvest.

You can find squash seeds at Burpee and squash seeds at True Leaf Market.

October: Bumblebees

October marks a significant stage in the lifecycle of Bumblebees.

Worker bees are dying off in cooler temperatures during this time, and newly mated Queens are foraging to build up a reserve for the winter months.

During a mild fall, you may still spot some late season Bumblebee activity, which is why fall flowers are so valuable, providing nectar.

You can also help new Queens prepare for winter during this time by leaving fallen leaves on the ground for shelter. You should avoid over-tidying your yard in fall for this reason, offering safe shelter for overwintering beneficial insects.

November: Blueberry Bee

Blueberry Bees are one of the types of bee to hibernate, or 'diapause', once the coldest temperatures arrive.

During November, the larvae will be overwintering in underground tunnels created by the adults during the warmer months.

The best way to support pollinators in fall and winter is by creating undisturbed spaces in the yard, with bare ground for nesting.

For those living in USDA zones 3-10, you can get ahead on offering spring sources of nectar for these bees by planting a blueberry shrub, so long as the ground isn't frozen.

Unsurprisingly, this is what Blueberry Bees heavily rely on once spring blooms arrive.

Find a blueberry shrub at Nature Hills.

December: Mining Bees

With the majority of bees being dormant in winter, there aren't a lot to spot. But, Mining Bees are in an interesting stage by December.

In most US regions, these bees are inactive above ground this month, but below surface level, new Mining Bees adults are resting and waiting for spring at this time.

They're often up to 8" below the surface, safely nesting in individual chambers created by the parent bees.

The best way to support them in December is by leaving these nesting sites undisturbed and not removing fallen leaves, which are often used for insulation.

Now you know all 12 birth month bees, why not make some changes in your yard to enhance it as a wildlife garden? The accessories below can help you turn your yard into a garden for pollinators year-round.

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A yellow-legged hornet nest has been spotted in York County, South Carolina. It's the first nest of this invasive species to have ever been found outside the Lowcountry, with the first state sighting happening back in November 2023, in Jasper County.

The yellow-legged hornet (also known as the Asian hornet or Vespa velutina) was first spotted in the US in Georgia in August 2023, suspected to have arrived on cargo ships. This latest sighting is the furthest north Asian hornets have been spotted in the US to date, now threatening to spread to North Carolina.

Although not directly harming humans, these insects threaten native types of bees (notably honeybees) with predatory behavior, attacking and killing them. This reducing population of important pollinators impacts the wider ecosystem and already-strained agricultural industry, which is why state officials are calling for sightings to be reported.

Yellow-legged hornets create large, egg-shaped nests, usually located high up in trees. They can house up to 6,000 worker hornets.

The recent York County sighting came after a beekeeper spotted hornets 'hawking' around a bee hive – the action of hovering and waiting to attack native bees.

Officials from the Division of Plant Industry within South Carolina's Department of Agriculture used tracking and trapping methods to contain the hornets in the nest and remove it.

If not dealt with promptly, Asian hornets can wipe out entire bee hives in just days.

Though many yellow-legged hornets die off in winter, Queen Asian hornets will overwinter in nests, emerging in spring to start new colonies. That's why it's common to spot many mature nests in December.

Environmental stresses, including climate change, already threaten beneficial insects, giving an advantage to invasive species, like the Asian hornet, to spread faster and outnumber them.

What to Do If You Spot a Yellow-Legged Hornet Nest

It's expected that residents in York County will continue spotting Asian hornet nests over the next year as the South Carolina's DPI continue to remove them.

If you spot one of these huge egg-shaped nests (or the hornets themselves), it's advised not to approach or disturb them.

Instead, immediately report it to your State Department of Agriculture so sightings can be tracked and dealt with to prevent further spreading.

A practical action you can take, however, is to create a pollinator garden and support native species in your yard.

Grow the best plants for pollinators (you could even just spread this pollinator wildflower seed mix from Amazon), opt for native planting, and hand over a patch of your yard to flowering weeds for pollinators.

There are actually no true US native species of hornet, which is why you will want to get rid of hornets from the home if you spot them.

Fall is one of the busiest times of year for us gardeners. We're rushing to tidy up after summer, give our plants some TLC ahead of winter, and ensure all our tools are stored properly. In ticking off these tasks, you may be making some detrimental fall yard clean-up mistakes that harm wildlife.

Whether it's removing all possible shelter for wildlife or using harmful cleaning materials and pesticides, there are a few things that could go wrong and hinder garden wildlife safety in fall and winter. At the same time, it is important to get essential tasks ticked off your fall gardening checklist, but you do need to keep in mind how tidying up can impact the wildlife garden aspects of your yard.

To make sure you avoid such fall yard clean-up mistakes, I've spoken to wildlife garden experts. Here, they share the most common errors made at this time of year and how to avoid them.

3 Fall Yard Clean-Up Mistakes That Harm Wildlife

Not only does over-tidying your yard harm hibernating wildlife, but failing to clean water sources and feeders can also be harmful, as well as using chemicals in your clean up efforts. Here's how to avoid these common fall gardening mistakes.

1. Forgetting to Clean Your Bird Bath

To help garden birds in winter, you need to ensure they can still find food and water in your yard. If these sources are not clean, however, it could cause harm in the form of bacteria.

'Dirty or stagnant water can spread disease among birds and mammals,' notes Peter Gros, wildlife expert and co-host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

It can, of course, be easy to neglect your bird bath in the midst of all the fall pruning you need to get done.

'In winter, when natural sources freeze, birds rely on accessible water for drinking and bathing. A shallow, clean birdbath, ideally with a small heater or refreshed daily, can make a huge difference to their survival,' says Mary Mack Gray, ornithologist at Birdbuddy.

Luckily, it's easy to clean your bird bath. You can even purchase products like this bird-safe bird bath cleaner from Amazon.

Going forward, you should also use methods to stop your bird bath freezing over in winter, to ensure birds can access fresh water during the coldest months.

2. Removing All Dead Plant Matter

As much as the fall garden landscape is beautiful, there's no doubt it can be overwhelming for those of us who prefer a neater look. But, before you jump in with collecting fallen leaves and removing spent blooms this season, keep small mammals, insects, and birds in mind.

'Fallen leaves and deadwood are necessary shelter for wildlife,' says ecologist Dr. Amy Karpati. 'Small mammals, turtles, and amphibians like salamanders and toads use the layer of leaf litter as a winter blanket, insulating them against the wind and cold during hibernation.'

In fact, you can actually make your yard wildlife-friendly before frost by creating intentional leaf piles for an insulated shelter. This is a great way to provide a neater look, too, without fallen leaves strewn across your entire lawn.

'You should also keep seedheads from perennials like marigolds, asters, and black-eyed Susans,' says Mary.

'These provide food for birds in winter and shelter for pollinators. Roughly 95% of songbirds feed insects to their young, so maintaining overwintering insect habitats is essential to support species like chickadees, cardinals, and bluebirds,' she adds.

Another bonus is that seedheads provide some architectural plant interest for the fall and winter garden, looking especially beautiful when touched by frost.

3. Using Pesticides

As you check in with all of your plants after a summer of abundant blooming, you may come across some of the most common fall garden pests. Pesticides often provide a quick solution, but in the long term, they can impact the biodiversity in your yard.

'Pesticides kill beneficial insects, which disrupts the food chain, later impacting garden birds,' Mary explains.

Likewise, weed killers contain chemicals that can harm the wildlife in your yard.

Instead, turn to natural pest control methods and non-chemical ways to get rid of weeds.

For example, you can use weeding tools, like this weed puller from Amazon, or try making a homemade bug spray.

FAQs

Should I Keep My Grass Long for Wildlife in Fall?

It's beneficial to keep parts of your lawn long in the fall for wildlife because it can provide essential shelter during this season. Of course, fall lawn care (including mowing) is important for the health of your grass, but even dedicating just a patch of long grass can go a long way for small mammals and beneficial insects.

Not only do these fall yard clean-up mistakes harm wildlife, but actively avoiding them will also help attract wildlife to yard in fall. Consider also adding the following features to your yard to offer wildlife support this season:

If you love watching pollinators buzz around your yard, you likely have already added plenty of nectar-rich blooms to your planting. But you can take your wildlife gardening efforts a level up by incorporating some pollinator hardscaping into your yard.

This is a great finishing touch for pollinator gardens, with hardscaping features that support their needs year-round. From bee bricks to plant-filled gravel paths, there are lots of ways to incorporate permanent features in your yard that serve bees, butterflies, and lesser-known pollinators like hoverflies.

Alongside the plants for pollinators that come and go through the seasons, these pollinator hardscaping ideas remain throughout the year. It allows you to provide the all-important support for pollinators in fall and winter, as well as spring and summer. Here, I explore three of the best ways to incorporate pollinator hardscaping in your yard, with insights from pollinator experts.

3 Pollinator Hardscaping Ideas

These pollinator hardscaping ideas are best paired with things like pollinator strips and native planting, which will bring lots of beneficial insects to your yard in the first place. These hardscaping features then provide the likes of bees and butterflies with shelter and extra pollen resources.

1. Make a Bee Brick

You may have heard of bee hotels, but bee bricks offer a much more permanent solution.

They work just the same as a bee hotel (like this from Amazon), where bricks with hollowed out sections and holes are used as nesting sites for bees.

These can be incorporated as a brick in the walls of structures in your yard, or simply placed in a quiet corner of the yard. In new build homes, they can even be incorporated as a substitute for regular bricks.

It's easy to make a bee brick, as it simply requires drilling holes and passages in bricks with a masonry drill bit (from Amazon).

To take your bee brick up a level, consider inserting some nesting materials:

'They often contain natural materials for crevice-dwelling bees to nest in, such as reeds, bricks with holes, soft wood for boring, and, occasionally, cushy cotton,' says Noah Wilson-Rich, pollinator expert and founder of Urban Bee Lab and The Best Bees Company.

2. Create a Pollinator Gravel Garden

For a pollinator hardscaping idea for garden paths, try growing flowering creeping plants among gravel.

For this to be the most beneficial, choose flowers that attract bees and butterflies. For example, creeping thyme (seeds from Amazon) and creeping phlox (starter plant from Amazon) both provide nectar-rich blooms for pollinators.

Having these plants embedded within a gravel garden provides a new source of foraging for pollinators.

'Consider what will bloom in the early part of the growing season, as well as which blooms persist in the tail end of the season,' Noah advises, as year-round resources are the best way to support pollinators.

For this reason, consider adding some of the best plants for fall pollinators, like this aster starter plant from Amazon, to the edging of gravel paths or within gravel garden areas

3. Install a Pollinator Drinking Station

Alongside providing nectar-rich sources and nesting sites for pollinators through hardscaping, you can also provide water sources, which are essential for hydration and bathing.

A bee watering station is perhaps the most popular way of doing this. It consists of an upside-down plant pot with a saucer on top.

'You fill the shallow dish with pebbles and water so bees can land safely and sip,' explains beekeeper and founder of The Honey Truck Company, Danielle Brooks.

You can also purchase purpose-built bee watering stations (like this from Amazon).

Nestled in a border full of nectar-rich blooms, this is the perfect addition to a pollinator patch.

FAQs

How do you make a green roof for pollinators?

To make a green roof for pollinators, include plenty of nectar-rich wildflowers and native plants. You can also provide some features like bee bricks or hotels for nesting sites. It will also be key to avoid the use of pesticides and chemicals on your green roof for pollinators, which may harm beneficial insects.

Adding these pollinator hardscaping ideas to your wildlife garden ensures there are resources for important insects year-round. You can also consider adding the following products to continue supporting bees, butterflies, and birds:

I don't know about you, but now the fall months are here my attention has turned to a yard tidy up. With fallen leaves everywhere, spent blooms hanging onto their last days, and my lawn needing a last mow before winter, it's not looking the neatest out there right now. But, I'm restraining myself from doing a complete overhaul, as over-tidying your yard in fall is bad for hibernating wildlife.

It's something you should keep in mind if you want to prioritize eco-friendly garden ideas in your yard and if you have a wildlife garden that gets lots of visitors. More specifically, the likes of hibernating frogs, reptiles, and even some insects can be affected by the removal of garden debris during hibernation season.

This does pose the problem of knowing just how much to tidy in your yard in fall and what you should leave be. To help you out, I've gathered advice from wildlife experts who share why over-tidying your yard in fall is bad for hibernating wildlife, which creatures are affected, and what you should leave in place for them.

Why Over-Tidying Your Yard is Bad for Hibernating Wildlife

Before jumping in with the details of why you should avoid over-tidying your yard this fall, you may be wondering which wildlife tend to hibernate in a yard setting.

Of course, there is a large number of animals and insects that hibernate (or perform a similar form of overwintering) in gardens come winter, but to name a few of the most common in US backyards:

• Frogs and toads
• Reptiles, like snakes and lizards
• Ladybugs
• Some types of bees and butterflies

What to Leave in Your Yard for Hibernating Wildlife

'In the fall, after everything has bloomed and the leaves are falling, the left behind organic material becomes critical and needed habitats for hundreds of different species,' says David M. Burrows from pollinator project company, Arkearth.

David notes the number one way to stop over-tidying in fall for hibernating wildlife is not collecting all fallen leaves. The likes of toads often hibernate under leaf piles, even covering the entrance of their burrows with fallen leaves.

Likewise, beneficial insects and important pollinators like ladybugs and some butterflies (like the Mourning Cloak butterfly) may cluster under fallen leaf piles. Even queen bumblebees use fallen leaves for protection when hibernating by burrowing solitary in loose soil.

Of course, if you aren't keen to have leaves strewn all over your yard, you can create specific wildlife leaf piles. Do this by using this leaf collector from Amazon and creating intention piles for wildlife in desired spots of your yard.

As for dead plant matter, like logs and woody stems, it may surprise you to learn it's the perfect spot for mason bees and carpenter ants to settle down for the coldest months.

'They make holes in decaying fallen limbs and logs. These features become a safe haven for dozens of insect species for the cold months of winter,' David says. 'The holes and cavities in deadwood are like apartments where bees, caterpillars, ladybugs, and eggs are kept safe for spring,' he explains.

The same goes for many of the best plants for seedheads and spent blooms.

'Hollow stems are winter homes for bees,' notes Siobhan Shaw, sustainable gardening expert and founder of Growing to Give. 'Plus, on a frosty morning they catch the light in a way that is surprisingly beautiful,' she adds.

And while it is important for lawn health to do a final mow before winter, allowing it to remain long in some areas is vital for wildlife overwintering in your yard.

'Letting some areas of grass grow a little longer can support local wildlife by offering cover for insects, frogs, and small mammals looking for shelter,' says wildlife expert and co-host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, Peter Gros.

'Even just leaving a patch or two to grow wild can make a big difference. You’ll be amazed how quickly nature moves back in when we give it a little space,' he says.

FAQs

Do All Birds Hibernate?

No, the majority of birds do not hibernate. The one exception is the Common Poorwill, a North American nightjar. Instead, the majority of birds migrate to southern regions where it's warmer. This includes the hummingbird migration, and there are actually lots of ways you can help overwintering hummingbirds.

Now that you know why over-tidying your yard in fall is bad for hibernating wildlife, you might be keen to also help and attract wildlife to your yard in fall. There are lots of things you can do, including incorporating the below features:

It can be tempting to put your yard to bed for the year as fall rolls around, but lots of garden wildlife are still looking for valuable resources in your outdoor space during this season. This is especially true for those birds and pollinators migrating south, becoming vulnerable as food sources become scarcer and temperatures become colder.

If you've already created a garden for pollinators, you're likely in a good place to help pollinators and birds in your fall garden. At this time of year, they are particularly in need of food sources and shelter, and there lot of opportunities for this already existing in your yard.

Whether its leaving seedheads, creating hiding spots, or growing the best plants for fall pollinators, there's lots that can be done to help birds, bees, butterflies, and more at this time of year. Here, wildlife experts share their top picks.

5 ways to help pollinators and birds in fall

All of the items on this list will help bees in fall and support birds as we transition into colder months. The monarch butterfly migration is also happening at this time of year, so these winged beauties will also appreciate these efforts.

1. Plant fall blooms

Although you may think of the fall garden being full of fading flowers, there are actually lots of fall-blooming native plants you can grow that will continue giving you wonderful color during the season and provide plenty of nectar to pollinators.

Some top picks include goldenrods (seeds from Amazon) and asters (starter plants from Amazon).

There are also fall-blooming wildflowers (seed mix from Amazon) which you can grow to provide a nectar-rich source, and fall flowers for pots to create a pollinator magnet during this season.

'Plant in clusters to make it easier for pollinators to find nesting sites,' suggests Mary Mack Gray, ornithologist at Birdbuddy. 'You can also support nocturnal pollinators, such as moths and bats, by planting native plants for night-time pollinators, like moonflowers (seeds from Amazon),' she adds.

2. Leave seedheads for birds

The best plants for seedheads are in their prime during fall, offering architectural plant interest for your yard and a food source for birds.

'Seedheads of native plants provide a natural fall and winter food source for seed-loving birds such as chickadees, nuthatches, and goldfinches, among others,' says Mary.

'Spent seedheads and stalks also provide essential habitat for pollinators, including native bees, which often nest inside cut stems of perennials with hollow or soft cores,' she adds.

It can be tempting to cut back all the faded blooms that have gone to seed, but leaving them around for a little longer is the most low-maintenance way to feed birds in winter in fall and continue attracting wildlife to your yard in fall.

3. Create a deadwood pile

When you think of helping pollinators, your mind may go to images of bright blooms, but there's a lot of value in the dying plant matter of fall, too.

'Pollinating species like bumblebees, butterflies, solitary bees, and fireflies, love untouched areas like wood and leave piles,' explains David M. Burrows from pollinator project company, Arkearth.

'These offer a protective habitat for adults laying eggs and cocoons to develop once warm weather returns. The warmth from decaying organic material also keeps the area warmer and helping to ensure their survival,' he explains.

By leaving fallen leaves on the ground and creating intentional piles of deadwood (i.e. by using pruners – like these bypass pruners from Amazon – to cut branches and stems), you can provide this natural shelter for pollinators.

This can also become a food source for birds, as the insects they feed on are also likely to retreat to deadwood shelter.

4. Provide energy-rich treats for birds

As the days become shorter and temperatures become chillier, you can support garden birdlife by switching up what you put in your bird feeders.

'Fat is the spice of life when it comes to overwintering birds. Seeds high in fat and protein help birds maintain the fat stores that warm their bones all winter long,' Mary says.

Things like suet balls (from Walmart) are beneficial at this time of year, as well as occasional treats like putting potato in a bird feeder and putting pasta in a bird feeder.

'Black oil sunflower seeds (from Amazon) are also a healthy choice that’s sure to attract songbirds to your feeder all year long,' Mary adds.

Just take care to also continue providing seed mixes (like this one from Amazon) which should form the base of a bird's healthy and balanced diet.

5. Keep water sources clean

Another way to help pollinators and birds in fall is by keeping water sources clean.

Bird baths and bee watering stations are much more susceptible to becoming dirty as windier, wetter weather arrives. This, in-turn, can harm the creatures that drink from them.

'Migrating birds and species that stay during the winter months are in need of fresh water constantly,' says David. 'On fall and winter days when the temperatures are over 50°F, many species like bees will venture out briefly to forage and bring water back to their hive or habitat,' he adds.

You can clean bird baths and other water sources quite easily, by refreshing the water and wiping surfaces down with a damp cloth. Be cautious not to use chemical cleaning products that could cause harm to wildlife, however.

Bird-safe products like this bird bath and fountain maintenance product from Amazon can help keep your garden water sources clean and fresh for longer during fall and winter.

FAQs

Does long grass help pollinators and birds in fall?

Yes, long grass can be beneficial to wildlife in fall and choosing not to mow areas of your lawn is a great way to help them during this season.

'If there is an area where you can leave grass to grow without edging for mowing, you’ll be providing another habitat for beneficial species like fireflies, bumblebees, and the small green anole lizards,' says David M. Burrows from pollinator project company, Arkearth.

'Creating this adjacent to a woodpile or leave pile provides an extra buffer of protection for them,' he adds.

Of course, there are lots of other ways to help pollinators and birds in fall, whether they're stopping off as they migrate or are looking for continued food sources. For example, fall is also a great time to add a birdhouse or bug hotel to your garden, providing some shelter for wildlife. Below are some of our top picks:

As the early fall days roll around, us gardeners are busy with preparing our gardens for the coldest months. While you put many of your plants 'to bed' ahead of frost, there's something you should take care not to neglect: pollinators. Bees continue to work hard in your garden during fall and even into winter, so it's important to continue supporting them as you would in spring and summer.

In fact, fall is arguably one of the most important times to attract bees to your garden and offer them support in the form of food and shelter. This is because they're preparing to lay eggs for overwintering – vital to the survival of their species. And there's one particularly valuable resource you can provide at this time of year: native fall flowers.

Here, pollinator experts explain why planting native fall flowers is the most fundamental way to help bees in fall. The bonus is they're beautiful and make great additions to a garden for pollinators, infusing color into your fall garden.

How to help bees in fall

'The vast majority of adult bees will not survive the winter. They will lay eggs in the fall that will hatch in the spring,' explains Shelley Norris, who leads on pollinator conservation efforts at Nashville Zoo. 'We can help them be successful by providing nesting sites and food sources,' she explains.

That's why it's important to provide nectar-rich fall flowers for bees, where summer blooms are otherwise fading.

Why are native fall flowers important for bees?

'Our native bees collect nectar and pollen from the flowers to fill their nests over winter. The pollen will feed the next generation of bees hatching in spring,' Shelley explains. 'In return, the bees will pollinate the plants in your gardens.'

By filling your garden with native planting, you provide bees with valuable food sources. This will also give your fall garden some color after the summer season.

'Many species of aster (seeds from Amazon), goldenrod (seeds from Amazon), salvia, and bee balm bloom into fall to provide a much-needed food source for the bees,' Shelley suggests. There are also lots of other plants for fall pollinators to consider growing this season.

'These native plants and their pollinators have adapted to provide a food and water source at just the right time,' entomologist Marcus Griswold explains.

Don't be too quick to clear out your flower beds of the best plants for seed heads and deadwood, either. This can provide many types of bees with valuable shelter.

'Leaving dead flowers and wood in your garden can provide vital shelter for native bees,' explains Jen Rose, founder of Bee Cups. 'Unlike honeybees (brought to the Americas by Europeans) most native bees don’t live in hives. Instead, they nest in hollow stems and deadwood through the growing season and winter,' she explains.

You can also hang up bee houses (from Amazon) to provide shelter and nesting spots for fall and winter.

Shop native fall flowers for your yard

FAQs

Should you give bees sugar water in fall?

Sugar water can be a valuable resource for bees when they are tired or struggling from heat, as it provides energy. However, experts advise against providing sugar water to bees in fall.

'Unless you’re a beekeeper, offering sugar water should be reserved for true emergencies when bees need reviving,' says Jen Rose from Bee Cups.

Instead, you should provide lots of native fall flowers which are rich in nectar and provide natural sugars for bees during this season.

Of course, water is also an essential resource to help bees in fall. However, this is much more readily available from the rainfall at this time of year. You can still make a bee watering station during fall, which is a dedicated spot for bees to hydrate.

If you've tried and tested a range of methods to bring pollinators to your yard but are still struggling to spot a flurry of bees and butterflies, there's one more trick you can try: painting your fence a certain color that pollinators adore.

It's true that you can use color to attract bees to your yard, alongside butterflies, ladybugs, and other beneficial insects. In fact, the colors of plants for pollinators is often what brings them to plants. By replicating these colors on your fence, a gardening expert says you can bring more pollinators to your yard instantly.

But, which are the best fence colors for pollinators? Here, we explore all the best hues to choose if you want to use this garden feature to enhance your pollinator-friendly garden.

What fence colors are pollinators attracted to?

'Pollinators in general are attracted to colors that represent blooms which provide them with nectar and pollen,' says David M. Burrows from pollinator project company, Arkearth. 'Typically, those colors are pink, purple, blue, yellow, and red.'

It's no surprise that it's the brighter colors and those found in nature that will capture the attention of pollinators. Although, not all pollinators are attracted to all of the same colors in the same way.

'Different pollinating species seem to prefer some colors over others. Butterflies have preferences for red, while some bees have that color last on their list, and wasps may even see red as a predator,' David explains.

The best thing to do when thinking about choosing fence colors for pollinators is to consider how your garden for pollinators looks.

If you have a particular flower attracting lots of butterflies (such as the purple butterfly bush), then consider painting your fence the same color.

And when it comes to painting your fence, don't forget to use outdoor fence paints to ensure it's weather-proof and will last. You can shop exterior paint at The Home Depot online.

Using neutral fence colors to attract pollinators

If the brighter colors of blue, yellow, or red don't quite fit your garden color scheme, you can actually use more neutral tones to help bring pollinators to your yard:

'Lighter colors, like pale yellow, white, gray, or light blue, allow your garden to showcase the color blooms against the lighter background, making it easier for pollinators to locate access flowers,' David explains.

Consider using a cream paint color (like this cream fence paint from Amazon) as a backdrop to your pollinator border, full of bright annuals such as zinnias and sunflowers, for example.

'This often makes white or light pine colors the best to use in a pollinator garden,' David says.

'These colors are neutral to most all pollinators, they reflect heat and stay cool in summer months, and they provide the perfect backdrop to visually accentuate seasonal plants and flowers,' he adds.

Which fence colors should you avoid?

At the same time as there being fence colors for attracting pollinators, David notes there are also colors that will send pollinators away from your yard.

'Colors to be avoided include anything dark such as black, dark gray, dark brown, or deep red. These colors can resemble predator colors in the wild,' he explains. 'Bears, raccoons, skunks, and rodents all love honey and bees instinctively react to the colors common with those animals.

'Painting your fence black or some other dark shade can also make the surface hot in summer months and injure pollinators from excessive heat,' David adds.

Of course, if you are set on having a darker fence color, you can use other methods to attract pollinators. For example, you can install a bee house (this one from Amazon is bright yellow to attract pollinators), and grow plenty of native plants in your yard.

FAQs

Can container colors attract pollinators?

Yes, it is possible for container colors to attract pollinators. In particular, colors like yellow, pink, and blue, all reminiscent of the nectar-rich blooms that pollinators are attracted to.

At the same time, opting for more neutral tones, like terracotta pots, can accentuate the colors of the blooms growing in your containers, making it easier for pollinators to find.

There's lots to consider when you want to maximize your garden and turn it into a wildlife haven.

Alongside fence colors for pollinators and nectar-rich blooms, you should also think about the worst plants for pollinators to avoid. Having these plants in your yard might discourage pollinator presence.

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When everything is in bloom in the spring and summer, it's a joy for us gardeners to watch wildlife enjoy our flowers just as much as we do. Pollinators buzz between plants to feed on nectar and collect pollen, reminding us our backyards are a vital resource for them. However, it would be a mistake to assume any and all flowers are beneficial to these critters. In fact, there are some worst plants for pollinators that should be avoided if you intend to create a pollinator-friendly patch in your garden.

Plants for pollinators are typically those rich in nectar and with open flowers that make it easy for bees, butterflies, and others to access. By comparison, the worst plants for pollinators aren't such a rich source of nectar, the pollen may be toxic, and the flowerheads tend to be a bit more complex for them to navigate.

It can often be hard to know by just looking at a plant if it's one to avoid in your garden for pollinators, which is why I've enlisted the help of biologist and garden expert Aidan Charron. He outlines the five worst plants for pollinators and explains why they aren't the best choices if you wish to welcome these beneficial insects to your yard.

5 worst plants for pollinators

As well as those on the list of worst plants for pollinators, it's also best to avoid an invasive plants that can take over your yard and hinder the biodiversity within it. Instead, opt for native planting to support pollinators.

1. Cucurbits

You may find it surprising to see a kitchen garden plant on the list of worst plants for pollinators, but the the cucurbit family can actually cause some harm to many of these insects.

'Not many realize the pollen of cucurbit plants (cucumber, squash, pumpkins) is often toxic to most bees if they consume it in large quantities,' Aidan explains.

'Really, only specialist types of bees known as squash bees can safely forage on them, and without these specialist bees, cucurbits receive little to no effective pollination,' he continues.

This might just be the reason you struggle to get fruit when growing cucumbers, for example. 'You might just not have any squash bees in your yard,' Aidan says.

Consider companion planting, such as with these borage seeds from Burpee, to encourage a presence of squash bees if this is the case.

2. Roses

Again, you might be shocked to find roses on this list, but there are some rose varieties that don't support the needs of pollinators. More specifically, it's those ruffled, double roses that block access to nectar.

'Roses can 100% be pollinator-friendly when they are open‑petaled, and easy for insects to navigate. But annoyingly, many hybrid roses have densely packed double petals that block access to nectar and pollen, dramatically reducing pollinator value,' Aidan explains. 'They are literally just too complicated for bees to navigate well.'

Instead, you should opt for roses that fall on the list of flowers that attract bees. These are often single, more open roses, like this Campfire Rose Shrub from Nature Hills or this Sunshine Happy Trails Groundcover Rose from Nature Hills. If you can see the center of the rose, so can the pollinators.

3. Yellow jessamine

Although a beautiful, bright yellow flower that is likely to attract the attention of a number of beneficial insects, jessamine contains a toxin that can be harmful to pollinators.

'The bright, fragrant blossoms look lovely, and they will attract pollinators but be warned. The flowers contain toxic alkaloids like gelsemine, which can harm honeybees, potentially killing them and other animals that consume them,' says Aidan.

This poisonous plant is therefore better to avoid in your wildlife garden. It may even harm any curious pets who decide to nibble at it.

A better alternative to get the the same bright, fragrant, climbing effect is a honeysuckle vine (see the collection at Nature Hills).

4. Rhododendrons

Another toxic yet stunning bloom is rhododendron. In many areas of the US, it also makes the list of invasive plants to avoid growing in your yard.

Even though they're rich in nectar, these flowers often contain grayanotoxin, another lethal toxin to honeybees and some other pollinating insects. When honeybees consumer this, it can actually lead to the production of what is known as 'mad honey.'

Mad honey is a dark honey that contains grayanotoxin. When consumed by humans in large quantities, it could cause nausea and dizziness, or more serious symptoms.

To avoid this, rather grow hydrangeas (see the hydrangea shrub collection at Nature Hills). These stunning flowering shrubs can provide the same height and coverage as rhododendrons, with a less invasive nature and flowers that support pollinator life.

5. California buckeye

For a tree with spring blossom to avoid if you want to help pollinators, don't plant California buckeye in your yard. This tree has showy cones of white and pale pink blossoms in spring which also offer fragrance. But, although a gorgeous addition to the yard, these flowers are once again harmful to honeybees and other insects.

There are glycosides in the pollen of these blooms, a lethal toxin to many pollinators. It can cause honeybees to become shaky and spin, too, and has the potential to wipe out an entire colony if bees consume stored buckeye pollen later in the year.

An alternative is bottlebrush buckeye (from Nature Hills), which also has panicles of white flowers, but with more wiry petals.

FAQs

Are there any herbs toxic to pollinators?

It's unlikely the plants in your herb garden are toxic to pollinators. In fact, many of them are a valuable resource for bees and butterflies, such as lavender, rosemary, and lemon balm, all of which are rich in nectar and provide plenty of pollen.

If you're looking for ways to help pollinators in your garden, consider planting hedges for pollinators or container plants for pollinators. There are even flowering weeds for pollinators you can leave to grow in your yard.

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We all know that ladybugs are a vital part of any garden's ecosystem. Not only are they wonderfully efficient pollinators, but they feed on aphids and other less welcome visitors in the garden, removing the need for harsh chemical sprays. Beckoning ladybugs to take refuge in your garden, though, may seem tricky. How to get these helpful little bugs into your yard?

If you're searching for ways to encourage and attract ladybugs to your yard, then it's worth planting some, or all of these key plants that are irresistible to ladybugs. Whilst you can buy ladybugs and have them delivered to your door, if you so choose, without a delicious spread of plants they like to gorge on, they're likely to abandon ship fairly quickly. With this in mind, it's worth integrating some plants that attract ladybugs into your garden, so they not only come but, crucially, they stay.

Here are five plants to incorporate into your planting scheme now to attract these helpful garden heroes.

1. Zinnias

If you have a sun-drenched border in your garden that benefits from full sun for most of the day, it should most definitely be the home to some zinnias, not least for their ability to bring kaleidoscopic color to borders and make for the most perfect cut flowers, with a long picking season and excellent vase life.

Ladybugs are the biggest fans of zinnias, too, feasting on their nectar and using them as a place of sanctuary to lay their eggs.

It's paramount that you pick the right zinnia varieties, though, for ladybugs to be truly impressed by your efforts. Single-flowered varieties are most loved by wildlife, including honey bees, butterflies, and ladybirds. Look out for zinnias like these Raspberry Lemonade Mix Zinnias available at Burpee, particularly if you love that boiled-sweet, bright, and bombastic color palette.

If you're looking for colors that are still deeply attractive to ladybugs, but more mellow and earthy in color, head for these Old Mexico Zinnias available at Burpee, which are mesmerizing in the height of summer.

Whilst there are some semi-double, double, and pompom shapes which are very easy on the eye, they are less exciting for our ladybug friends.

2. Nasturtiums

When it comes to the best plants for pollinators, it's hard to beat nasturtiums. Not only are they one of the best flowers that attract hummingbirds, but the flowers are edible (and look particularly pretty in salads), and they're a mecca for butterflies, bees, and ladybugs.

Growing nasturtiums for pest control is a method that truly does work remarkably well, far better than the toxic chemical sprays that claim to have the same effect. Not least because they're a magnet for ladybugs, which tackle even the most merciless colonies of mites, aphids, mealybugs, and insect eggs.

When it comes to picking the best nasturtium varieties to grow to attract ladybugs in large quantities, remember that these bugs are attracted to those plants that are riot of color. 'Empress of India' is a particularly beautiful nasturtium, and wildly easy to grow quickly from seed. The 'Empress of India' seeds are available now from True Leaf Market.

3. Herbs in the carrot family

All of the herbs in the carrot family are irresistible to ladybugs. Dill, fennel, parsley, and cilantro, when in flower, are all hugely enticing to all beneficial pollinators, not least ladybugs, which arrive in their masses to feast on their nectar-rich blooms.

Because all of these herbs have small, flat-topped flowers, they offer easy access to nectar and pollen. With that in mind, adding these to your herb garden ideas is nigh on essential if you want to lure ladybugs to your yard and keep them happy and healthy.

Cilantro, in particular, is a firm favourite in the world of ladybird cuisine, and letting it go to flower is the key. We recommend trying these heirloom organic cilantro seeds from True Leaf Market.

4. Elderflower

Not only do elderflowers make for the most whimsical addition to a naturalistic planting scheme, but they are also one of the best fragrant shrubs with a beautiful summer perfume, always choc-full of honey bees, and make for the most delicious edible flowers.

The dainty lace-like flowers on an elder shrub make for the perfect ladybird hangout. It's not just that it's jam-packed with nectar, but the structure of the inflorescence and foliage makes for a great spot for laying their eggs.

Ladybug larvae, whilst perhaps not as pretty as the red-and-black spotted adults, are just as, if not more industrious, than their parents, eating even more pests than they do when they are grown.

With this in mind, encouraging ladybugs to reproduce in your garden ensures a continuous cycle of pest control. Elderflowers are the perfect ladybugs' nurseries in this respect, allowing for generations of ladybugs to lay eggs, grow, feed, and hunt.

5. Cosmos

All cosmos varieties are highly productive, long-flowering, and refreshingly easy to grow. If you are looking for stunning low maintenance plants to grow in pots, cosmos should be at the top of your wish list.

The main boon of adding cosmos to your planting scheme is, of course, that they are tremendously pretty and ethereal. Although their ability to lure in pollinators means they function just as much as they thrill.

Planting cosmos all around your garden will bring out the ladybugs in their droves, their food source being the main incentive, but the open shape of cosmos means that the pollen is particularly easy for them to access.

For a cottage garden look that will look just as beautiful in a flower border as sitting in a jug on the kitchen table, try these 'Apricotta' cosmos bipinnatus seeds available at Burpee.

Remember, whilst its easy to think of aphids as enemy number one, they are a vital food source for ladybugs, so don't go in heavy with a pesticide spray and wipe out all of their food source. Chemical pesticides harm beneficial insects like butterflies, dragonflies, moths, bees, beetles and ladybugs, just as severely as mites, aphids and mealybugs.

Incorporating more nectar rich blooms for pollinators will naturally increase your population of ladybugs, which are voracious eaters when it comes to common garden pests, eating thousands of aphids across their lifetime.

As well as these plants that attract ladybugs, its just as important to incorporate other plants like grasses and trees into your garden to provide shelter as they rest in the heat of the day and hibernate in when the temperatures plummet.

I don't know about you, but the recent extreme temperatures have taken a toll on my garden. Some of my plants have become seriously dehydrated, and my lawn is looking a little less vibrant than before. While trying to revive my garden, I've realized my plants aren't the only things struggling in the summer heat – wildlife also need help staying hydrated. So, I started doing some research into how to help them and stumbled across the sweetest idea: a fruit salad for butterflies.

This is the perfect garden project for anyone wanting to attract butterflies to their yard. It consists of putting out a dish of a wide range of sweet and juicy fruits for butterflies to eat and drink from. Not only does it provide hydration, but it also gives these busy pollinators some natural sugars that energize them. Plus, it's a great way to use up those bruised and slightly spoiled fruits you won't eat yourself.

A fruit salad for butterflies is also a great companion to butterfly puddlers, a water source for this beautiful winged wildlife. It's easy and can be free to do, and you're likely to spot a range of different butterflies coming to enjoy it. Here's how to make one.

How to make a fruit salad for butterflies

This wildlife garden idea can be recreated in just a few minutes, and you don't necessarily need to purchase anything extra for it. All you need is:

• A wide range of fruit
• A shallow dish, like a plate or this bird bath dish from Amazon

But, before jumping in with how to make a fruit salad for butterflies, let's take a closer look at why fruit is a valuable resource for butterflies during hot weather:

Why is fruit good for butterflies?

There are a couple of reasons why fruit is a good resource for butterflies: the juice offers hydration, and the natural sugars provide energy.

'Butterflies use their proboscis to sip flower nectar, but they can also use it to sip fruit juice,' explains biologist and garden expert Aidan Charron.

The reason butterflies need energy during extreme heat is that the warmer temperatures can leave them feeling drowsy. This is the same reason why fruit is also a valuable resource when helping birds in a heatwave.

'At a time when many of us are suffering from intense heat, due to climate change, butterflies are suffering too and will always appreciate it if you leave them fruits to sip on,' Aidan says.

'In particular, fruits like strawberries, very ripe bananas (out of the skin), mangoes, oranges, and watermelon are ideal as they are juicy,' he adds.

How to make a fruit salad for butterflies

There are only a handful of steps in this DIY solution.

You need to first select your fruit, which you can of course pick up from your local supermarket. Put in an order of fruit from Walmart here.

Or, use fruit sitting in your fruit bowl that is too ripe for you to enjoy. Alternatively, you can pick a harvest fresh from fruit trees in your yard.

You then want to ensure all the fruits are sliced open for the butterflies to access. Those in skins, like oranges and bananas, can also be peeled for easier access.

You simply then display your fruits in your shallow dish or plate, and that's it.

For a fun twist, you can use these metal kebab skewers from Amazon to hang fruit kebabs in trees for butterflies. When doing this, make sure to cut the fruit up into smaller pieces so they don't fall off the skewer.

As for how long to leave the fruit out for, you don't need to worry. Rotting and extremely ripe fruit is an excellent resource for butterflies, and is often sweeter for them. You may just want to keep a watchful eye for if your fruit is attracting rats and other pests you don't want nearby.

FAQs

What's the best time to put out a fruit salad for butterflies?

If you want to avoid attracting rodents and other nocturnal pests with fruit you leave out for butterflies, you may wish to put it out each day early in the morning when these pests aren't active.

Bonus tip: 'To avoid attracting ants, put your fruits in a shallow bowl with a tiny bit of water at the bottom, as ants can't swim,' says biologist and garden expert Aidan Charron.

There are many other ways to help butterflies in your yard, too. Try planting a butterfly border, for example, or simply incorporate just a few of the best plants for a butterfly garden in your yard. You can even sprinkle these butterfly wildflower seeds from Amazon in your yard to attract them.

Other essentials to help butterflies in hot weather

In recent years, many gardeners have relaxed their approach to weed control. Natural gardens, wild patches and meadow-like planting have ushered in a more carefree approach to weeding. This positive change is rooted in environmentalism, with an awareness that we, as gardeners, have a part to play in caring for the soil, the wider ecosystem and the wildlife where we live.

However, as a gardener myself, I know that there are certain weeds you do not want growing in your flower beds or vegetable garden. While using inorganic chemicals to remove weeds is not recommended, there are effective methods that can help you clear nettles, brambles and dandelions, and fall is a good time to get organized and on top of your weeding for next year.

So, if you are wondering how to kill weeds in the fall, our guide has all the information you need for targeting problem plants before they settle in for the winter months and return in the spring. Here, I share tips and tricks for clearing perennial and annual weeds, and lessons I have learned from working in private and public gardens across the UK.

How to kill weeds in the fall

When considering how to get rid of weeds, employing natural methods is far preferable to using chemicals. Whether you have chickweed spreading across your borders or clover growing through gravel pathways, there are weed control methods that are particularly effective in the fall months that need not impact your wildlife garden ideas. So, get a jump start on weeding for next year by following our simple guide and learning how to kill weeds in the fall.

Manually removing weeds

Manually removing weeds, while time-consuming, is perhaps the most effective way to eliminate unwelcome plants from your plot. For many gardeners, this age-old approach to weed control cannot be bested, considered as mindful gardening. So, if you want to get some fresh air and as much vitamin D as possible during fall, spending 15 minutes a day hand weeding in your yard can help.

While the climate will vary depending on where you live and your US hardiness zone, most of us typically experience mild temperatures and plenty of rain during the fall months, creating ideal conditions for annual weeds to germinate rapidly. Over October and November, you will see young seedlings emerging across beds and borders.

In terms of essential gardening tools, using a garden hoe can be useful for annual weeds, such as henbit, deadnettle, and chickweed, most of which have shallow root systems. Simply loosen the soil with a hoe, and then pick out the weeds. Just be sure you are not removing any foxglove, aquilegia or other biennial seedlings that you want to keep.

In terms of perennial weeds, a little more precision and care will be needed when handling nettles, brambles and dandelions. Perennial weeds will have extensive root or rhizome networks, all of which must be removed if you want to fully eradicate problem plants from your yard.

For example, nettles have networks of rhizomes growing horizontally, appearing like a tangled underground web that enables this weed to spring up in many different locations. Bramble, plantain, dock leaf and dandelion plants all have deep tap roots. This clever evolutionary adaptation can make it very tricky to get rid of these weeds, but patience and care are your secret weapon.

For larger perennial weed clumps, use a fork to loosen the soil around the crown, being careful not to slice into the roots. I find it is best to do this on wet days, as damp soil can help to make the job of pulling up entire roots far easier (and more satisfying). I once spent an entire day pulling up dock leaves in a field when working as a gardener in Wales. The wet soil helped to make this job 100 times easier.

For smaller clumps, follow the same method as above but instead use a hand fork or a hori hori knife, which should allow you to carefully wiggle the weed out of the soil.

As any gardener will tell you, manually removing weeds is a long game to play. While you won't get rid of every weed, regularly weeding can help to keep unwelcome plants at bay.

One final job to add to your fall gardening checklist is mulching, which can be done once you have finished weeding ahead of the winter cold.

'After you have finished weeding in the fall, usually around October or November, simply add a two-inch layer of mulch, such as straw or shredded leaves, around the base of perennials and shrubs,' says Reese Robbins, garden expert and creator of Just Pure Gardening. 'This layer insulates the roots against sudden temperature drops, helps retain soil moisture, and reduces weed growth over winter.' Pine straw mulch is available to order online from Walmart.

If you have a severe weed problem in your yard, however, there are other options to consider.

Using organic sprays to get rid of weeds

In the fall months, perennial weeds are storing nutrients to prepare for winter dormancy. They then use this energy to reshoot in the spring, so taking the time to eradicate them in the fall can prevent this. While I would always suggest manually weeding is your first and best option, I know that sometimes this can be an impossible task.

So, if you are overcome with perennial broadleaf weeds, including nettles and dandelions, using an organic herbicide spray is one option to consider. While this should be a last resort, limited and targeted applications can help to control a weed problem that is spiraling out of control.

Perennial weeds are troublesome because of their extensive root networks, as mentioned above, and any missed section of root that is left behind will regrow. For example, if you are wondering how to remove weeds from pavers, such as dandelions growing among cobblestones at the front of your home, using a small amount of organic herbicide can help, as it will be nigh on impossible to excavate all of the root between small cracks.

Perennial weeds are best eliminated with iron-based sprays, which can kill broadleaf varieties without damaging grass, making this a good option if your lawn area is overcome with weeds. Organic iron-based weed killers are available from Amazon.

Do not apply any herbicide or weed killer when it is wet or windy, as there is always a risk that the solution can wash off and damage nearby perennials or shrubs in your borders. Always select a still, dry day, and apply small amounts. Remember that weedkillers, even if they are organic, can impact biodiversity, so use them sensibly and sparingly.

Alternative solutions for killing weeds

There are hundreds of alternative methods that you can try in the fall months, including using vinegar or baking soda to kill weeds. While there is no unanimous verdict on the viability of alternative methods, you might find one recipe or approach that works for you.

'Some natural methods can help to reduce and limit the spread of weeds,' says Drew Swainston, former professional gardener and gardens content editor at Homes & Gardens. 'However, in reality, using your hands to dig, fork and lift weeds seems to be the best approach, particularly if you are conscious to keep chemicals out of your yard.'

For large areas of ground that are full of perennial and annual weeds, consider covering them with cardboard and covering this with mulch. 'Covering soil can hinder new weed growth,' Drew adds, 'and while you have to be patient and avoid planting here for six months or longer, this method can help to clear large areas of weeds.'

Finally, if you are dealing with weeds in gravel, why not use a weed flame torch, available to order from Walmart? In my experience, burning weeds that have deep tap roots will not stop them from regrowing, but repeated burning can eventually do the job.

FAQs

Are weeds good for pollinators?

Yes, there are many flowering weeds for pollinators that are beneficial if you are looking to boost biodiversity in your yard. Dandelions and clovers are known to be popular with butterflies and bees, so leaving a small wild patch in your yard is a good idea. Why not leave plants to grow and self-seed towards the end of your yard?

If you are worried about weeds, bare soil should be avoided. This is only an opportunity for weed seeds to germinate and dominate. My advice: fill your borders and beds with ground cover plants to stop weeds, such as monkey grass or Japanese spurge, or for a native option, why not learn how to grow wild ginger? These plants, once established, will outcompete any opportunistic weeds.

As the day gives way to night, certain plants come to life, unveiling beautiful hidden blooms and unexpected fragrances. Night-blooming plants have adapted to thrive in low-light conditions, flourishing in the evening and attracting nocturnal pollinators that contribute to the garden’s health.

By incorporating these remarkable plants, you can create a moon garden that transforms your outdoor space, enhancing its beauty for evening gatherings while supporting a vibrant ecosystem.

Planting night-blooming plants and embracing the concept of gardening by the moon, you can align your planting and care routines with the lunar cycle to cultivate a garden that thrives under the stars.

Why do certain plants bloom at night?

The answer is that these plants, which are native to tropical or arid environments, have evolved to flower after dark to take advantage of cooler night temperatures and nocturnal pollination.

By blooming after sunset and closing by the morning, these plants avoid intense daytime heat and water loss due to evaporation, which is especially important in desert climates.

Night-blooming plants thrive by adapting their flowering cycles, scent, and color, to their environment and the rhythms of nocturnal life. Here are eight of the best plants that bloom at night

1. Moonflower (Ipomoea alba)

‘Moonflowers are the showstoppers of the night garden,' says Sarah Fletcher, CEO of Flower Delivery. 'Their large, white, trumpet-shaped flowers unfurl in the evening and remain open until dawn, emitting a sweet fragrance that attracts nighttime pollinators.’

Since many nocturnal pollinators rely on smell rather than sight, night-blooming flowers have strong scents to attract pollinators. Additionally, these flowers are often pale or white, which makes them more visible in low light, making it easier for pollinators to find the blooms.

You can buy 100 seeds of moonflowers, otherwise known as morning glory, from Walmart.

Attracts: Known for their reflective blooms, moonflowers are designed to draw in sphinx moths and bats, enhancing the beauty and biodiversity of your garden after dark.

Growing tips: These vining perennials need full sun during the day to bloom at night and prefer well-drained soil.

Also known as tropical white morning glory, these plants thrive in USDA hardiness zones 10 through 12, but you can grow them as annuals in cooler zones.

They can climb up to 10 to 15 feet, so they’re perfect for trellises or fences where their climbing vines can spread and showcase the stunning blooms in your moon garden. We love this Dovelina black box trellis from Target.

2. Night-Blooming Jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum)

Night-blooming jasmine produces clusters of small white-green flowers that release a strong scent after dark, making your garden a delight to walk through on warmer evenings.

Attracts: Their highly fragrant scent is attractive to butterflies, moths, bats.

Growing tips: 'Plant it in well-draining soil and give it partial to full sun,' advises Matthew Wilson, horticulturist and owner of Handy Gardeners. 'It can grow up to eight to 10 feet tall, making it an ideal backdrop for smaller plants.

'Widely cultivated in tropical regions, it grows best in USDA zones 8 through 11, where mild winters allow it to bloom for months on end.

'Ideal as a backdrop for smaller plants, night-blooming jasmine adds height and aroma. It is suitable for container gardening in larger pots, allowing for easy relocation indoors during the colder months.'

For those interested in growing this enchanting plant, following jasmine care tips can help ensure a flourishing and fragrant garden.

3. Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)

Of all the plants that bloom at night, Evening primrose is one of the more unexpected flower varieties.

It has large, bright yellow bell-like blooms that open at dusk and remain open through the night, providing a bright contrast against a darkening garden. 'Aesthetically, this plant might not be for everyone, it's not the most delicate or beautiful, but what it lacks in elegance it makes up for in a rich, layered scent,' says Rachel Bull, head of gardens at Homes & Gardens.

Attracts: The soft yellow blooms of evening primrose are a magnet for nighttime pollinators like moths and bees.

Growing tips: 'I discovered evening primrose in my front yard last year after it self-seeded in a large flower bed – the best kind of gardening accident, in my opinion,' continues Rachel. 'The plants are large, with a lot of bushy, spikey-looking foliage, and if grown in the ground with space for the roots to expand, they can reach up to four feet in height. Stems continue to produce flowers as they grow, and I still have some flowering in my yard in October.

'If I were choosing to grow evening primrose again, I might consider containing it in a large pot, and positioning it close to a door or seating area to get the most out of its nocturnal perfume.'

It’s a hardy plant, thriving USDA zones 3 to 9, making it easy to grow, even for beginners.

4. Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa)

Tuberose, a perennial plant, is known for its enchanting fragrance that intensifies as the night progresses. Plant tuberose near seating areas to enjoy its fragrance on warm summer evenings.

This bloom has been used in perfumes for centuries, and its essence is frequently found in luxurious fragrances, making it a perfect plant to use when planting a scented border.

Attracts: Tuberose flowers attract pollinating insects, such as bees, hoverflies, and butterflies with their strong scent.

Growing tips: Tuberose thrives in well-drained soil and full sun, but appreciates some afternoon shade in hotter climates. They grow to around two to three feet tall.

This plant is a bit more tropical, suited for USDA zones 7 to 10, where it can bloom during late summer and fall.

5. Night Phlox (Zaluzianskya capensis)

'Renowned for its sweet fragrance, Night Phlox unfurls its star-shaped white and purple blooms in the evening,’ says explains Josh Payne, owner of Classic Landscapes.

'Its scent adds an aromatic layer to garden spaces, an aspect I always aim to integrate for a more immersive, sensory garden experience.'

Attracts: This hardy perennial, perfect for fall planting, attracts moths and other night-flying insects.

Growing tips: Thriving in full sun to partial shade, night phlox typically reaches a height of about 12 inches, making it a versatile addition to any garden bed or container.

Ideal for USDA hardiness zones 6 to 10, this annual has white, pink, and purple blooms.

Its low-growing habit makes it ideal for filling gaps between taller night-bloomers.

6. Four O’Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa)

As its name suggests, four o’ clocks start opening in the late afternoon, making it a great transitional plant between day and night.

Its vibrant flowers come in various colors – pink, white, yellow – and this plant reseeds itself easily, so once you have it, it tends to keep coming back year after year.

Attracts: Moths and hummingbirds are drawn to the nectar-rich blooms.

Growing tips: This plant prefers well-drained soil and full sun to partial shade.

It grows well in USDA zones 7 to 11, reaching heights of two to three feet tall and spread out to form bushy clusters.

7. Queen of the Night (Epiphyllum oxypetalum)

Queen of the Night is a cactus that produces huge, fragrant white flowers – but only for a single night. The drama and enchantment of waiting for the one-night bloom is an experience in itself.

While it may seem odd that these plants only bloom once, this short bloom duration conserves energy by blooming during peak pollinator activity times.

Attracts: This plant attracts moths, bats, and nocturnal birds that help spread its seeds.

Growing tips: To thrive, this cactus needs indirect light and consistent watering. However, you should let the soil dry somewhat between waterings.

This climbing cactus can reach 10-20 feet in length, and it needs well-draining soil to prevent root rot.

As an epiphyte, it prefers to use other plants to support itself rather than growing in the soil. This elusive beauty thrives in USDA zones 10 to 12 and loves warm, dry conditions with minimal water.

8. Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia spp.)

These pendulous, trumpet-shaped flowers can be pink, white, or yellow and release a sweet scent at night.

Attracts: Moths and other night-pollinators are drawn to the intoxicating scent.

Growing tips: This tropical-looking plant can grow into a small tree, reaching 10 to 15 feet tall. It prefers full sun and well-drained soil but can handle partial shade.

Angel’s trumpet is best grown in USDA zones 8 through 10, where it enjoys mild winters.

If you have the right climate, why not pot these fragrant plants to make your balcony smell nice? Keep them close to enjoy their night-blooming flowers and soothing scents as the evening unfolds.

Looking to enhance your garden with more blooming plants? Consider planting some of the best fall-blooming native plants to keep your yard vibrant throughout the colder months, so that no matter the season or time of day, you can ensure your outdoor space remains lively and colorful.

Firebush plants are vibrant, tropical shrubs that are popular with gardeners and pollinators alike. If you are looking for a fuss-free plant that is low-maintenance but full of colorful, vibrant flowers, look no further than the firebush shrub.

Native to Florida, Mexico, and Central and South America, firebush plants, Hamelia patens, now feature in gardens worldwide. As you might be able to tell from their native territories, these plants thrive in warm climates, and the more sunlight they enjoy, the more they will bloom.

Celebrated for their two-tone flowers, firebush plants will provide color during the springtime, often going on to bloom again in the fall depending on care and the climate. So, if you are seeking native spring flowers to attract hummingbirds and pollinators, our guide has all the information you need to succeed, including expert advice from the Florida Native Plant Society.

How to grow firebush

If you enjoy color in the backyard and like fiery and hot shades of red, yellow and orange, the firebush shrub is a good plant to consider growing. As can be seen in the images here, native firebush shrubs have long and tubular flowers, often in crimson or golden yellow. This is the flower form that hummingbirds prefer, making this species an ideal option if you are keen to support the hummingbird migration and encourage other pollinators to your plot.

Things to know about firebush plants

Wildlife gardening has gained much popularity in recent years. Whether you are looking to plant a butterfly border or are keen to spot some native birds in your yard, one of the best perennials to help with these goals is the native firebush shrub.

'With clusters of tubular, orange-to-yellow blooms that explode like firecrackers, it is hard not to love this Florida native shrub,' says Lilly Anderson-Messec, plant expert and Director of North Florida programs for the Florida Native Plant Society.

'Native to a variety of habitats in Central and South Florida, this plant loves warm winters that allow it to get quite large (up to 15ft) and flower almost year-round,' Lilly continues. 'Though not native to North Florida, it is still a favorite in many North Florida yards where it only grows 3-6ft tall, blooming in spring and summer before dying back in winter when the first frost bites.'

Much like other native plants found in Florida, such as Florida anise, this plant does best in southerly, warm regions, thriving in US hardiness zone 9 and US hardiness zone 10. However, you can grow this plant in cooler, northerly regions, but be warned that providing some protection and winterizing your plant will ensure it survives the colder months of the year. Wherever you reside, providing as much sun as possible in a sheltered corner of the yard will produce the best results.

Firebush live plants are available from Amazon.

Growing advice for firebush plants

• Soil: Firebush plants can be grown in most soils, although they do have a 'preference for average to moist soils that are rich in organic matter,' says Lilly. Avoid planting in soils that are clay-based or tend to retain water during the fall and winter, as this plant can suffer from root rot.
• Light: 'Firebush blooms best in full sun but will grow in shade but with fewer blooms,' Lilly says. Firebush can indeed tolerate partial shade but will not flower to its full potential. So, the more sunlight this plant receives, the better it will bloom. Aim for at least six hours of sunshine each day.
• Watering: This plant is a good option if you are seeking drought-tolerant landscaping ideas. Firebush plants become drought-tolerant once established, although it is best to water fairly regularly during the first year, particularly during the summer. As with most plants, deep watering is best, opting to water less frequently but with a generous amount.
• Fertilizing: When planting in the spring, consider incorporating some slow-release feed, available from Walmart, into the soil, which will help boost the plant as it settles into your yard. Applying a bloom booster feed in the spring and summer months can also be a good idea, although firebush plants tend to find what they need in the soil.
• Pruning: Regular trimming during the spring and summer is a good idea to keep this vigorous shrub at a good size and shape. Complete any hard pruning in the spring, removing any dead and winter-damaged stems so that new growth can take its place.

FAQs

Can you grow firebush plants in pots? 

With vibrant blooms, firebush plants are ideal for container gardening in any backyard, regardless of size. In cooler zones, container growing is a good idea as you can easily protect your plants during winter, using something like this frost cover from Walmart. Remember that firebush plants are native to sunny, warm regions, so your pots should be positioned in full sun to ensure that you enjoy plenty of blooms. Be sure to water your container frequently through the summer months when the temperatures rise.

As with many flowering shrubs and perennials, deadheading during the growing season is a good idea. Simply remove the faded flower heads with a pair of sharp pruning snips, available from Walmart, to encourage new blooms later in the year.

For more information, see our guide on the best plants for pollinators to fill your borders with even more perennials and shrubs that birds, bees and butterflies love.

In the best gardens, plants do more than simply look pretty. Of course, their flowers and foliage have to look attractive, but the best varieties have other features to enjoy and appreciate.

In the case of Monarda, commonly known as beebalm or bergamot, the midsummer flowers are certainly colorful. As one of the best plants for pollinators, they provide an important source of nectar and pollen for bees and other insects, as well as hummingbirds. The leaves are powerfully aromatic, as you’ll notice whenever you touch the foliage, and they also make a refreshing minty tea. The powerful aroma from the whole plant usually prevents browsing by deer and rabbits.

These are mostly summer flowering, sun-loving, hardy perennial plants reaching 2-4ft, although shorter varieties are now being developed. The slender arching flowers are gathered in clusters at the tips of the square shoots, and in tiers lower down. The small leaves, immediately below the flower clusters are often tinted in purple or red – adding another attractive feature. Below, we have gathered 10 of the best varieties to consider adding to your planting schemes.

10 of the best monarda varieties for your yard

All monardas are North American native plants that are found in every state and much of Canada, although they’re less often seen growing wild in the west. They belong to the mint family, and are hardy across most of the country.

The creeping stems spread strongly but are shallow-rooted, so can easily be removed if necessary. The main problem is mildew which can turn whole plants grey in dry seasons, but usually seems to do no lasting damage. Keeping the roots damp in summer is a good preventative.

Mildew-resistant varieties are now becoming available along with varieties that stay much more compact, less than half the height of traditional types – so the choice is widening every year.

A good range of monardas is available from Burpee.

Balmy beebalm (Monarda Balmy Series)

An unusually neat and compact series of beebalms in four colors – lilac, such as this one from Burpee, pink, rose, and purple, such as this one from Nature Hills.

The rose and purple types also feature unusually dark leaves. All varieties in the 'Balmy Series' show a good resistance to mildew. Plants may not reach their full height until their second year.

Type: Hardy perennial

Good for: The front of sunny borders, along paths, in large containers, attracting pollinators. Avoid very dry situations.

Height: 12-18in

Care: Plant in spring. Ensure the roots are moist in summer, cut back hard after flowering, then lift, divide and replant every two or three years.

Hardiness: USDA zone 4

Lemon beebalm (Monarda citriodora)

This short-lived species, often grown as an annual, is native to southern states and is easily distinguished by its lemon-scented leaves that make a refreshing tea. Each stem usually carries two clusters of white or blushed summer flowers that are prettily speckled in purple.

Type: Hardy perennial, biennial or annual.

Good for: Refreshing tea, attracting pollinators, restoration plantings.

Height: 20-28in

Care: Deadhead promptly to encourage longevity, or grow as an annual and allow seed to be shed and sprout for a new display. Irrigate in summer to prolong flowering and deter mildew.

Hardiness: USDA zone 5

Scarlet beebalm (Monarda didyma)

The classic, wild red beebalm from which so many improved garden varieties have been developed. Its brilliant coloring instantly appeals, along with the bergamot fragrance of the foliage.

The most widely grown species, 'scarlet beebalms, has foliage that smells of Earl Gray tea. It was found by European settlers near Oswego, NY so is still sometimes known as the Oswego tea plant. Most named varieties are derived, at least in part, from this species.

Type: Hardy perennial

Good for: Sunny perennial borders, attracting pollinators, restoration plantings.

Height: 30-40in

Care: Best in cool summers and in soils that do not dry out. Cut back hard after flowering. Lift, divide and replant every in spring every two or three years.

Hardiness: USDA zone 5

Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

Strong growing, making prolific clumps of upright stems carrying strongly aromatic foliage, and topped with two or three clusters of pale lilac flowers.

Native to almost the whole country, and popular with a wide range of insects. This widespread wild species is very pretty. While the variety ‘Humdinger’, available from Burpee, has more richly colored, purple-pink flowers.

Type: Hardy perennial

Good for: Sunny perennial borders, prairies and meadows, restoration plantings.

Height: 2-4ft

Care: Best in cool summers and in soils that do not dry out. Lift, divide and replant every in spring every two or three years but seedlings usually sprout nearby. Often troubled by mildew but plants usually recover.

Hardiness: USDA zone 5

‘Gardenview Scarlet’ beebalm (Monarda ‘Gardenview Scarlet’)

One of the most popular and prolific beebalms for its natural vigor, vivid scarlet flower coloring, resistance to mildew and the purplish tints to the late leaves that color after flowering. It was developed at Gardenview Park, in Ohio, and is a favorite with butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators.

‘Gardenview Scarlet’ beebalm plants are available at Walmart.

Type: Hardy perennial

Good for: Perennial borders, mixed borders, cutting.

Height: 3ft

Care: Plant in spring. Best in full sun and in soils that do not dry out. Cut back to the ground when the last flowers are over to stimulate fresh growth. Lift, divide and replant every in spring every two or three years.

Hardiness: USDA zone 4

Leading Lady beebalm (Monarda Leading Lady Series)

Six recently introduced, very short and bushy varieties that remain tightly clump forming and don’t become a nuisance by spreading.

They come in amethyst, lilac, orchid, pink, plum, such as this one available from Burpee, and raspberry with the lower lip of most prettily spotted in the throat. They also come into flower earlier than other monardas.

Type: Hardy perennial.

Good for: The front of sunny borders, containers.

Height: 10-14in, a little taller in their second year.

Care: Plant in spring, in full sun in rich well drained soil. Irrigate to keep the plants moist in summer.

Hardiness: USDA Zone 4

Lilac 'leading lady' beebalm is also available from Burpee.

‘Panorama’ beebalm (Monarda ‘Panorama’)

‘Panorama’ is different from other monardas as it is usually supplied only as packets of seed. Plants flower in the first year from an early spring seed starting, or on large plants the following summer. The flowers come in a good range of colors including red, pink, salmon, purple and white and some in between shades. This is a very economical way to start with monardas.

Type: Hardy perennial, grown from seeds.

Good for: Mass plantings, cut flowers.

Height: 3ft

Care: Sow seeds in a bright, frost free place in late winter, move the seedlings into individual pots and grow on for planting after the last frost in your area. Plant out 12-8in apart in rich soil in full sun. Deadhead and cut the plants down in fall.

Hardiness: USDA zone 4

Pardon My bee (Monarda Pardon My Series)

Four dwarf, bushy varieties with a valuable resistance to powdery mildew and so ideal in areas with dry summers where mildew is often problem. In spite of their short growth and compact growth, the cerise, lavender, purple or rose flower heads are the same size as those of taller varieties. A little taller, and a little more vigorous than the Leading Lady Series, but still good for small spaces.

Type: Hardy perennial

Good for: The front of sunny borders, containers.

Height: 14-18in, a little taller in their second year.

Care: Plant in spring, in full sun in rich well drained soil. Irrigate to keep the plants moist in summer.

Hardiness: USDA zone 4.

Spotted Horsemint (Monarda punctata)

This underrated plant features two or three tiers of small, crowded speckled flowers settled on a ring of pointed leaves in pale lavender pink and all above unusually dark green leaves. Very pretty and intriguing, spreads less than other varieties and shows some resistance to mildew.

Type: Hardy perennial or biennial.

Good for: Informal borders, prairies and restorations.

Height: 30-40in

Care: Happier in dry conditions than other monardas and tolerates a little shade.

Hardiness: USDA zone 4

‘Raspberry Wine’ beebalm (Monarda ‘Raspberry Wine’)

The raspberry red coloring marks out this prolific variety, richer in color than many varieties whose flowers are mostly scarlet. Its unusually long flowering period is also a feature plus its dark foliage that sets off the flowers well.

Type: Hardy perennial

Good for: Perennial borders, mixed borders, cutting.

Height: 30-36in

Care: Best planted in spring in rich, but well drained soils and divided every two or three years for the most impressive display.

Hardiness: USDA zone 4

Planting with pollinators in mind has never been more important, or more on trend when it comes to our gardens - even container gardening trends. Beebalm is an ideal plant to grow in a container, as this limits its potential to spread in the garden. It's tall stems and brightly colored blooms would make for a striking centerpiece as part of a summer patio or deck display.

It's never too soon to start thinking about what you want to achieve in the garden next year, especially as summer fades away and colder days settle in. It can be overwhelming to consider your backyard as a whole, so try exploring ideas one aspect at a time.

Container gardening is a great place to start because there are endless opportunities of what you can do, plus you can really personalize your pots in terms of your aesthetic and the seasons - like fall planters, for example. The one hurdle you might face, however, is knowing what will be on trend next year and how to get your containers looking their best for the new gardening year.

Plants rise and fall in popularity in the garden all the time, and often trends come back around. According to garden designers, when it comes to container garden trends we should be thinking about environmentally-friendly gardening, growing vegetables in pots and more in 2025. Here's a list of five inspiring container gardening ideas the pros recommend trying next year.

5 container garden trends for 2025

Before choosing what to plant up in containers, there are a few things to keep in mind to make your container gardening successful. This includes avoiding the common container gardening mistakes that lead to failed plants and choosing the best soil for container gardening.

Once you've familiarized yourself with how to garden successfully in pots, you can think about how to curate them. Here, garden design experts have shared the best container gardening trends for 2025.

1. Maximise your vertical space

There are lots of benefits of vertical gardening and its growing popularity largely comes down to the fact that it allows you to maximise the space you have available. Whether you create a living wall or simply use a plant stand to tier containers, there are lots of ways to use vertical space in your container garden.

'A vertical garden fits any size patio or terrace since plants grow upward,' says garden design expert Joe Raboine. 'There are a variety of ways to construct a vertical garden, like using traditional pots and stakes,' he adds.

Another advantage of vertical gardening is that you can use trailing plants for baskets for a cascading effect.

There are plenty of ways to create a vertical garden with containers. This vertical planter from Amazon, for example, makes it easy to display potted plants in this way.

2. Plant containers for pollinators

Eco-friendly gardening isn't going out of style any time soon and that includes thinking about how to create a wildlife garden. For pots, that means incorporating some of the best container plants for pollinators.

'Invite butterflies and hummingbirds to your patio by choosing pollinator-friendly flowers for every season,' suggests garden designer Laura Janney. 'Not only do lantana, petunias, salvia, pansies and zinnias add vibrant color, but they also attract delightful visitors to your outdoor space,' she says.

There are so many plants for pollinators that can be grown in pots, like those mentioned by Laura, so you can create containers that suit your style and welcome plenty of bees, butterflies, birds and more to your yard.

'Even a small container garden can attract beneficial insects, feeding them through the season which will keep their reproduction rate high, positively impacting the environment,' says Meredith Bishop, sustainable flower grower and owner of Bloom and Bounty.

3. Opt for water-wise plants

Along the same lines as providing for pollinators, designers expect containers to continue reflecting the changing climate with drought-tolerant plants for pots.

'The most important trends that we will see in 2025 will revolve around concerns for the environment, with water-wise plants - think a Mediterranean plant palette,' says James Brayton Hall, president and CEO of The Garden Conservancy.

There are so many different ways to achieve pots that save water, including incorporating Mediterranean plants like geraniums and agapanthus which retain water well.

'Remember, drought-tolerant doesn’t mean 'no water' - these plants prefer soil that isn’t constantly moist,' notes Laura.

Try using these self-watering planters from Amazon to manage the moisture levels of your plants.

4. Create an edimental container garden

It's not all about flowers and foliage, as vegetable container gardens are becoming increasingly popular. In particular, designers say to focus on using edimentals in pots - ornamental edible plants.

'From herbs and vegetables to attractive berries and fruiting vines, incorporating edibles into pots and planters is very on-trend,' says Lindsey Chastain, gardening expert and the Founder of The Waddle and Cluck blog. 'Go vertical with climbing plants or focus on compact varieties suitable for smaller spaces,' she suggests.

There are lots of vegetables for pots that you can choose from and you can even opt to use a vegetable trellis in a container to use vertical space with climbing edibles.

The possibilities don't stop at vegetables, either. 'Some of my favorite salad toppers are edible flowers with petals from violas, pansies or dwarf dahlias, and all can be grown in pots right outside your kitchen door,' says Meredith Bishop.

5. Choose stylish pots

No container garden is perfected without the right vessel. For 2025, experts say to focus on simple designs and convenient containers.

'Let your flowers take center stage by opting for sleek, frost-proof, lightweight containers,' says Laura Janney. 'Homeowners are moving away from heavy ceramic and overly ornate planters, favoring simple designs in neutral tones that offer timeless elegance,' she adds.

Being able to move containers can be helpful for when frost comes around. That's why designers are expecting to see more pots made from light materials like plastic - like these plastic flower pots from Amazon.

Having said, terracotta planters are a classic that aren't expected to go out of style. 'Neutral-colored planters made of natural materials like terracotta are popular for their calming, earthy aesthetic,' says Lindsey. 'Choose a palette of warm beiges, browns, tans and greys to complement the colors found in nature,' she suggests.

Just make sure to clean terracotta pots to keep them in pristine condition.

FAQs

When should I plant up my containers for spring?

The best time to plant up your containers for spring depends on the type of plants you want to grow. Generally speaking, you should aim to plant spring bulbs in fall before frost, or early spring after frost. This will give them enough time to establish well and flower for the spring season. The best thing to do is research the specific plants you wish to grow in pots and plant accordingly, making sure to protect you plants from harsh winter weather.

Try putting your own spin on these trends and personalize them with your favorite seasonal plants. Even if you're new to container gardening, you can still give these trends a go for the upcoming year. Our guide to container gardening for beginners might be useful for getting to grips with the basics for achieving these ideas successfully.

If you're looking to add a vibrant splash of color to your borders that will attract plenty of pollinators, then learning how to grow hummingbird trumpet plants is a great option to consider. Prized for producing masses of orange-red blooms, this plant is a magnet for hummingbirds who can easily access the nectar that is found deep within the flowers, all thanks to their long, thin beaks.

Native to the western United States, the hummingbird trumpet plant, Epilobium canum, is found growing in Oregon, New Mexico and California (it is also known by another name, the California fuchsia). Growing happily in warm regions, this plant is remarkably low-maintenance, thriving in sunny spots and dry soils.

As a vigorous, low-growing perennial, reaching no more than 15 to 20 inches in height, the hummingbird trumpet plant can be used as a drought-tolerant ground cover. While less known than some other ground cover options, this unusual plant would add something unique to any dry, sunny yard. Here, our comprehensive growing guide has all the information you need to master growing hummingbird trumpet plants this year.

How to grow hummingbird trumpet plants

Hummingbird trumpet plants are long-flowering perennials, typically blooming from summer until fall. Part of the evening primrose plant family, Onagraceae, this plant is renowned for its resilience, thriving in poor soils, with little water and tolerating searing temperatures. Tough and beautiful - what more could you ask for?

Key information about hummingbird trumpet plants

'The hummingbird trumpet plant is a vigorous native plant that will bloom all through summer, producing masses of zingy orange flowers,' says Rachel Bull, Head of Gardens at Homes & Gardens.

'It is low-growing, forming dense carpets or mats wherever planted, so it is a good option for those seeking ground cover plants,' Rachel adds. 'Whether you are looking to line a pathway or fill a large, sun-soaked area of the yard, hummingbird trumpet plants will be a tough and tolerant option.'

Native to California, these plants grow best from US hardiness zone 8 and above, preferring sunny summers and mild winters. In cooler regions, positioning these plants in sheltered corners is a good idea.

'What's more, these plants are some of the best perennials if you are seeking wildlife garden ideas or looking to attract hummingbirds to your plot,' Rachel says. 'And it is not just these miniature but mighty birds that will come flocking, but bees and butterflies too, all drawn to the nectar-rich offerings inside these tubular blooms.'

Consider planting alongside other pollinator-friendly native plants, such as hummingbird mint, available from Walmart, with striking purple flower spikes that will contrast nicely against the orange blooms.

Grow guide for hummingbird trumpet plants

• Soil: 'Hummingbird trumpet plants prefer free-draining, dry soil,' says Rachel. 'While famously low-maintenance, these plants will struggle in waterlogged borders.' For this reason, it is a good idea to incorporate some horticultural grit or vermiculite, available from Walmart, which will help to improve drainage in your pots or yard. 'They will tolerate poor soils, so can work well in rock gardens, dry borders, or even cascading over walls,' Rachel adds.
• Light: For the best results, grow this plant in full sun. Hummingbird trumpet plants are native to the western United States and northern Mexico, so be sure to position in a sunny spot, particularly if you live in a cooler region.
• Watering: As drought-tolerant plants, they do not tend to need watering once they are established in borders. In the first year, however, it is a good idea to monitor your hummingbird trumpet plants and water at least once per week during the warmer months of the year. For those living in southern US hardiness zones, this could mean watering two or three times per week when the temperatures rise, at least until your plants are established by year two.
• Fertilizing: It is not necessary to fertilize hummingbird trumpet plants. They can survive in nutrient-poor soils without any supplementary fertilizing.
• Pruning: Pruning will not be a regular or annual job for hummingbird trumpet plants. As low-growing plants, they will generally keep a compact, bushy form. If you do need to prune, cut back to the base in the spring after the risk of frost has passed. As a vigorous plant, they will quickly reshoot and grow.

FAQs

Are hummingbird trumpet plants evergreen?

While mostly treated as a perennial plant, some varieties of hummingbird trumpet plants can exhibit evergreen or semi-evergreen tendencies when grown in sheltered, sunny spots. If you enjoy mild winters, your plant may hold on to much of its foliage year-round, although for the majority of us living and gardening in cooler, northern zones, it should be thought of as a perennial.

Can I grow hummingbird trumpet plants in pots?

Yes, this plant can be grown in containers. As a drought-tolerant plant, it will be able to tolerate dry and hot summers, but remember to give your pot plants a deep watering every few days during the high heat of summer. Growing in pots is a good idea if you reside in a cooler region, as you will easily be able to protect your container during the winter, either using horticultural fleece or by placing the pot in a greenhouse or garden shed.

Hummingbird trumpet plants can quickly form dense, sprawling carpets in sunny yards. Do not be afraid to use your garden fork or spade to limit the spread and reduce the growth of your plant every few years, which can be done during springtime.

Incorporating perennials, shrubs and trees that are known to be popular with pollinators is a great idea for anyone looking to support wildlife and bolster their local ecosystem. During the hummingbird migration, which takes place in spring and fall every year, your nectar-rich plants will be an attractive snack for avian visitors. Consider investing in a hummingbird feeder camera if you are keen to take some high-resolution images and close-up shots of these small but spectacular birds as they pass over your state.

Roses are perhaps the most popular flowering plants worldwide. Commonly grown in most garden borders, roses have long been admired by gardeners and florists for centuries, valued for their romantic blooms and heady fragrances.

Different from hybrid roses and cultivars that have been developed and bred to produce picture-perfect flowers, there are many alternative varieties of wild roses that are ideal for a natural aesthetic. Dog roses, Rosa canina, as seen in the images here, are one such option. While they are slightly more primitive in form, often with singular, open flowers that have five petals, they are no less beautiful.

Learning how to grow dog roses is not too dissimilar from growing other species of rose, but there are certain care aspects to be aware of. Whether you are landscaping with roses, or looking to grow a statement shrub in your yard, our expert-approved guide has all the information you need to succeed.

How to grow dog roses

When considering how to grow and care for roses, dog roses, Rosa canina, require a slightly different approach. Native to Europe, Africa and Asia, deciduous dog roses can be found scrambling through hedgerows and climbing over and atop large trees and shrubs. If you are looking for rose garden ideas with a bit of a twist, incorporating wild dog roses is sure to add something unique to your planting schemes.

Things to consider about dog roses

'Wild roses - or dog roses - are very vigorous, fast-growing shrubs,' says plant expert, Katie Sunderlage. 'For this reason, they are often used as hedges and grown alongside other shrubs and small trees.' There are many different types, including the native North American California rose, or the European dog rose.

'They can climb, vine and scramble through and over plants, so be warned, they can create a slightly tangled but pleasingly natural aesthetic, which is good if you are keen on wild gardening.

'They do best in US hardiness zone 5 to US hardiness zone 9, meaning they can be grown as far North as Maine, and as far south as Texas and Florida,' Katie adds.

The good thing about dog roses is they are at their best when left alone, without regular care, and who doesn't like a low-maintenance plant? 'Once your dog rose has completed flowering, there is no need for deadheading,' Katie continues, 'rose hips will form where the blooms once were, and these hips are the real stars of the show.'

Not only will dog rose hips form a nice display to look at during late summer, fall and winter, but these are excellent plants for pollinators that will prove to be a hit with local wildlife. 'Dog rose hips are a great food source for many mammals and birds, particularly in the colder months.'

Dog roses grow guide

• Soil:  'They prefer moist but well-drained soil,' Katie says. 'In general, however, wild dog roses are very versatile and can be planted in an array of soils, climates and for a variety of uses as part of a naturalistic planting design.'
• Light: 'Dog roses do best in full sun, preferably with at least eight hours per day,' Katie says. In places where they are found growing naturally, dog roses tend to thrive in hedges or along the edges of open fields where they can enjoy plenty of sunshine. Just think, the more sun your dog rose can enjoy, the more blooms it will produce.
• Watering: Wild Roses prefer some moisture in the soil but do not enjoy waterlogged ground or wet conditions. 'Once your dog rose is established, watering isn’t necessary,' Katie advises. 'When your plant is young, however, deep watering can be important during warm weather to ensure that the rose is able to bloom. Generally, watering once every one to two weeks is ideal. Once your plant starts to bloom, decreasing watering to every three weeks is recommended. Avoid watering the leaves as this can cause sun scorch.'
• Fertilizing: 'It can help to feed during the spring and summer if you want to maximize bloom production,' Katie continues. Using a fertilizer high in potash, such as this bloom booster feed available from Walmart, will do the trick. 'You can feed every three weeks during the active growing season to promote continued flowering,' Katie says. If, however, your dog rose is thriving, and producing plenty of flowers, I recommend leaving the fertilizer in the garden shed. These plants can typically access what they need from the soil.
• Pruning: 'Do not prune or deadhead spent blooms,' Katie says. 'Leave faded flowers to turn into rose hips for a dazzling fall display. Pruning is only necessary if there are dead or weak branches which can be done late in the season at the end of summer.' For any pruning jobs, be sure to use clean, sharp tools, like these Felco snips, available from Walmart. A word of caution, however, is that dog roses look their best when left alone, with natural, relaxed shapes and structures, so avoid heavy pruning and let this plant grow freely.
• Staking and support: For newly planted dog roses, it is a good idea to provide a framework for them to climb over. There are many different climbing plant support ideas to try, including trellises or wires along a garden wall. Green dog rose shoots can be gently woven into the plant support, or trained along a structure using gardening twine, available from Amazon.

FAQs

Can you grow dog roses in pots?

Yes, dog roses can be grown in pots. Growing in this way, however, will restrict and limit their vigor, although this might be the best option if you have a small yard. I would suggest repotting dog roses annually, to refresh soil and encourage new shoots. Remember to water your pots during spring and summer, as they can dry out very quickly during warm weather.

How big can dog roses grow?

Dog roses are vigorous plants that can eventually reach impressive sizes. Without pruning, dog roses can reach 10-15ft tall with a spread of 10-15ft. While I prefer to leave dog roses to grow in a natural way, pruning once every three years can help to limit its spread.

Wild roses can help to form a natural boundary that is both beautiful, with striking blooms, and practical - with thorny branches to create a naturally secure perimeter. Using wild roses for hedging is also a great way to maximize wildlife in your yard, with birds, bees and butterflies drawn to these nectar-rich offerings all year round. See our other suggestions for planting a hedge for wildlife, including plants that produce striking berry displays in fall and winter.

Growing your own fruit is both rewarding and challenging. Whether you get a successful harvest depends on things like pollination and your local climate. Growing blueberries is no different and getting a blueberry bush to fruit comes with its own hurdles.

Blueberries are native to North America and grow best in higher temperatures where they get plenty of sun. If you've tried to grow blueberries but aren't having much luck getting your blueberry bush to fruit, don't fret. It's a common problem many gardeners face and it just takes familiarizing yourself with optimal growing conditions to achieve an abundant harvest.

I've spoken to fruit growing experts to find out more about getting a blueberry bush to fruit and they've shared their top tips for planting a blueberry bush in the best place for fruit production.

3 ways to get a blueberry bush to fruit

Blueberries grow on woody shrubs that can be anywhere from 20 inches to six and a half feet tall. They grow across US hardiness zone 3 to zone 8, producing beautiful white blooms in spring and sweet berries from mid-summer to early fall. However, these plants do need a few essential requirements to be met to produce fruit.

It's also important to note that a young blueberry plant is less likely to produce fruit, and you can only expect a blueberry harvest after the bush is a couple of years old and well-established. Here's what the experts say about getting a blueberry bush to fruit.

1. Choose pollinator-friendly companion plants

Like many other fruiting plants, blueberries need pollination for fruit production. This refers to pollinators, like bees, butterflies and birds, transferring pollen between plants.

'The most common reason blueberries don't fruit is lack of pollination,' says Lindsey Chastain, growing expert and founder of The Waddle and Cluck. 'Planting bee-friendly plants near your blueberry bush will help bring in pollinators,' she suggests.

As Lindsey mentions, a simple solution to getting a blueberry bush to fruit is to encourage pollination by attracting more bees to your garden, as well as other pollinators. By choosing among the best plants for pollinators for your blueberry bush companion planting, you can increase the chances of your blueberry bush being pollinated.

You can even try growing the best container plants for pollinators if you wish to move them around your yard and encourage pollinators to pollinate a range of crops you're growing.

2. Grow two varieties of blueberries

Another pollination tip is to widen the variety of blueberry bushes you grow. This can help with cross-pollination and kickstart fruit production.

'You'll harvest more berries if you have at least two blueberry bushes, each of a different variety. Even though blueberries are self-fertile to a certain extent, having two varieties that bloom at the same time, planted near each other, will increase your crop,' explains Kathi Rodgers, CEO of Oak Hill Homestead.

Having more than one variety will enable cross-pollination, which tends to produce larger yields. This is the case for many fruiting plants and is something to also take into consideration when planting fruit trees.

Luckily, there are a fair few blueberry varieties to choose from - like this Brunswick Blueberry Bush from Nature Hills and this Duke Blueberry Bush from Nature Hills.

3. Opt for acidic soil for your blueberry bush

A likely cause of a lack of blueberry fruit is that it's growing in the wrong place. Not all soil types are right for all plants, and the pH level of soil can determine how well a plant thrives in a particular location.

'Blueberry bushes prefer acidic soil with a pH level of 4.0 to 5.5,' notes Kathi.

'The soil's pH can be lowered by adding peat moss, for instance. Help maintain this lower pH by watering blueberry bushes with a combination of water and coffee grounds,' she suggests.

As Kathi mentions, it is possible to make your soil more acidic by adding things like sphagnum peat moss and coffee grounds. That's why it's always important to test your soil before planting, to ensure it's the right type and has all the right nutrients for your plant.

If you're growing blueberries in pots, try using potting soil that is acidic or ericaceous - like this soil for acid-loving plants from Amazon.

FAQs

Will fertilizer help my blueberry bush produce fruit?

It is recommended to fertilize blueberries to encourage healthy plant growth. Blueberry bushes require plenty of nutrients to grow, including nitrogen, so using a blueberry bush fertilizer - available at Amazon - is wise. Be aware that you should only fertilize a blueberry bush in early spring before the growing season. This will help the plant lock in nutrients for when new growth does begin. As a result, your blueberry bush will be strong and healthy, ready for successful fruit production.

While pollination and high levels of soil acidity are essential for blueberry production, there are other things you can do to keep your blueberry bush healthy and encourage it to grow fruit. This includes pruning blueberries to cut them back and encourage new growth. However, it's best to do some research on when to prune blueberries so that you don't hinder its growth.

Hummingbird mint is a fragrant and colorful addition to any yard. As the name implies, this perennial is a hit with pollinators, known to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to its sweetly scented, tubular flowers that bloom on tall spikes. This impactful flowering perennial is ideal if you are looking for a plant to add structure and height to your garden borders.

There are over 20 different species of hummingbird mint, belonging to the Agastache genus, and the majority are native to the warmer regions of North and Central America. As you would expect, these plants thrive in sunny and sheltered spots, exhibiting a high degree of drought tolerance during the summer.

So, if you are looking for a long-flowering perennial that will be adored by pollinators and gardeners alike, hummingbird mint is the perfect choice. Here, one garden expert reveals how best to grow and care for this aromatic plant.

How to grow hummingbird mint

Often considered one of the best perennials, hummingbird mint is sure to add a sensory dimension to your yard. While the flower-loaded stems are sure to add vertical interest to a border, hummingbird mint species tend to have a sweet, licorice scent that lingers, perfuming the air during those long summer evenings.

Things to know about hummingbird mint

'Hummingbird mint, hyssops or agastache plants, however you choose to call them, are popular decorative perennials that smell just as good as they look,' says Rachel Bull, head of gardens at Homes & Gardens.

'Most hummingbird mint species can be grown from US hardiness zone 3 to US hardiness zone 10, making them a versatile and resilient perennial that most gardeners can grow.

'I love having the giant blue hummingbird mint, Agastache foeniculum, in my garden borders. The lilac-blue flower spikes have an unmistakable anise aroma, making these unusual herbs fragrant additions to any plot. If you are looking for flower bed ideas, I can highly recommend learning how to grow hummingbird mint,' Rachel continues.

What's more, hummingbird mints are ideal plants if want to encourage wildlife to your garden borders. 'These tubular, fragrant blooms are nectar-rich,' Rachel says, 'so if you are looking for ways to attract hummingbirds, bees and butterflies to your plot, these plants are sure to help.'

There are many different species and varieties of hummingbird mint, found in a range of colors including purple, pink, white and red. One variety that I recommend is hummingbird mint 'Blue Fortune', available from Walmart. With lilac-blue blooms on three-foot stems, this pollinator magnet works well when paired with the orange and yellow flowers of the hummingbird trumpet plant.

Growing advice for hummingbird mint

• Soil: 'Hummingbird mints will thrive in most soil conditions,' says Rachel. 'These low-maintenance plants are very easy to grow, even in poor soil.' When planting, ensure that you incorporate plenty of horticultural grit, available from Amazon, which will help to improve drainage. 'Hummingbird mints do better in borders with good drainage,' Rachel continues, 'so in places where there is heavy rainfall during spring and fall, I would suggest adding gravel or grit to the soil to prevent the roots from rotting.'
• Light: For the best results, grow hummingbird mint in full sun. 'These plants are native to warm regions and southern climates,' Rachel advises, 'so giving your plants as much sunshine as possible will produce the best results.'
• Watering: Most hummingbird mint species are ideal plants for dry gardens. They are drought-tolerant perennials, meaning that once they are established, watering is not necessary. It is best, however, to water your plants during the first year after planting, while they establish roots.
• Fertilizing: It is not necessary to fertilize hummingbird mint plants. Feeding your plants when it is not needed is a common fertilizing mistake to avoid and can result in leggy growth and reduced flower production. These perennials should be able to access all the nutrients they need from the soil.
• Pruning: If you are growing hummingbird mint as a perennial, your plant will die back in the fall. You can either prune your plants down the ground early in the fall or wait until late winter. Use clean, sharp tools, like these Felco snips, available from Walmart. Leaving dead stems and foliage can protect the base of your plant during the cold months of the year, acting as a mulch.

FAQs

Can I grow hummingbird mint in a pot?

Yes, hummingbird mints can be grown very easily in pots. Just be sure to position your container in a sunny spot, and remember to incorporate plenty of drainage with the potting soil during planting. These plants do not like sitting in water, so it is a good idea to do all you can to prevent waterlogging.

Lilac and blue varieties of hummingbird mint are popular options if you are looking for a native perennial to add to your purple borders. However, there are many other colors available, including white, pink and red. Why not try growing one salmon-peach species, Agastache rupestris, which is native to Arizona and New Mexico? With unusual, trumpet-like blooms, this plant will prove to be a hit with local hummingbirds, particularly during the hummingbird migration.

Orange hummingbird mint seeds are available to order from Walmart.

Pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and other insects and creatures, are vitally important to our plots. Sadly, you will often read about them in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Their numbers are plummeting as climate change and habitat loss destroys their habitat, and this will have a disastrous knock-on effect on us all.

One way in which we can help is by adding plants for pollinators, and fortunately, many hedging options are known to be a hit with these tiny beasties. So, if you are seeing wildlife garden ideas this year, consider planting a hedge that will be a hit with passing insects and birds.

What are pollinators?

Pollinators are small creatures, usually insects or birds, that transfer pollen from plant to plant to help them reproduce. They visit the plant to feed on its nectar and in doing so, accidentally collect pollen which they take to the next plant they feed on.

Bees are the best pollinators, followed by butterflies and moths, wasps, hoverflies, flies and even beetles that collect and transfer pollen that has fallen to the ground. Larger pollinators include hummingbirds and bats.

Hummingbirds are very important North American pollinators and bats help pollinate more than 500 plant species across the globe. They feed on insects close to the plants and also feed on nectar. Bats also help pollinate agave plants - so without them, we wouldn’t have any tequila to drink!

10 best hedge plants for pollinators

When planning a hedge for pollinators, which will also be of benefit to wider species of wildlife too, consider the soil type in your yard and whether it is acid or alkaline. This is easy to discover using a soil test, available from Amazon.

Aim to create as long a flowering period as possible and include evergreen trees and shrubs in the mix to offer year-round shelter and protection.

Here is our list of 10 of the best trees and shrubs to choose for a hedge for pollinators. You could use only one variety, or create a mixed hedge that offers something through every season of the year.

1. Buddleja

There is a reason why the common name of Buddleja davidii is ‘butterfly bush’. Their nectar-rich racemes of little flowers act as magnets to all forms of pollinators in the summer, but the butterfly is the most prevalent.

It is also popular with bees, hoverflies and ordinary flies that all feed on its nectar and spread its pollen. This shrub likes a sunny site with well-drained soil and can grow to 8ft tall. Buddleja flowers in shades of mauve and purple, as well as white. The variety Buddeja globosa (also known as the orange ball tree) has round, deep yellow flowers.

Prune in spring by 'stooling’, or cutting branches down to within a few inches of the ground.

Buddleja davidii is hardy to zone 5, dies back in zone 6 and is an evergreen from zone 8 heading south. Buddleja globosa is suitable for zones 5-6 and up.

Buddleja bushes can be bought from Walmart.

2. Hawthorn

Pollinators love the white and pink flowers of hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, while garden birds will feast on its red berries in the fall. Hawthorn is a hardy, fast-growing shrub that is low-maintenance. As well as providing nectar for pollinators, many varieties have spiny branches that make it ideal as part of a security hedge.

Hawthorn likes full sun and soil with a slightly acidic pH. Hawthorn doesn't need a lot of pruning but can become tangled and untamed if left to their own devices.

They also self-seed very easily so look for unwanted seedlings and either get rid of them or share them with a neighbor. Hawthorn is hardy from zone 3 to zone 9.

Hawthorn plants are available from Walmart.

3. Abelia grandiflora

Abelia grandiflora is an easy-care shrub that will bring butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. It can grow up to 10ft tall and provides a wealth of tubular blooms in shades of pink and yellow and also white that appear from spring right through to the fall. The leaves are also attractively colored.

A popular variety is ‘Rose Creek’ which bears flowers that change from pink to white, and green foliage that turns bronze in the fall, all held on trunks with striking deep red bark.

Abelia is one of the more pest and disease-resistant shrubs and needs little watering once it gets established.

Other varieties include ‘Glossy Abelia’ with its fragrant white flowers, ‘Sunshine Daydream’ which has attractive multi-colored foliage, and ‘Edward Goucher’ which has lilac blooms and bronze-tinged leaves.

Suitable for hardiness zones 4-9 as well as zone 10 and zone 11.

4. Privet

Privet, Ligustrum vulgare, is a fast-growing evergreen, making it an excellent species to include as part of your hedge-planting ideas. While it will quickly add privacy to your yard, its small white flowers will also draw in pollinating insects, especially the bees.

It is a hardy shrub and likes full sun or partial light shade. Water well after planting, and give mature trees a good soak occasionally during prolonged dry spells, though the species is remarkably drought tolerant.

Golden Privet is a charming example, with golden leaf margins. Most varieties of privet can tolerate conditions down to hardiness zone 3, making this a remarkably resilient choice.

Privet bushes are available to buy from Walmart.

5. Rambling rose

All hedges need a pretty rose scrambling through them, and rambling roses are relatively low-maintenance, with only one pruning requirement needed each year after they have finished blooming.

Their flowers will bring the pollinators flocking, and if left untrimmed their faded flowers will turn into red or orange hips to brighten the winter days.

Rambling roses are suitable for zones 5-9 and are happy in most soils but will do best in a light spot where they get up to six hours of sunshine a day. Water when first planted to help them get established, and mulch with well-rotted compost or manure in winter to feed and protect the roots.

Varieties include ‘Phyllis Bide’, which has yellow flowers tinged with delicate pink, the repeat-flowering ‘Super Excelsa’ which has dramatic, semi-double crimson blooms. In addition, ‘The Albrighton Rambler’ is relatively disease-resistant and has soft pink flowers.

You can buy rambling rose plants from Walmart.

6. Buttonbush

The buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis, is a fast-growing shrub that combines beauty with functionality and toughness. It is also a fabulous plant for drawing pollinators to your yard, in particular bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds.

Its unusual white, pincushion flowers appear in late summer and the leaves are a food plant for moth and butterfly larvae. It even gives interest in the fall and winter, thanks to its red berries - though they are popular with birds so may vanish before you have time to appreciate them!

Buttonbush grows to 12ft tall and likes full sun, though it can cope with light shade. It dislikes dry conditions so does best in damp soil that is neutral to acidic. It is hardy in zones 5 to 11.

7. Reblooming lilac

Ever-popular lilacs, Syringa vulgaris, generally have far too short a blooming season, but new on the block is a reblooming variety known (perhaps a little unfortunately!) as the ‘Bloomerang’ (Syringa x 'Penda').

Reaching around 5ft tall, it grows shorter than the traditional lilac, so would be an attractive addition to the front of your hedge for pollinators.

Its flowers are lilac or purple, appearing in late spring and again in the fall, and it blooms best in a sunny spot. It can tolerate light shade but won't flower as profusely.

We usually prune lilac straight after flowering, but don't touch your Bloomerang any time between the fall and spring as this will remove the wood that produces the blooms. Lilacs need a period of cold to flower well, so will grow happily between zones 3-7.

Reblooming lilac plants are available to buy from Walmart.

8. Hibiscus

The large, exotic flowers of hibiscus, Hibiscus spp., make it one of the best flowering shrubs for the backyard. They are a draw for a wide range of pollinators, from butterflies to hummingbirds and even dragonflies.

Hardy hibiscus is a North American native and its large flowers range in color from white to pink, red and magenta. Each flower only lasts a couple of days but will swiftly be replaced by a new bud, so they are delightful shrubs.

Hibiscus grows to 7ft tall and up to 4ft wide, so are ideal for the middle of a hedge. They prefer full sun but in hotter regions will need some protection from the full force of midday heat.

Hardy hibiscus are suitable for hardiness zones 4-9, though may need wrapping in protective fleece on colder nights in more northerly states. Tropical varieties are suitable for zones 9-11. Some hibiscus flowers can be eaten, so if you are interested in edible hedge plants, this might be one to try. However, always check on the species and whether it is safe to consume.

A wide selection of hibiscus plants are available from Walmart.

9. Honeysuckle

Although usually grown up a trellis or pergola, honeysuckles (varieties of Lonicera) also thrive well scrambling through a hedge and their deliciously scented flowers are wonderful for all sorts of pollinators.

There are several varieties of honeysuckle, and some will flower in winter. Many varieties are deciduous but some are evergreen. They are shade-tolerant, which makes them ideal for growing among the other plants in your pollinator-friendly hedge.

Do be wary of the more invasive varieties, which include Morrow's honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii), Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), Bell’s honeysuckle (Lonicera x bella) and Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).

Luckily many varieties are non-invasive, including the US native trumpet honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, which are native to the East Coast and hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9.

Honeysuckle plants are available to buy from Walmart.

10. Crab apple

There are more than 30 varieties of crab apple (Malus sylvestris), and they are one of the best trees for pollinators and the backyard as a whole. Most varieties will grow well in zone 4 to 8.

They can grow up to 20ft tall and in late spring create a froth of white and pink blossom that will bring the pollinators flocking. This is extremely useful if you are growing other apple trees in your yard, as crab apples will help to pollinate them all!

In the fall, crab apples develop large crops of small, tart fruits that we can use for jams and jellies, but which also provide vital late sugar for pollinators to feed upon.

Crab apples like a sunny spot and need little supplementary watering once established. We have some in our wildlife-friendly hedge at home and they have meshed beautifully with the other trees and shrubs.

Varieties include ‘Prairifire’, which has dark pink flowers and fruit that lasts well into the winter, or the shorter ‘Aberina’ which grows to 10ft and has sweet white blossom.

FAQs

 When should I plant my wildlife hedge? 

The best time to plant a hedge is in spring, when the soil is warming up, or in the fall when the soil is still warm after summer.

Both seasons can expect to see some rainfall, which will help your plants get established. These are also the seasons where bare root trees and shrubs are available. Bought with the roots loose, rather than in containers, they are an economical way of creating a hedge and even though the plants look small, they will grow quickly once they get going.

What plants can I use as ground cover beneath my hedge?

Ground cover is important under hedges because the plants retain moisture in the soil and also provide food for pollinators.

There is a wide variety of attractive, ground cover plants for shade, including pulmonaria, cyclamen and hellebores, which can be grown alongside foliage plants such as ferns.

A hedge for pollinators will also benefit the local ecosystem as a whole. It will not only look attractive all year round and increase your privacy but will improve pollination so you get better flowers and bigger crops.

Dianthus, or pinks, are the perfect plants for a summer border. If you are looking for brightly colored and scented blooms, dianthus are sure to impress. These long-flowering and low-maintenance plants are ideal for any backyard, helping to add floral color at the front of borders, lining paths, or brightening up your container displays.

Dianthus, also referred to as carnations, are a large family of plants made up of over 300 different species. They can be found in all different shapes, sizes and colors, from long-stemmed yellow blooms to low-growing full sun ground cover plants. While working as a gardener in the Chianti region of Tuscany a few years ago, I grew Dianthus 'Devon Cream' amongst sharp topiary structures. This peach-tinted variety glistened in the Italian sunshine.

These popular and versatile plants are relatively easy to grow and can work in large and small spaces alike. By following a few simple steps, such as learning how to deadhead dianthus, you can ensure that your plot is filled with fragrant flowers for much of spring and summer. Here, two gardening experts share their top tips for growing dianthus.

How to grow dianthus

Dianthus plants can be biennials, perennials or evergreens. Whatever species or variety you choose to grow, and there are many to pick from, dianthus plants will be sure to steal the show when in bloom with their brilliant color and fragrance. What's more, dianthus are popular plants for pollinators, known to attract birds, butterflies and bees during the growing season.

Things to know about dianthus

'Dianthus are versatile plants and can be grown in US hardiness zone 5 to US hardiness zone 9,' says Gail Pabst, gardening expert and Marketing Director for the National Garden Bureau.

'They are heavy bloomers and tend to have strong stems, making them useful for those gardeners planning a cut flower garden, providing you with armloads of colorful blooms that are effective in a vase,' Gail adds.

There are many spectacular varieties to choose from, but Gail recommends the ColorPop collection, for their 'bold blooms complemented by silver foliage.' Once established, these plants are 'low-maintenance and tough, thriving in the scorching summer months.'

For a colorful and fragrant variety, why not try a dianthus variety from the Constant Beauty collection, available from Walmart, with flowers that smell just as good as they look?

Growing advice for dianthus

• Soil: 'Dianthus plants thrive in well-drained, slightly alkaline soil,' says Susan Betz, herb expert and Honorary Master Gardener. They are generally versatile and resilient plants and so will tolerate most soils, but - as Susan says - they tend to grow best with a soil pH above 7.0. If you are unsure about the pH of your soil, consider using a soil tester kit, available from Walmart. 'These plants grow well in rocky areas,' Susan adds, so if you are seeking rock garden ideas, dianthus should be a consideration.
• Light: 'These pretty plants do best with full sun exposure,' Susan adds, 'so finding a position in your yard with at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun is important.' While they will tolerate part-sun-part-shade, as Susan says, a bright, sunny spot in your borders will generate the best results.
• Watering: Dianthus are generally drought-tolerant plants and can survive dry spells during the spring and summer. However, for any young plants recently added to your yard, I recommend regular watering to ensure they can establish roots. From the second year, they should be self-reliant.
• Fertilizing: This plant does not require fertilizing, and can usually find what it needs in the soil without added nutrients.
• Deadheading: Deadheading, the process of removing spent flowers, is an important job when caring for dianthus plants. Once the blooms begin to brown, you can remove spent flowerheads to encourage more blooms. Using clean, sharp pruning snips, such as these Felco pruners, available from Walmart, carefully cut stems just above a leaf node.

FAQs

Can I grow dianthus in pots?

Yes, dianthus plants can be grown in pots. While they will tolerate dry conditions, be mindful that any pot plants can dry out much quicker than those grown in the ground. For this reason, be sure to water and feed your pots during spring and summer when the temperatures rise.

Dianthus plants are sure to add interest and impact to your borders and, with the right care, these blooms will last long into the summer months. For more plant inspiration, see our guide on how to grow nicotiana, otherwise known as the flowering tobacco, for unusual and striking flowers to add to your dianthus collection this year.

Nicotiana, commonly known as flowering tobacco, is valued as an ornamental and long-lasting plant for the summer border. Native to Central and South America, the leaves of various nicotiana species have been used in the production of tobacco products for thousands of years.

As a gardener, I have grown many different species and varieties of nicotiana, not as a micro tobacco producer, I hasten to add, but because these cottage garden plants are summer stars in garden borders. Typically flowering from June right through until October, nicotiana plants are tough and reliable, helping to maintain interest as summer comes to its scorching crescendo.

In a previous gardening job, I grew woodland tobacco, Nicotiana sylvestris, with its prolific white trumpet-like blooms that are considered some of the best fragrant flowers. For any moonlight gardeners out there, this species is known to attract moths at night. My favorite variety, however, would have to be Nicotiana 'Lime Green', seen in the image above. With a profusion of lemon-lime blooms that look just as good in a vase as they do in the yard, I challenge anyone not to adore this plant. Here, I share everything I know about how to grow nicotiana with 3 top tips from plant experts.

How to grow and care for nicotiana

Nicotiana has a preference for full sun and high humidity, thriving in tropical climates from where it originates, notably in Brazil, Colombia and Argentina. If you reside in US hardiness zone 10 or above, you can grow nicotiana species as perennials. However, for gardeners in cooler zones, the flowering tobacco plant is usually grown as an annual, blooming all summer until the first frost.

1. Deadheading nicotiana will extend flowering

'Flowering tobacco plants are celebrated for their long-lasting blooms,' says Gail Pabst, gardening expert and Marketing Director for the National Garden Bureau. 'Blooming from June right up until the first frost, these late summer flowers are sure to impress.'

As with other perennials and annuals, removing faded flowers - or deadheading - can help to extend the floral show. Whether you have planted nicotiana in borders or containers, deadheading is a surefire way to increase the number of blooms that each plant produces.

'If you are looking to maximize flowers, deadheading flowers is crucial,' Gail adds. 'This means removing each stem after the blooms have faded.' I would suggest using your hands to carefully remove faded or browning flowers, as can be seen in the image above. Once entire flower stems have finished blooming, use pruning snips to cut down to a leaf node.

Deadheading every 2 to 3 days is a good idea during spring and summer, and spending a short amount of time in the evening is a calming activity that will help your plants maintain flower production.

One common deadheading mistake to avoid is using the wrong tools. You do not need to use large or heavy shears for deadheading, small pruning snips, available from Walmart, will do the job just fine.

2. Fertilizing nicotiana can give plants a boost

Managing soil health is a crucial part of gardening, and ensuring that your plants have what they need to thrive is important. While some plants can grow well without fertilizer, nicotiana species can benefit from feeding during the summer months, so be sure to add this annual to your list of plants to fertilize in July.

'If you are looking for plants for pollinators, nicotiana are excellent annuals to grow,' Gail says. 'Flowering tobacco plants are known to attract hummingbirds, butterflies and moths, so you want to make sure these plants have all the nutrients they need to bloom.'

'If the soil is of poor quality, you can fertilize nicotiana,' Gail continues. 'These flowers prefer a nutrient-rich soil, so feeding your plants can improve plant health and flowering.'

If you are growing nicotiana in containers, be sure to use good quality organic potting soil, available from Amazon. This will help to give your plants all the essential nutrients they need.

3. Keep nicotiana away from other nightshade plants

'Nicotiana is part of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, meaning that they are related to eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes and pepper plants,' says Gail.

'While tobacco plants are relatively pest-free, one problem to look out for is the transmission of Tobacco Mosaic Virus,' Gail continues. This virus can do significant damage to any plants in the Solanaceae family, causing discoloration of foliage and leaf drop.

'It is recommended not to plant these nicotiana near or in your vegetable garden,' Gail adds. 'This virus can spread very easily, so avoid planting nightshade family members close to one another.'

Organic pest sprays are available from Amazon.

FAQs

Is nicotiana an annual or a perennial?

Nicotiana plants are typically grown as annuals, blooming through summer until the first frost in fall. In warmer, southern regions, such as US hardiness zone 9 and above, flowering tobacco plants can be grown as short-lived perennials. They typically can grow for 2 or 3 years, so learning how to grow and care for nicotiana is important, and propagating new plants yearly is a good idea.

Nicotiana are striking flowering plants that can bloom for much of the growing season. By following these 3 tips, your plants will thrive and add plenty of color to the yard. For more gardening inspiration see our guide on how to grow catmint, for a fragrant perennial to plant in your beds this year.

If you are looking for English cottage garden plants, I do not think there is anything better than the scent and sight of catmint tumbling over walls or edging the garden path. With silver-green foliage, attractive perfume, and trumpet-like lilac blooms, catmint is a real performer, earning its place at the front of the garden border.

This aromatic flowering perennial is a favorite of mine, having grown catmint in several gardens where I have worked as a professional gardener. Catmint, or Nepeta, is one of those long-flowering plants that can add color and interest for much of the spring and summer, and with the right care, catmint will not fail to impress both gardeners and cats alike.

Considered one of the best perennials, learning how to grow catmint is relatively straightforward, but there are a few things to know about soil, lighting requirements, and pruning that will ensure that your plants thrive. Here, garden experts share top tips to guarantee catmint success.

How to grow catmint

With scented foliage and flowers, catmint is a reliable plant for the backyard. This low-growing plant will form attractive and colorful clumps in the backyard, returning year after year. The common name, catmint, is a result of this plant attracting cats, so be warned, you might soon be attracting members of the local feline community to your yard.

What to know about catmint

Catmint is a hardy and versatile flowering plant. 'Growing well in US hardiness zone 3 to US hardiness zone 8, catmint grows best in a sunny spot in the yard,' says Gail Pabst, gardening expert and Marketing Director for the National Garden Bureau.

Native to parts of Europe, Africa and Asia, Nepeta is a popular perennial, with different varieties grown in garden borders and containers across the world. One of the most popular and most used varieties is Nepeta racemosa 'Walker's Low', available as starter plants from Walmart. I have planted and grown this variety myself, and with the right care it flowers right through until fall.

'With the right maintenance, catmint will produce abundant summer flowers,' Gail adds. 'The trick is to know when to prune catmint at just the right time to encourage new growth.' Pruning in late winter or spring is generally recommended, but deadheading and trimming flower stems during the growing season can also help to encourage continued growth.

How to grow catmint

• Soil: Catmint, or Nepeta, must have free-draining soil. I have grown these Mediterranean plants in two different gardens when working as a gardener in Italy, and these plants tend to thrive in well-draining, loose, almost rocky soils. I would avoid planting catmint in heavy, clay-based soils, or any borders prone to waterlogging during the winter or spring.
• Light: 'Catmint plants need sunshine, and lots of it,' says Mike Murphy, garden expert and owner at You Had Me At Gardening. While these perennials can tolerate partial shade, 'yards in full sun will see the best results.'
• Watering: If you are looking to conserve water, catmint is a good perennial to plant. Considered drought-tolerant planting, catmint can grow fine with relatively little water during the spring and summer, as is common for plants with silver foliage. As with any newly planted perennials, I recommend watering at least once per week during spring and summer for the first year, just while they establish their root system.
• Fertilizing: Catmint is one of those plants that thrives on neglect. I would not advise fertilizing catmint, and this perennial grows just fine in nutrient-poor soils. One of the most common fertilizing mistakes is feeding plants when they do not need it, and with catmint, it is sensible to put the fertilizer back in the garden shed. For a boost, I would suggest annually mulching your borders in the fall or winter, which can help to improve the quality of your beds and provide everything that your perennials need. Mulch is available to buy online from Walmart.
• Pruning: 'March is the best time to prune catmint,' Mike continues. 'The trick is to prune your catmint plants just as new growth is beginning to emerge in spring.' Mike also recommends trimming your plants during the growing season, typically around May or June, to 'encourage vigorous growth and a second flowering later in the season.'

FAQs

Can you grow catmint in pots?

Yes, catmint can be grown in pots, which is a good idea for those gardeners with smaller yards. While catmint is a drought-tolerant perennial, plants grown in pots will require more water than if they were grown in the ground, so monitoring watering requirements is important during the summer months.

Catmint is a low-maintenance perennial that is sure to add color and fragrance to any yard. For more information about using fragrant perennials, see our guide on how to design a fragrant garden, and fill your outside space with perfume this year.

While working in my yard one after I became aware of a very loud buzzing sound. Looking across the fences, I saw my bee-keeping neighbor’s honey makers were swarming over their hive.

I was awed by the intensity of the sound and the activity, but still happy to be observing from a safe distance considering the many thousands of bees that swirled in the sky.

But sometimes colonies of bees can make themselves comfortable a little too close to home, building nests in quiet lofts or in wall cavities. Given their value as pollinators though, the decision over whether and how to remove them is a complex one.

We look at what to do if you suspect you have bees in your property, and get expert advice on how to remove or rehome them.

What type of bees might be found in the house?

'A honey bee colony is made up of 10,000 to 30,000 bees, most of which are female, with one queen and a few thousand seasonal male drones,’ says Juliana Rangel PhD, an associate professor of apiculture and honey bee scientist.

‘They are cavity nesters residing in man-made hives, tree cavities, and other crevices. This includes spaces in the home such as between walls, stairways, or any other compartment with an opening to the outside and a capacity of at least 20-40 liters.

'Most colonies will move into homes or buildings during the reproductive (or swarming) season, generally in the spring and summer. The telling sign is seeing dozens of bees going in and out of the walls during the day, which is the forager bees looking for floral nectar and pollen. If the colony is large, you may even hear some buzzing through the walls.

‘Most of the native bees you’ll find in buildings are carpenter bees. These can be a nuisance because the females dig round holes in wood, such as beams, to lay their eggs. Carpenter bees look like bumblebees in that they are large and black. But, unlike their fuzzy mimics, carpenter bees are generally slick with few hairs and shiny bodies (which are generally black or dark in color).’

Bumblebees are typically larger and rounder than honey bees. They gather nectar and pollen from flowers for food, but don’t have the same wax-producing glands as honey bees, so can’t make the honeycomb cells used for storing honey. They tend to live in small nests hidden in the ground or some other well-protected area.

Should you remove a colony?

‘Many native bee species are endangered, so, if you are able to cohabit with them, it may be a good idea to let them complete their life cycle and they can move on to another location and continue their important role as pollinators,’ says Juliana.

‘A family could live in harmony with a bees nest still in place if it’s in a location where they don’t pose a direct threat to daily activities,’ Shannon Harlow Ellis, an associate certified entomologist. ‘They might need to avoid the area to not disturb the bees. Implementing a pollinator protection plan can also help manage the situation safely.

‘This approach would change significantly if a family member had a life-threatening allergy to bees, and immediate removal of the nest would be necessary to prevent the risk of stings. A professional pest control or a beekeeper should be contacted to safely relocate the nest. Additionally, the allergic family member should always carry an epinephrine auto-injector and try to avoid exposure to bees.’

What risks are there to the house?

‘If honey bees have turned a wall void into a hive, it could lead to several issues,’ adds Shannon.

‘Over time it could damage the wall structure due to the weight and the honey seeping into the materials. The presence of the honey and wax could attract other pests, such as ants or rodents.

‘There could be an increased risk of stings if the bees feel threatened or they start to enter the living spaces through small gaps or vents.

‘And If the hive is not maintained or if bees die within the walls, it could lead to unpleasant odors.’

How to remove them

Honey bees pollinate 80 per cent of flowering plants in the US and need to be protected wherever possible, so it is always advisable to call in a professional to deal with them.

‘Depending on where you live, there may be laws or regulations with regards to how honey bee colonies can be safely removed,’ advizes Julianna. ‘Some places may stipulate only beekeepers with appropriate removal permits can do “live” removals of the bees.

‘If this is the case, they have to destroy the walls to reach the area where the developing bees and the queen are located. The remover may cut out all the combs and use specialized vacuums to get the bees out of the crevice without killing them. The remover will then relocate the collected combs and bees into a man-made hive.

‘Using pesticides isn’t the preferred way to get rid of colonies in buildings, but it may be the only way if they are hard to reach or too aggressive to manage safely. Most locations require that the person performing this type of removal hold a pesticide application permit.'

For a carpenter bee infestation, experts recommend a powder pesticide dusted into the hole they’re bored. Always wear protective clothing when doing this to avoid stings. Don’t seal up the hole immediately though – leave it open for the bees to continue using it and track the pesticide inside. Seal it up in fall, a few days after the final application.

Keep these pollinators in the yard by creating their very own bee hotel. Read our guide on the best place to position your air bee and bee.

Joro spiders are the subject of much talk this month, as these giant yellow-patterned spiders are spreading along the East Coast of the US. This summer it is expected increasing numbers of these critters will be seen across southern and eastern states, making their way up to New York.

These spiders have an intimidating appearance, encouraging many to repel Joro spiders from their yard. 'Joro spiders are in the orb-weaver family and build giant webs,' explains Trevor Richard, entomologist and pest control expert at Fox Pest Control. 'The females grow to 3-4 inches (the size of the palm of your hand) and have yellow markings, while the males are much smaller and brown.' These spiders use their giant webs to catch wind and fly many miles at a time - hence being known as 'flying' spiders.

Joro spiders' webs can reach over six feet long, draping on trees and shrubs. But how do they affect our backyards, and should we concerned by their presence? Well, if you have created a garden for pollinators or have plenty of plants for pollinators in your yard, you might want to know about Joro spiders' feeding habits on other insects. Here's what experts say about how Joro spiders can affect plants.

Will Joro spiders affect plants?

Experts say there's no need to be concerned about the direct impact of Joro spiders on plants, as these creepy crawlies tend to leave them alone.

'There isn't any evidence supporting Joro spiders affecting plants or trees. They are considered a nuisance due to spinning webs that can cover landscapes, but no damage to plants or trees has been reported,' says Trevor.

However, their feeding habits on other insects can have an indirect impact on your plants.

Reduced pollinator numbers

Pollinators are integral in helping plants to thrive and grow, which is why so many gardeners aim to attract butterflies and attract bees to their yards. However, these insects are exactly what Joro spiders are on the hunt for.

'Joro spiders aren't picky with what gets caught in their webs, so they do feed on pollinators like bees and butterflies,' says Allan Bossel, pest control expert and operations expert at BBE Bed Bug Exterminator.

Predation on pollinators from the increased populations of Joro spiders can affect the pollination of your garden plants. 'Plants can suffer from reduced biodiversity and poor health due to under-pollination leading to diminished numbers of flowers and fruits,' notes Allan.

However, experts do say that this shouldn't be a major concern as Joro spiders predominantly feed on other insects and help to get rid of mosquitoes and stink bugs.

The only other way the presence of Joro spiders may disturb your yard is through their giant webs. 'These webs do not directly damage most plants but serve as an annoyance to gardeners and ruin the natural look of your landscape. You don't want to walk into one of those webs while you're mowing your lawn,' says Allan.

Get rid of Joro spider webs

FAQs

Do Joro spiders bite?

Joro spiders are orb-weaving spiders that target other small insects. Even though they appear quite large and their colors make them intimidating, these critters are not deemed dangerous to human health. This doesn't mean they won't bite, but they only have small mouth parts and will leave you alone if you leave them alone. If you are bitten by a Joro spider, experts say it will feel like a bee sting. However, you should always seek professional medical advice if you are concerned about any insect bites.

Joro spider populations are spreading along the East Coast of the US this summer, but there's no need to be too alarmed by the sight of these eight-legged critters.

They won't harm plant health directly but may reduce the number of pollinators in your yard. As a result, you might want to put some precautions in place to repel Joro spiders and keep spiders away.

Self-seeding plants are ideal for gardeners looking to incorporate wildflower garden ideas in their yard. Self-seeders can be annuals or perennials and are defined as plants that readily reseed themselves almost anywhere and everywhere. These plants help to create a natural, wild look, and what could be better than an unlimited, free supply of colorful flowers?

Using self-seeders is a good idea if you want to encourage wildlife in your yard. Many of these flowers - for example, native species such as blue vervain - are popular with birds, bees and butterflies. The trick with these plants is to leave them alone so that they can set seed and bloom. While we might want to tidy up self-seeders and cut back fading blooms, these plants must be given time to produce and scatter seeds to maintain the floral show.

So, if you want to create an eco-friendly garden full of flowers, consider planting some of these self-seeding flowers. Here, I share some of my favorites that I have grown working as a professional gardener and can recommend for your yard.

Best self-seeding flowers

Self-seeding plants will disperse and scatter seeds across any garden or yard, germinating and growing in your borders, pots, and in those impossible spots, like small cracks in the garden wall.

As a gardener, I cannot recommend self-seeding plants enough. These plants offer an unlimited and free supply of plants, and the continuous cycle of bloom-seed-bloom will repeat for as long as you allow.

What's more, pollinators adore these blooms, so if you are looking for wildlife garden ideas, these plants should be at the top of your list.

1. Candelabra primulas

One of the best plants for wet soil, candelabra primulas are a must-have plant if there is a damp or boggy area in the backyard. Best grown in US hardiness zones 6 to 8, candelabra primulas need consistent moisture to thrive.

'Candelabra primulas will dazzle in damp gardens,' says Rachel Bull, head of gardens at Homes & Gardens. 'Blooming in a range of colors, these primulas will illuminate shady spots with pops of orange, red and purple.'

'Grow these primulas along a riverbank or in a bog garden where they can freely spread,' Rachel adds. 'As with other self-seeders, the trick is to leave the faded flower stems to set seed.'

Candelabra primulas are available to order online from Amazon.

2. Satin flower

Satin flowers, or Sisyrinchium striatum, are striking plants that I have grown in several gardens where I have worked. With attractive, iris-like foliage, satin flowers will add height and structure to your borders.

These plants grow best in US hardiness zone 5 to US hardiness zone 9 and produce small, yellow flowers that typically bloom in late spring. In milder regions, satin flowers can grow as evergreens, holding on to their foliage even through winter. I prune any brown or yellow leaves in early spring to maintain an attractive plant.

Thankfully for gardeners, this perennial plant is a notorious self-seeder, so long as you leave flower stems to set seed after blooming has finished.

There are other species of Sisyrinchium to grow, such as Sisyrinchium angustifolium, available to order online at Walmart.

3. Poppies

There are over 250 species of poppies, blooming in different shapes, sizes and colors. Depending on the types of poppies you grow and your local climate, these plants can be either annuals or perennials, flowering for much of the spring and summer.

When considering how to grow poppies, conditions will differ between species. In general, these plants prefer a sunny position with well-draining soil. Most poppy species, including corn poppies, Papaver rhoeas, or the Welsh poppy, Papaver cambricum, are prolific self-seeders.

Once seed pods begin to brown, carefully open the pod using your fingernails. Each pod will contain hundreds of seeds that you can scatter in chosen areas of the yard.

Poppy seeds are available to buy online from Burpee.

4. Forget-me-nots

Forget-me-nots are popular cottage garden plants, prized for their small flowers that can line garden paths or grow at the front of a border. They are often considered one of the best spring flowers for shade, growing best in US hardiness zone 3 to zone 8.

Considered some of the best part-shade annuals, different varieties can flower in pink, white, and light blue, adding color and interest to darker spots under trees and shrubs. Once you have forget-me-nots in your yard, they will return year after year, happily self-seeding in borders and containers.

Forget-me-not seeds are available to buy online from Walmart.

5. Verbena

If you are considering naturalistic planting design ideas, or looking for a native plant that will readily self-seed, then blue vervain, Verbena hastata, is the plant to grow.

'While the foliage is coarse, the tall spikes of purple-blue flowers are graceful and are adored by pollinators,' says Ali McEnhill, plant expert and owner of the Old Dairy Nursery in the Hudson Valley.

When considering how to grow verbena, Ali adds that 'it is extremely easy to grow in moist or average soil in a full sun position.' The flower spikes should be left to produce and scatter seed and will provide good fall interest in borders and backyards when dusted with frost.

Blue vervain plants are available to buy online from Nature Hills.

FAQs

What self-seeder would you recommend for a dry, sunny yard?

There is no better self-seeder for a dry, sunny yard than California poppies, Eschscholtzia californica. Native to warm regions in the US and Mexico, California poppies are a great addition to any garden. These poppies will happily self-seed, eventually filling borders and pots with colorful blooms. California poppy seeds are available to order from Walmart.

Planting self-seeding flowers will ensure that you have a continuous and free supply of blooms, year after year, and pollinators will flock to your borders. For more information on growing self-seeding plants, see our guide on how to create a wildflower front yard.

For more flower care information, see our guide on how to grow lisiathus, for a popular native flower that looks great in a vase.

Tree peonies, Paeonia suffruticosa, are the taller, tree-like relatives of the much loved herbaceous peony famed for its brilliant spring blooms. Tree peonies should be thought of as small shrubs, growing up to 6 feet tall and wide, making this a decorative plant that is suitable for the back of the garden border.

You may already know how to grow peonies, but why not add a tree species to your collection this year? While not as common as standard herbaceous species, tree peonies are prized for their large flowers, that can measure up to 10 inches in diameter, blooming in a range of colors including pink, white and yellow.

What's more, with such large, colorful and fragrant blooms, several varieties of tree peony are popular plants for pollinators, often seen humming with bees, butterflies and birds in the spring and summer months. Here, we share expert tips and advice from peony experts on how to grow tree peonies in pots and borders your yard.

How to grow a tree peony

Tree peonies are in the same plant family as compact herbaceous peonies, but there are some differences to be aware of when comparing the two. For example, many gardeners will know that herbaceous peonies attract ants, with buds often seen loaded with ants at the time of blooming. However, unlike herbaceous peonies, the flower buds of tree peonies do not produce the sweet sap that attracts ants.

Things to know about tree peonies

'Tree peonies are so named for their woody stems, appearing shrub-like when compared to the common herbaceous peony,' says Kady Adelman, peony expert and Retail Manager at Adelman Peony Gardens, Oregon. 'They are generally slow growing,' Kady adds, 'eventually reaching anywhere between 4 to 8 feet.'

'While tree peonies defoliate in the fall, the woody stems stay intact above ground,' Kady continues. 'They tend to bloom earlier than standard peonies, and have larger flowers.'

'In addition, tree peonies are relatively hardy,' Kady adds, 'growing well in US hardiness zone 4 to US hardiness zone 8.'

'Some of the most easy varieties to grow include Alice Harding, Boreas, Gauguin, Hephestos, and Waucedah Princess,' Kady says. 'Some of these varieties have nectar-rich, open blooms, making them more accessible for pollinators.'

Growing advice for tree peonies

• Soil: Tree peonies grow best in well-draining soil that is slightly alkaline. If you are unsure of the soil pH in your yard, consider using something like this pH meter from Walmart. For best results, apply a loam-based top dressing or leaf mould to your soil every year, helping to improve the quality of your soil and add essential nutrients. I tend to mulch my borders in the all, using an organic leaf mold.
• Light: These plants grow best in locations with 'at least half a day to a full day of sun,' Kady says. 'It is best to plant in a spot with morning sun followed by afternoon shade.' When grown in full-sun, the blooms will fade much sooner than they otherwise would in a partially shaded spot. In addition, leaves can scorch in full sun, causing your tree peony to wither and defoliate.
• Watering: Water your tree peony deeply during the growing season, soaking the soil once a week when the temperatures rise. It is best to use your hand and feel the soil underneath your tree peony, to assess how dry the ground is. You can also monitor the foliage, as browning leaves or leaf-drop is a sign your plant is thirsty, but it is best to water before your plant gets to this stage.
• Fertilizing: Considering when to fertilize peonies, Kady recommends 'fertilizing your tree peony twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall,' Kady adds. Use a foliar feed, such as this fish fertilizer available from Walmart, helping to provide essential nutrients for your plant.
• Pruning: One common peony pruning mistake is to prune at the wrong time, so make sure you know when to shape your tree peony. 'Pruning can be done to maintain an attractive and compact shape for your plant,' Kady says. 'The best time to do this is in the summer after blooms fade but before the buds for next years begin to develop.'

Adding a tree peony to your yard can help to elevate your shrub collection, and the blooms of this unusual plant will not fail to disappoint.

For more information on growing peonies, see our guide on peony pests, to help identify and combat peony problems in your yard.

Marigolds deserve a place in any vegetable garden. They are ideal to grow with vegetables for multiple reasons. Not only do marigolds look great, but they are also edible and fantastic additions as a companion plants in any vegetable garden.

I have always grown marigolds in my vegetable gardens. They featured in all the kitchen gardens I worked in and I also grow them in my home vegetable plots.

The best types for a vegetable garden are French marigolds (Tagetes patula) and the signet, or gem, types. They are smaller-growing marigolds, compared to the large and statuesque African marigolds, and can be utilized in many ways around your crops.

Should I plant marigolds in my vegetable garden?

The answer is, yes, I am confident you should plant marigolds in a vegetable garden. I have found them versatile, productive, and practical plants over my years of using them in kitchen gardens. To help you admire marigolds as much as I do, I look at four ways to use them in a vegetable garden and the benefits they will offer.

Plant them around the edges of beds

Marigolds will look fabulous planted as bright and colorful borders around your vegetable beds or raised garden beds.

The vivid blooms in shades of yellow, orange, and red are great flowers to attract bees and other pollinators into your vegetable garden. They also flower for a long period - especially if you deadhead marigolds to keep them blooming - and will bring those beneficial insects into your garden throughout the season. Having more bees and pollinators means your vegetable plants will stand a higher chance of being pollinated and you will be rewarded with higher yields.

As well as insects pollinating your plants, attracting those beneficial insects with marigolds can also be a fantastic form of natural pest control. It can help get rid of aphids and other pests that may trouble your vegetable plants as the insects drawn to the marigold blooms will eat those unwanted visitors to your garden.

Plant them between vegetables

Marigolds can also do a useful job planted among your vegetables, either individually, in blocks, or as rows between crops.

Marigolds are great for companion planting. Marigolds keep bugs away and are one of the best pest-repellent plants you can add to a vegetable garden. There is a long list of benefits that marigolds offer, including being a fly-repellent plant, wasp-repellent plant, and mosquito-repellent plant. The plant is also reputed to repel cabbage moths, tomato hornworms, squash bugs, and Mexican bean beetles.

They actively repel many insects but also attract others. This means they can also be used as trap plants for pest control. Marigolds can attract those insects and prevent them from affecting other crops they may otherwise wreak havoc on. For example, slugs are attracted to marigolds and the plants can also attract thrips and keep them away from other crops. Find out more about marigolds as trap plants in our guide.

Plant them in a greenhouse

I always used marigolds as part of planning a greenhouse. I planted particularly pungent varieties of marigolds - including ‘Little Gem’ and ‘Orange Gem’ - as part of pest control for growing tomatoes and chili peppers.

Growing marigolds with tomatoes can protect plants from nematodes in the soil, as well as whiteflies, thrips, and tomato hornworms. The marigolds will thrive in the greenhouse, as they love similar growing conditions to tomatoes and chilis, offering you valuable backup against pests that may trouble the crops.

Plant them in pots and raised beds

If you have a vegetable container garden, it is still valuable to plant marigolds. You do not need lots of plants to make a valuable difference - especially as the French marigolds boast such a strong odour to repel pests.

Marigolds can be planted around the edges of larger containers or raised beds to offer all the advantages outlined above in terms of companion planting. Alternatively, simply dot some small pots of marigolds around a small vegetable garden.

Shop marigolds

FAQs

What vegetables should you not plant next to marigolds?

Marigolds can benefit many vegetables, flowers, and herbs. Beans are one crop traditionally highlighted by many as poor companions for marigolds. However, marigolds have been shown to have offered positive results against Mexican bean beetles in trials.

How close do you plant marigolds to tomatoes?

It is important to give both plants the space to grow to full size when tomatoes and marigolds are planted together. The marigolds should be planted at least 16-18 inches from the tomato plants.

Marigolds are one of the easiest flowers to grow from seed. They are also fast-growing flowers to grow from seed and can bloom in only 6-8 weeks from sowing. Sow marigold seeds indoors from early spring onwards to have seedlings to plant outside once the frosts have passed. Or you can sow seeds outdoors directly into their growing spot from late spring.

Every spring, many gardeners take part in No Mow May - a month of not mowing the lawn to encourage biodiversity and help pollinators. It first started in the UK in 2019, but now an increasing number of US gardeners participate.

If you've asked yourself 'what is No Mow May?' and are now left wondering how to take part while continuing to care for your lawn, look no further. It's possible to create beautiful lawn spaces even when your grass is growing wild.

We've asked experts for the best No Mow May ideas so that you can find beautiful inspiration for growing your lawn wild this month.

Beautiful No Mow May ideas

Letting your lawn grow wild for No Mow May, or at any time of year, is a great way to help pollinators and boost biodiversity in your yard. It doesn't have to look unsightly either - discover different ideas for a beautiful No Mow May below.

1. Sprinkle wildflower seeds

When you leave your lawn to grow you might notice flowering weeds for pollinators start to appear, like clovers. It can be a good idea to leave them so they can provide nectar to bees, butterflies and more. These flowering plants will also add dotted color throughout your lawn.

To further this appearance, you can sprinkle wildflower seeds on your lawn area. 'You can scatter seeds directly or rake up a thin layer of topsoil before seeding,' says Evan Torchio, growing expert and CEO of Tree Mender. 'Aim for a mix native to your area for best results,' he adds.

There are lots of wildflower mixes available, many of which can just be scattered in your yard, like these wildflower seed mixes for pollinators from Amazon. Soon, you'll have planted a wildflower meadow. You can also try making a wildflower seed bomb to achieve this, or find one online like these flower seed bombs from Walmart.

2. Corner off a section of wild lawn

If you don't want your whole lawn to grow wild, you can just designate an area for No Mow May and continue maintaining the rest of your lawn as normal. 

'HOAs, local regulations or personal preference may mean that you can't leave your whole lawn wild for a month. Instead, you may be able to leave a corner in your backyard to grow and benefit your local ecosystem,' says Ren Elizabeth, expert gardener and environmental advocate at Eco-Friendly Homestead.

This way you can keep the areas of your lawn you would like neater stripped back and still support wildlife by creating a smaller wildlife garden area. 

'For a more manicured look, you can designate a specific area to leave wild and mark it with stones or edging,' says Evan. Lawn edging can help make your No Mow May area look more curated and make it a feature in your yard, such as with this plastic border stone edging from Amazon.

3. Mow paths in your lawn

To make the most of No Mow May, you can allow the majority of your lawn to grow wild. This doesn't mean it has to be unusable, however. Trimming and mowing paths among the longer grass means you can still walk through your yard.

'Creating paths through your unmown area is a lovely touch. It creates a more defined space and easier access to different parts of your yard,' says Evan.

'Think about the paths you normally walk and clear those areas, leaving the others to grow freely,' adds Sarah.

This can even allow you to become immersed in the biodiverse haven of your lawn, walking among the wilder grass.

FAQs

How can I do No Mow May all-year-round?

No Mow May doesn't have to be limited to just the month of May. You can leave your lawn to grow wild throughout the year to help different pollinators and wildlife. You might even choose to leave different parts of your lawn to grow wild at different times.

'I like to have a rotating mowing plan throughout the summer. This approach allows you to enjoy the benefits of both a traditional lawn and a wildflower meadow. It also means you spend less time mowing each week,' says Ren Elizabeth, expert gardener and environmental advocate at Eco-Friendly Homestead.

'Essentially, you start out by letting your whole lawn grow a bit so that some flowers and grasses are showing up. Then, divide your lawn into four sections. Start mowing section 1 on the first week, and leave the rest to grow. Then, on week 2, mow section 2. By the time you make it back to section 1, a whole month as passed - and a whole ecosystem has been created,' she adds.

Ren's method means you will always have both a trimmed part of your lawn and wild part of your lawn to enjoy.

No Mow May comes around each year to encourage gardeners to let lawns grow wild and support biodiversity and pollinators. As well as being good for garden wildlife, No Mow May can look beautiful in your yard. 

If you're interested in trying No Mow May, you might also be inspired by the rewilding garden trend.