Create a Pollinator Garden: Design, Plants, and Practices

A pollinator garden—even a few containers—supports bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and beneficial insects. It’s a living investment in your garden’s productivity and ecological health.

Design Principles

• Sun: ≥6 hours daily.
• Diversity: Wide range of flower shapes, sizes, colors, bloom times (spring–fall).
• Natives first: Co-evolved with local pollinators; many specialists depend on them.
• Water: Shallow pools, mud puddles, birdbaths with stones.
• Nesting: Bare soil, hollow stems, bee blocks, brush piles.
• No chemicals: Zero pesticides/herbicides—even organic ones can harm.

Color and Form Signals

• Butterflies: red, orange, yellow; flat landing platforms.
• Hummingbirds: red, fuchsia, purple; tubular flowers.
• Bees: blue, white, yellow, purple; small open flowers.
• Moths/bats: white/night-blooming, fragrant.

Season-Long Support

Include early bloomers (crocus, willow), mid-season (coneflower, bee balm), and late (aster, goldenrod, sedum). Evergreens and grasses provide winter shelter. A pollinator garden is a year-round commitment with year-round rewards.