Spring is officially here!  Well at least that is what it says on the calendar.  As you start to make plans for outdoor gardening this season, take a moment to think about how you can support the pollinators like bees, moths, hummingbirds.  These animals have a vital role in local habitats and need some human support. Even if you don’t have the greenest of thumbs, incorporating some easy to grow native Virginian plants into your garden will help to up your chances of success and provide plants for pollinators.

Friendly reminder:  remember to research your plant selections before placing them in a yard with dogs or cats.

Bringing plants for pollinators to your garden

In order to attract these creatures to your yard, you may need to do a few things.  First, find a spot in your yard that gets full sun.  Then plant plants that are native to Virginia in your yard.  Having a variety of plants in your garden helps to ensure that there is a little something for all the pollinators throughout the growing season.   Lastly, you will want to go easy on the pesticides.  Pesticides might help your lawn be weed free, but they also harm pollinators. 

Plants for Pollinators in Virginia

Butterfly Weed 

This might be the perfect plant for us in Locust Grove.  Butterfly weed, or asclepias tuberosa, grows well in poor soil and is drought tolerant.  It is a low maintenance plant that grows between eighteen and twenty four inches tall.

Lanceleaf Tickseed 

Full of pretty yellow flowers that bloom from mid spring through summer, coreopsis lanceolata is another low maintenance plant that  is loved by butterflies but ignored by deer.  

Wild bergamot

This  plant grows in clumps from two to four feet tall.  It has fragrant purple flowers that welcome hummingbirds and bees to your yard.   It blooms mid-summer through fall.

New York Iron Weed

This tall plant (up to eight feet) is home to the American Lady butterfly.  It will tolerate our Virginia clay soil and the red-purple blooms attract many pollinators.

New England Aster 

This is another plant that tolerates clay soil.  Blooming in the fall, the new England aster provides nectar for pollinators at a time where other plants are fading.  

Ready to up your indoor plants? Learn more about easy houseplants here.