Plant List

Welcome to the Plant List! Here you will find the best herbaceous and woody plants to attract the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee.

It is important to use plants from every category when planning your garden. Rusty Patched Bumble Bees start appearing in early March and stay around until late October. Therefore, it's very important to have plants blooming at all times of the year for them.

Key:

! = Plants that benefit the immune system of bees. Plants marked with this symbol are also highly recommended for a pollinator garden.

^ = "Superfood" plants with nectar rich in amino acids. Plants marked with this symbol are good for the bees and recommended for a pollinator garden.

Herbaceous Plants:

Early Blooming Plants (March-April)

• Wild geranium
• Virginia bluebells
• Shooting star
• Wild lupine
• Ground plum
• Anemones
• Wood betony
• Virginia waterleaf

Mid Blooming Plants (May - August)

• Bee balm/Wild bergamot^!
• Coneflower^
• Milkweed
• White and purple prairie clover^
• Blazing-star
• Mountain Mint
• Native giant hyssop^
• Wild white indigo or cream indigo
• Joe pye weed^
• Jewelweed
• Penstemon spp.
• Culver's root

Late Blooming Plants (September-October)

• New England aster^
• White turtlehead!
• Native field thistle
• Native swamp thistle
• Goldenrod^
• Showy goldenrod^
• Gentian

Woody Plants:

Early Blooming Plants (March-April)

• Willows
• Serviceberry
• Gooseberry and currants
• Plums and cherries

Mid Blooming Plants (May-August)

• Leadplant^
• Large Cranberry!
• Wild Roses
• American Basswood
• Dwarf Bush Honeysuckle
• Buttonbush
• New Jersey Tea

For more information about plants that benefit the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, please visit https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/rpbb/pdf/MidwestPlantGuideRPBB.pdf