How To Create a Pollinator Garden

15 Monarch Pollinator Plants

This package is a fantastic way to create a butterfly-friendly garden and attract beautiful monarch butterflies to your space. Among the various plants included in the package, the Trumpet Vine, Milkweed, and Jewelweed stand out for the remarkable attributes that make them essential for any butterfly enthusiast. Create a Wildflower Meadow With 15 Monarch Pollinator Plants Adding 15 monarch pollinator plants to your yard is a great way to create a small wildflower meadow. Some species of milkweed have robust, monoecious flowers with a maximum height of three feet. Other variants include vines with long, twining stems. Zinnias can take several forms, including daisy, cactus, and dahlia shapes. They come in a variety of colors, including white, yellow, orange, red, and pink, and they feature vibrant, solitary flowerheads on an upright stem. A coneflower's delicate petals can be any shade of pink, purple, or white. Modern coneflowers are available in a rainbow of hues, including orange, green, peach, and coral; they can be either single or double-bloomed. Design a Seasonal Butterfly Garden With 15 Monarch Pollinator Plants They benefit butterfly gardens in a variety of ways. They provide butterflies with food and shelter while the butterflies themselves spread the pollen, allowing them to multiply. Some of the more popular flowers that work well in butterfly gardens include verbenas, blazing stars, marigolds, and goldenrods. Planting 15 of them in a cluster will create exquisite havens for butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Build a Colorful Woodland Edge With 15 Monarch Pollinator Plants A natural ecotone is the gradual change from open to wooded regions; planting flowers that attract butterflies in these areas can help make the transition seem more natural. The habitats that the flowers create are optimal for many other kinds of animals, too, including birds and bees. A few of the most common flowers that work well as woodland edges include barrenworts, hostas, and toad lilies. The attractive blossoms created by these flowers add a unique appeal to yards with wooded areas. Add a Butterfly Waystation With 15 Monarch Pollinator Plants Enhance your gardens with milkweed and nectar flowers to turn them into butterfly waystations. You can even arrange other flowers in an outer ring around the milkweed to create an interesting design. It's best to grow a range of nectar flowers that blossom in the spring, summer, and autumn; these can be annuals, biennials, or perennials. Provide a healthy food supply for the butterflies and their larvae by including a minimum of ten of them, preferably of diverse types.

Cardinal Flower

The Red Cardinal Flower has vibrant red blooms and tall, erect stalks; it adds a splash of color and a touch of elegance to gardens, parks, and various outdoor spaces. Beyond its aesthetic appeal, it brings several advantages, making it a popular choice for landscapers and gardeners. Cardinal Flower The scarlet-hued Lobelia cardinalis is a perennial in the bellflower family. Its tall, nectar-filled flower spikes attract hummingbirds and create a beautiful display in your garden. The plant's common name refers to the red robes a Roman Catholic cardinal wears. Natural Habitat Of The Cardinal Flower Lobelia is native to the North and South American continents and blooms from July through September. This moisture-loving plant grows on stream banks and in low woods, marshes, and meadows across the United States. Appearance Of The Cardinal Flower If you want to create a handsome show in your garden, Lobelia is sure to delight. The plant's fiery spires yield brilliant red blooms that open gradually from the bottom to the top of their racemes. Each long, narrow, tube-shaped blossom has two flat upper petals and three lower petals that spread out at the tips. The delicate plant crown leafy 2’-4' stems, covered with shiny, lance-shaped, bright green leaves that sometimes have a bronze or reddish tint. The leaves alternate as they climb the stems, enhancing the blooms to create a lively riot of color. Cardinal Flower In the Garden Lobelia is a favorite of gardeners who love adding bold splashes of crimson to their garden. This plant is perfect for shady woodland plots, wet meadow plantings, water gardens, pollinator gardens, and rain gardens. Its long stems can add height to borders and create depth when placed in the back sections of your landscape. The blossoms are most spectacular from midsummer into fall, and they make excellent cut blooms. Ecology Of The Cardinal Flower Some people say that Lobelia will bring hummingbirds in from the sky. The plant's blooming period is in sync with the late-summer migration of ruby-throated hummingbirds who are traveling south to Mexico. The birds pollinate the plant by dipping their beaks into the plants' long, red tubes. The blossoms are also very attractive to swallowtail butterflies and bees, making them a wonderful centerpiece in a pollinator garden. Cardinal Flower Will Make a Brilliant Statement in Your Garden When you want to make a bold, beautiful statement in your garden, be sure to include Lobelia in your plan and celebrate the summer season.

Annual Phlox

Annual Phlox blooms in spring, summer, and fall are why this perennial is so popular. It also has a long blooming season in the fall and stays blooming for weeks. They are a delightful flowering plant that brings a robust color and charm to any landscaping project. As an annual plant, it completes its life cycle within a single growing season, but its attributes make it a popular choice for gardeners year after year. Let's explore why this annual is a fantastic addition to your landscape. Phlox provides color shades of pink, purple, red, white, and even bi-color combinations. Annual Phlox Provides Stunning Flowers Annual Phlox is a favorite among gardeners who love show-stopping blossoms. This plant is known for producing massive clusters of flowers in spring and summer. The plant features small, flat blooms that burst out of the top of the plant. The flowers always have five petals with a rounded or slightly pointed tip, so their shape is very similar to a star. During peak blooming season, a plant can easily produce hundreds of blossoms. The Vibrant Colors of Annual Phlox The blossoms come in a wide range of different colors. Depending on the variant you select, they can be red, purple, white, pink, or blue. Blooms can range from soft, pastel shades of blush pink and lavender to bright, eye-catching shades of magenta and crimson. Many types have variegated blooms that create particularly impressive visuals. Some common options include royal purple blooms with white centers or pink with red centers. Annual Phlox Gorgeous Greenery Though they are mostly known for its flowers, it continues to make a statement even when it's not in bloom. Before and after it blossoms, the plant has a graceful look that accentuates any property. It tends to grow in clusters of around six inches to 20 inches tall. The vertical stalks have a pleasantly even look with regular rows of leaves. The leaves typically have an elongated, teardrop shape with small ripples down the center of each leaf. They're a medium green shade in most cases, but some variants may have silvery green leaves. The upright spikes of the plants add plenty of visual appeal to any location. Use Annual Phlox to Liven Up Your Landscape They create dense carpets of flowers that work well for landscapers. Some people like to plant them as filler in flower beds, and others like to arrange the plants into low shrubs or borders. The versatile colors make it easy to coordinate yours with your other plants and decor. It's also a popular form of groundcover for people who prefer more informal arrangements. A sweeping blanket of them in the spring or summer creates a charming backdrop, and its bright colors work well in wildflower gardens.

Milkweed Plant

Milkweed plant is known for attracting monarchs, the milkweed plant is a native perennial that has clusters of showy, pink to mauve flowers and lance-shaped leaves, attracting a host of pollinators while thriving in moist, wetland habitats. They boast numerous benefits when incorporated into landscaping designs. Its unique features contribute to outdoor spaces' aesthetic appeal and ecological value. With clusters of vibrant and captivating flowers, it adds a burst of color and charm to gardens while also serving as a vital component in supporting local ecosystems. The Common Milkweed is the plant that most people think of when the term ‘milkweed’ comes to mind. It is a tall plant that is noted for its pink to purple flowers. It’s one of 115 species of plants of the Asclepiadaceae family. The genus Asclepias is named after Asklepios, who was the Greek god of medicine. This is appropriate because it is known for containing high levels of cardiac glycosides, which are used in some treatments for heart disease. This same substance also serves as the only source for Monarch butterfly larvae. Where Does Milkweed Grow? It is native to the midwestern and eastern regions of the United States and Canada, but it can be found further west as well. It is most commonly found in more open habitats like pastures, prairies, fields, and along roadsides. It needs total sun to grow but can tolerate being under light shade as well. You’ll normally find it commonly clustered together into large patches, which are called colonies. Description of Milkweed It can grow to be over five feet tall. The foliage can grow up to 8 inches, elongated nearly four inches wide, and is somewhat thick. The upper part of the oval-shaped leaves is usually darker greenish in color, while the underside of the leaves is a much lighter green and sometimes even white. Both the leaves and the stems will reveal a milky latex when they are cut. The flowers themselves can grow to be nearly an inch long and half an inch wide with a midrib that runs beneath them. They have a pink to purple coloring over them with a greenish tint and are very sweetly scented. Why Gardeners Like Milkweed The pink-to-purple colors contrast well against lush green fields and dry yellow prairies alike. Gardeners like it for its distinctive appearance and sweet, fragrant aromas. Another reason why gardeners often like it is that it serves as the host plant for the beautiful monarch butterfly. These butterflies will lay their eggs on it, and as mentioned previously, the nectar also serves as the only source of food for the Monarch larvae. Gardeners who like monarch butterflies or are otherwise concerned about their declining population can grow it to provide these butterflies with a natural habitat. The Milkweed plant is a flowering perennial named for its cardenolide-bearing latex, which is beneficial to butterflies and other insects. Monarch butterflies use and require specific species, including Asclepias syriaca and Asclepias incarnata, as host plants. Their genus name, Asclepias, honors Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine.  Asclepias contains hundreds of species native to Africa, North America, and South America. Asclepias syriaca and Asclepias incarnata are native to the American continents and common across the central and eastern United States. The sun-loving Asclepias syriaca grows naturally in fields, prairies, and pastures, while Asclepias incarnata grows along creeks, ponds, and bogs. Their flowers typically bloom from June through August. Asclepias produces complex blossoms that have similarities to orchids. Their large, spherical clusters of five-petaled blossoms are found at the top of it's thick stems. Each Asclepias growth usually carries two to five clusters of flowers. The individual blossoms are about three-quarters of an inch long and emit a strong, sweet fragrance. Asclepias syriaca has greenish-pink to rosy pink blooms, while Asclepias incarnata's flowers tend toward a brighter purplish-pink hue. It can grow up to five feet tall. Their thick, bright green leaves are six to eight inches long and two to three-and-one-half inches wide. The leaves' upper surfaces are darker than their whitish undersides. In nature and in landscapes, Asclepias plants form colonies and need room to spread out. Asclepias incarnata is highly ornamental and fairly easily contained, making it well-suited to perennial, butterfly, and pollinator gardens. Asclepias syriaca works well in meadow gardens without defined borders. They grow easily from seed and spread as their rhizomes expand. They can be propagated in the late fall or early spring. Ecology Of Milkweed Plant Asclepias syriaca and Asclepias incarnata are the required food sources for monarch butterflies, beetles, moths, and other insects that evolved to feed on their nectar. In the midwestern and northeastern regions of the United States, their leaves are the most important source of nourishment for monarch caterpillars, and their presence helps to fortify and increase monarch populations. Planting Milkweed Plant Will Bring the Butterflies to Your Garden If you want to encourage monarch butterflies and other pollinators to make your garden home, you'll surely want to add Asclepias to your landscape.