Pollinator Habitat
Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds, from May to October
This is the plan people stop and photograph. Layered heights, warm and cool colors together, and a bloom schedule that never leaves a gap — so monarchs arriving in July find milkweed waiting, and the bees have something in September too.
- Size
- Fits a bed roughly 10 ft x 12 ft
- Light
- Full sun
- Water
- Low — about half of what a lawn needs
- Plants
- About 18 plants
How to put it in
- 1Mark out the bed and remove the sod or smother it over winter.
- 2Work 2 inches of compost into the top 6 inches of soil.
- 3Plant in groups of three — drifts read better than single plants.
- 4Mulch 2 inches deep and water deeply twice a week the first summer.
What is in this plan
Plant these in groups of three or more for the best effect.
Butterfly Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa
The monarch plant — glowing orange and completely drought tough.
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
Big daisy blooms all summer and a magnet for butterflies.
Black-Eyed Susan
Rudbeckia fulgida
Golden color from midsummer into autumn, year after year.
Hummingbird Mint
Agastache rupestris
Hummingbirds show up within a week of planting it.
May Night Salvia
Salvia nemorosa 'Mainacht'
Deep violet spikes that start the show in late spring.
Autumn Joy Sedum
Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'
Late-season color when the rest of the garden is winding down.