Invite bees, butterflies, birds and other pollinators to your garden

‘Caradonna’ salvia attracts all kinds of pollinators in the garden. It’s the Year of Salvias by the National Garden Bureau

Planting for pollinators continues as a popular trend for gardeners. There are a few things we can do to encourage pollinators to visit our landscape and to support them once they are there.

The temptation is to plant lots of flowers scattered among garden beds. However, to reduce bee labor (yes, that’s a thing), plant in clusters rather than onsies spread across the landscape.

Some bees, such as honeybees, practice what’s called bee fidelity. They don’t flit from flower to flower like butterflies do. Honeybees leave their hive and visit only coneflowers. The next time out, they may visit only lavenders. Next time, only clover. That’s how we get flavored honeys. By planting the same plant in clusters of three to five or seven, we reduce the amount of travel bees has to do to forage.

Remember that pollinators are more than bees. Beetles, birds, wasps, moths, butterflies and flies join the ranks to pollinate our plants, helping them produce fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and flowers. Here are some other tips.

• Reduce or eliminate the use of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides.
• Provide a water source, such as bird bath or fill a saucer with marbles or cords. The latter works well for bees and butterflies.
• Select perennials preferred by pollinators. Native plants, such as coneflowers (Echinacea), columbine (Aquilegia spp.), garden phlox (P. paniculata), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia spp.) and aster (Symphyotrichum spp.) are excellent candidates.
• There are exotic, but non-invasive bulbs, annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees that also attract and support pollinators.

Perennial Plant of the Year

‘Hummelo’ stachys is the 2019 Perennial Plant of the Year. Photo courtesy PerennialResource.com

One of them is ‘Hummelo’ (Stachys monieri), the 2019 Perennial Plant of the Year. So named by the Perennial Plant Association, this sun-loving plant is winter hardy throughout Indiana, and it blooms from July to October. The magenta flower spikes attract lots of bees and butterflies. The flowers also can be cut for indoor arrangements.

‘Hummelo’ was the highest rated Stachys in Chicago Botanic Garden’s plant trials. As an added bonus, it’s considered deer resistant. Sometimes called betony, it is available at garden centers and online retailers. I like this plant because of when it blooms, helping to carry summer into fall.

Year of Salvia

In keeping with the pollinator trend, the National Garden Bureau has named 2019 the Year of Salvia, another sun-loving perennial that bees, butterflies and hummingbirds like. Salvia flowers contain a trigger mechanism that deposits pollen on the back side of bees. The bees transfer pollen to receptive female salvia flowers among the same or similar species.

Many of the most popular salvia varieties are members of the Balkans woodland sage family (S. nemorosa), such as May Night (the 1997 Perennial Plant of the Year), Blue Hill, and my favorite, ‘Caradonna’, which has dark purple stems.

Also considered deer resistant, most bloom in late spring into early summer. Salvias are good cut flowers. These and other salvia plants or seeds are readily available at garden centers and online retailers.