Planting for Pollinators

A pollinator garden is not only beautiful but incredibly helpful to pollinators. Bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects are key factors in natural pollination. Despite news of decreasing populations of these highly necessary critters, there is still plenty you can do to keep them coming to our Denver community. What they need most are plants that give them nectar & a place to rest between flights and a small amount of water to drink. These two things are easier to supply than you may think!

Plant the following flowers to provide these bugs food in your pollinator garden. We carry all of these and many more pollinator friendly plants and flowers in our perennial and annual departments:

• Agastache/Hyssop (perennial)
• Asters (perennial)
• Beardtongue/Penstemon (perennial)
• Bee Balm/Monarda (perennial)
• Black-Eyed Susan/Rudbeckia (perennial)
• Blanket Flower/Gaillardia (perennial)
• Borage (annual)
• Butterfly bush/Buddleia (perennial)
• Butterfly weed (perennial)
• Catmint/Nepeta (perennial)
• Coneflowers/Echinacea (perennial)
• Daisies (perennial or biennial)
• Lavender (perennial)
• Lilies (perennials)
• Oregano (perennial)
• Pincushions/Scabiosa (perennial)
• Sage (perennial)
• Salvia (perennial)
• Sunflower (annual)
• Sweet alyssum (annual)
• Yarrow (perennial)

 

Providing water can be as simple as you’d like. From as exciting as installing a pond or birdbath or as easy as leaving small pools or puddles of water. Just be sure that the water does not become stagnant.