Gardening for Beginners

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STARTING A POLLINATOR GARDEN

Native, pollinator gardens are one of the top ways that individuals can support pollinators, such as butterflies, bees and more. There is no right way to garden with native plants and our team encourages you to experiment! New things can be scary, but gardening with native plants shouldn't be. If a plant dies along the journey that's okay, our team has lost a fair number of plants throughout our native plant gardening years. When planning a native plant garden with lots of perennials (meaning, the same plant comes back year after year) remember patience: they are known to sleep year one, creep year two, and leap year three. In the long run, native plants barely need any watering and they never need fertilizer – which means you and your family get more time to appreciate your garden's beauty and the wonder of the diverse garden critters who stop by to enjoy it.

Planning your garden

benefits and how to of native plants - English (3).pdf

Guide - How to Grow Native Plants in Your Garden

Here's a short guide on growing native plants in your garden.

Guide - Creating Successful Pollinator Gardens in Your Community

Here's an in-depth guide produced by our team for creating community gardens.

Blog - Planting Your Native Garden

This blog features eight quick tips to consider before you dig into your garden.

The very first thing to do when planning your garden is understanding your site. Native plants are often given some main descriptors to help customers choose the right plant for their garden. There are a few, but start with understanding your site's sun exposure and soil moisture, and we'll look at access to water too.

Sun exposure is labeled as full sun, partial sun and partial shade, though some nurseries label them a bit differently. Full sun means the plant needs a site that gets over 6 hours of sun, partial needs 3-6 hours of sun, and shade 3 hours or less. If you want to plant in a place that is north facing and never gets direct sun, a full sun plant will likely not survive here.
Generally, soil moisture is labeled on plants as dry, medium and wet – and there can be levels in between, e.g. medium-dry. If your site sits low and is often flooded, you have a wet soil and plants labeled as dry will likely not survive here.
Additionally, native plants will need some watering in the beginning to help them grow out their roots to establish in the soil, especially if they're planted before the summer months begin. Knowing that you can water them with a hose or buckets is a critical step.

Deciding what plants to get

Field Guide - Creating Monarch Habitat in Your Midwestern Garden

Learn about the life cycle of the monarch butterfly and what native plants will support its caterpillars and feed adults.

Field Guide - Spanish

Crear un hábitat para la mariposa monarca en su jardín del Medio Oeste.

Blog - Five Native Plants to Grow in Your Home Garden

Read here to see some of our staff's favorite native plants to add to your garden.

Blog - Milkweeds Can Save Monarchs and Beautify Your Garden

Learn about the critical role milkweed plays in the life of monarch butterflies and the different milkweed species native to our region.

We advise three things to think about when choosing plants (aside from the light and soil moisture requirements to match your site).

What you like! Choose plants that fit your aesthetic, e.g. plant height (native plants are often much taller than non-native annuals, but they can vary between 1-5 feet). If want control of your garden, watch for key words in a plant's description like self-seeder, spreader or runner. This hints that the plant will add more of its species around your garden on its own. If you don't mind, then these plants will work for you!
The bloom time of year – have a good mix of spring, summer and fall blooms so that all your local pollinators have nectar and pollen options throughout their active times. Early spring and late fall often get missed too, so don't forget April and October bloomers.
A mix of "pollinator syndromes" – this is a fancy way to say that different groups of pollinators generally have different bloom preferences, e.g. color, odor, shape. See the resources section at the bottom of the page to find the pollinator syndrome chart.

Where to buy plants

List - Illinois Plants

Find a native plant nursery or native plant sale around the state. Main planting times are spring and fall, and spring pre-orders take place as early as the New Year.

List - Chicago Living Corridors

Find a native plant nursery or native plant sale in the region. Lists are updated around the main planting seasons.

Vendor - Prairie Moon Nursery

We support a lot of nurseries, but we like Prairie Moon's search feature and the fact that they ship. Search by state, height, soil, bloom color, bloom time and more.

Vendor - Possibility Place Nursery

Again, there are many great native plant nurseries, but for Chicago gardeners acquiring native plants can be difficult. Possibility Place ships orders to Chicagoland.