Create a Pollinator-Friendly Meadow

[Adapted from Attracting Native Pollinators by The Xerces Society]

Close to 75 percent of the flowering plants on the earth rely to some degree on pollinators to set seed or fruit. You can attract pollinators by choosing diverse plantings. As few as 10 carefully chosen native species will provide a good foundation. The list below makes a good mix for pollinators because it includes a minimum of three blooming plants for each season (spring, summer, and fall) and flowers of different shapes and colors.

It is especially important to plant flowers that bloom in the very early spring. These flowers are a critical resource for early emerging bees such as bumblebee queens, mining bees, and mason bees. Large wildflower plantings should also include at least one native warm-season bunch grass or sedge adapted to the site. Among other things, they supply potential nesting sites for colonies of bumblebees.

Wildflowers

• Wild lupine (Lupinus perennis)
• Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
• Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)
• Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
• Purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea)
• Pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida)
• Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
• Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• Prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya)
• Purple giant hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia)
• New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
• Giant sunflower (Helianthus giganteus)
• Showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)

Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum)

Purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea)

Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Bunch Grasses

• Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
• Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

Prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya)