Plant These 7 Dreamy Wildflowers in March for a Garden Buzzing With Bees and Butterflies All Spring and Summer

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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