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Planning your pollinator garden?
Pollinators like butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees sure are fun to watch, but they play an even bigger role: They're heroes in a global ecosystem! After all, pollinators could be responsible for one in every three bites of food. Open your fridge, peek in your lunch bag, and much of what you see is thanks to pollinators.
Happily, it's easy to invite these creatures to your yard by filling your landscape with plants they love. Your reward will be a parade of color from blooming plants, loads of fruits and veggies, and a flurry of colorful, joyful activity.
Before we get to the best pollinator plants, know this: Pollinators will love it when you grow strong, vigorous plants so the flowers keep coming. Always tuck plants into well-draining, nutrient-rich soil. In raised beds, use Miracle-Gro® Raised Bed Soil. For in-ground beds, try Miracle-Gro® Garden Soil for Flowers when planting annuals or perennials. In beds for trees or shrubs, use Miracle-Gro® Garden Soil For Trees & Shrubs. These products give plants a solid start and provide an ideal environment for roots.
Remember, too, that plants need feeding to grow their best. Treat flowers to a meal of Miracle-Gro® Shake ‘n Feed® Rose & Bloom Plant Food, and keep flowering shrubs and trees in tip-top shape with Miracle-Gro® Shake 'n Feed® Flowering Trees & Shrubs Plant Food. (Be sure to follow label directions.) Both fertilizers help fuel a strong flower show that pollinators will appreciate.
Work some of these plants into existing planting beds, a raised bed garden, an herb garden, a vegetable garden, or containers. Pollinator plants fit almost anywhere! Rest assured, too, that these plants are all easy to find, even if you haven't heard some of the names before. And though you can start many of them from seed, you may want to simply buy young plants instead so they'll already be well on their way to maturity. For excellent results with annual flowers, look for the wide range of premium-quality varieties in the Miracle-Gro® Brilliant Blooms collection*. (Plants are listed in approximate order of bloom time.)
Sweet alyssum
Pansy
Viola
Violet
Calendula
Marigold
Nasturtium
Morning glory
Cardinal Climber vine
Verbena
Cleome
Mexican sunflower
Four o'clock
Petunia
Sage (all types)
Lantana (perennial in zones 8-10)
Pentas
Sunflower
Zinnia
Creeping phlox
Allium (all types)
False indigo
Lupine
Dame's rocket
Bleeding heart
Coral bells
Catmint
Bee balm
Red hot poker (aka torch lily)
Milkweed
Hyssop
Trumpet vine
Cross vine
Liatris
Coneflower (all types)
Honeysuckle
Daisy
Penstemon
Joe-Pye weed<
Passionflower vine
Rudbeckia (aka brown-eyed Susan, black-eyed Susan)
Garden phlox
Helianthus
Sedum (all types)
Yarrow
Russian sage
Goldenrod
Aster
Rosemary
Borage
Dill
Fennel
Thyme
Lavender
Oregano
Basil
Mint
Pineapple sage
Blueberry
Weigela
Rhododendron
Elderberry
Spicebush
Chokeberry
Raspberry
Beautyberry
Holly
Butterfly bush
Summersweet
Buttonbush
Rose of Sharon
Caryopteris
Viburnum (all types)
Horse chestnut
Plum
Crabapple
Flowering cherry
Maple
Pear
Hawthorn
Locust
Linden
Chinese chestnut
For more specifics on turning your yard into a pollinator paradise, check out our How to Attract Pollinators article.
*available exclusively from Lowe's