Why Plant Native?

Planting native is the best way to support native bee populations. By planting non-native plants, honeybees will only benefit, which have been found to be aggressive to native bees. On top of that, the non-native plants often escape the garden and spread into the wildlife areas. By doing this, these non-native invasive plants stress the native plants that were there before and crowd them out, and the animals and insects associated with them also die as the native plants disappear. By planting more natives, and removing your invasives, the butterflies that use the plants as a host, the bees that specialize or rely on that plant, and the birds that require the food from that plant for their survival in winter will slowly increase in their populations. This is the best way to help fight the decline of species of many of the animals and insects that live in Hamilton. Native plants require much less maintenance than lawn and once established, and build soil, and require much less watering,  even no supplemental watering if you plan it right. Make sure to not use pesticides! A good quote, and another great reason on why to plant native and remove parts (or all!) of your lawn. 

“Lawn watering accounts for 30 percent of all water used during the summer in the East and up to 60 percent in the West.” -Douglas W. Tallamy, Author of Natures’ Best Hope

That's a lot of water. And for what, a pollinator desert?

For more information on how to support pollinators, you can refer to the article in the October of 23’ issue on 10 tips to support pollinators (Bee Aware), or to the Xerces society for invertebrate conservation for a more in-depth plant list.

Plants for Pollinators

Believe it or not, fall and winter (when the ground isn’t frozen) is the best time to plant natives! Just make sure that you really put a good amount of soil over it when you plant it, almost like a mini hump, so the roots have a better chance of staying warm. Mulching using leaves can have the same affect, keep in moisture, and help overwinter certain butterflies and other insects. If you’re starting seed, Prairie Moon Nursery has great seed, and also a good guide on how long you should stratify (keep cold) your seeds to break dormancy. Prairie Nursery  has great potted plants online for 7 bucks a piece (not including shipping).   

Spring-bloomers

Claytonia Virginica: Spring Beauty

This plant is a must have in any shade garden, only topping out at 5 inches! Great for wet or moist soils, this tiny bloomer is a favorite of metallic green sweat bees, sweat bees, mason bees, small carpenter bees (these do not drill into wood, but rather broken, pithy stems) ,mining bees,  cuckoo bees, and bumble bees. There is specialist,  Andrena erigenae, that only uses Claytonia.  The flowers are white with pink to lilac stripes which are called nectar guides. By June, this plant is completely dormant. Because of this, plant under ferns or among taller plants that will cover the bare space. Xerces society says this plant has a special value to our native bees.

Geranium Maculatum: Wild Geranium

The best thing about this plant (in my opinion) is not the flowers, but rather the seed pods. The pod gains pressure and catapults itself far from the plant. The flowers beckon to anything that passes by, including bumble bees, mason bees, mining bees, cuckoo bees, sweat bees, small carpenter bees (these don’t drill in wood), and the occasional butterfly. A specialist bee, Andrena distans, only uses Wild Geranium to collect pollen from. This plant can tolerate many sun conditions, but the more sun it receives, the moister the soil it prefers. This plant will create small clumps overtime that reach two feet high, with a bright red hue in the fall.

Zizia Aurea: Golden Alexanders

This is the type of plant that everyone needs in a garden, seriously. It’s the host plant for a butterfly, the black swallowtail, and is super important for short tongued insects in spring. Some bees that are attracted to the umbel of tiny yellow flowers include yellow-faced bees, mason bees, green sweat bees, bumble bees, mining bees, and cuckoo bees. There is a specialist of Zizia, and other flowers in the carrot family, Andrena ziziae.  This is especially important to mason bees as this plant flowers when they are provisioning their nests, according to Heather Holm, author of Pollinators of Native Plants. Prefers full to partial sun.

Summer Bloomers

Tradescantia Ohiensis: Ohio Spiderwort

Despite not having a specialist pollinator, this is a favorite of many bees, and even Xerces Society lists this as a plant with special value to native bees, especially bumble bees. The petals are actually bracts, which is a modified leaf that signals insects to visit the flower. This flower is nectarless, only offering pollen, but quite a bit of it. Because of this, this is especially important for females gathering food to feed their offspring, and you wont see any males visiting. Blooming from May to July, this plant is especially important for bridging the gap between spring and summer. Reaching a height of 2-3 feet, this plant if planted in the right spot with full sun really likes to spread, so it may overwhelm smaller plantings. Grows well in part sun, but could flower a bit less.

Asclepias Tuberosa: Butterfly Weed

When it comes to conservation of insects, monarch butterflies is what people talk about most. Here is your solution! Butterflies, as mentioned in 10 tips to save pollinators in the last issue, need a host plant. Monarchs use plants in the genus  Asclepias (Milkweeds), including butterfly weed to lay their eggs on. Butterfly weed also lacks the milky sap that most milkweeds have (that may irritate skin), stays a shorter stature, and isn’t as aggressive as other milkweeds. A nice white-flower alternative is whorled milkweed. Butterfly weed does not offer pollen, contrary to the Spiderwort (see above), so it produces quite a bt of nectar which is good for fueling bees. Make sure to include plants that produce pollen so mothers can still provision food for their offspring. Since lots of nectar is produced, expect many butterflies. Butterfly weed blooms all summer, and doesn’t like wet soils.

Rudbeckia Hirta: Black Eyed Susan

A favorite of many bees including green metallic sweat bees, small carpenter bees, leafcutting bees, mining bees, and more. Andrena rubeckiae, Pseudopanurgus andrenoides, and many more specialists use this flower. One of the few perennials that bloom nicely during the first year, it is quite short-lived, but will reseed. The butterfly in the picture, Silvery Checkerspot, will use this and other plants in the aster family (see symphyotrichum in fall) as a host. This butterfly also can be found nectaring on the previous plant, Butterfly Weed. Blooming from June to September, Black Eyed Susans will often  rebloom in October, making it a great plant with long bloom time to sustain pollinators. It only grows about 1-2 feet tall, and tolerates many soils, except overly dry or soggy.

Fall Bloomers

Lobelia Spihilitica: Great Blue LObelia

If you love watching bumble bees dig their heads into flowers, Blue Lobelia is definitely for you. Not just a bumble bee plant, it also attract many butterflies, sweat bees, digger bees, and long-horned bees. A slightly uncommon visitor is the hummingbird.  A better  hummingbird attractor will be Cardinal Lobelia. A favorite of wet soils, it also grows well in average, moist areas too. Like Black-eyed susan, this perennial is short-lived, but will reseed, forming small “colonies” of Lobelia. This plant doesn’t grow too tall, maxing out at about three feet. Staying relatively basal until July or early August, a tall flower stalk shoots up, sporting bright blue to lavender flowers well into October. Because of it’s late bloom, many bumble-bee queens looking for an overwintering space will gladly use the nectar as an energy source.

Soldiago/OLigoneuron Rigidum: Stiff Goldenrod

Stiff goldenrod is one of those plants that you need to really sustain all pollinators. With about 30 specialist bees and lots of pollen and nectar for fuel  for the upcoming winter, this is what makes goldenrods (and asters) a required native plant in every native garden because of how important it is.Monarchs will also glady nectar and fuel up for winter (especially with some host plants around!) on your goldenrods. Really all bees that are active in late summer and fall can be seen using this plant, such as bumble bees, sweat bees, green sweat bees, mining bees, and more. Goldenrods often get blamed for the dreaded hayfever, but this is highly untrue. The pollen is too heavy to go airborne. The actual culprit is ragweed, releasing billions of pollen grains into the air.

Symphyotrichum Novae-Angliae: New England Aster 

As I said in the profile of Stiff Goldenrod, asters are also very important for pollinators in the fall. With about 30 specialist bees as well, many pollinators will flock to the bright purple flowers with vibrant yellow centers. Green sweat bees (Agapostemon)  are very common on these, and have sort of a relationship in the fall with this plant. Many bee visitors include green sweat bees, small carpenter bees, sweat bees, mining bees, bumble bees, and many more. The picture on the left really shows the importance of asters in the landscape, as everything else during the season is shutting down and out of flower. Because of this, many bees at once can be seen on these highly important sources of food. This is the host plant for the silvery checkerspot, pearl crescent, and the wavy-lined emerald. The leaves clasp around the hairy stem, giving a cool look to the structure of the plant. Often blooms into the beginning of november, preferring wet to moist soils. The flowers are quite shy in the morning, opening up with the sun.

Other plants to try:

• Smooth Blue Aster (Aug-Oct)

• Showy Goldenrod (aug-Oct)

• Joe Pye weed (Stem-nesters (bees) + Butterfly favorite) (Jul-Sept)

• Penstemon (Jun-Jul)

• Waterleaf (May-Jun)

• Monarda (wild bergamot, Dotted mint) (Jul-Sept)

• Giant Sunflower (Jul-Sept) (Pictured Left)

• Bloodroot (Mar-Apr)

• Partridge pea (Jul-Sept)

• Wood (shade) Asters (Aug - Sept/oct)

• Ironweed (Jul-Sept)

• Mountain Mints (Jul-Sept)

• Small Yellow Wild Indigo (Jun-Aug)

• Swamp Milkweed (Jul-Aug)

• Shooting star (Apr-Jun)

• False Sunflower (Jun-Sept)

Remember, don’t limit yourself to this list! So many other beautiful Native plants are also available in nurseries.