{Article written by Daemon Dias}
With spring just around the corner, it’s a great time to begin designing your garden to provide a space for pollinators. The good thing is that you have so many options of native pollinators that you can prepare for; some common ones include the Monarch Butterfly, Common Eastern Bumble Bee and the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth, to name a few.
A common mistake of novice gardeners is planting the wrong plant species and seeing no results from their hard work. There are countless times where things like this have happened in my life, from building bat houses to growing crops. Although mistakes are a part of the learning process and can sometimes make an activity fun, let’s make sure we get things right the first time and greet some pollinators this season!
Pollinators are active at different times of day and are attracted to several different plants. While not all pollinators are known for their smell, bees gravitate towards plants with a
sugary scent like fruit or honey. Bees, in particular, are drawn to flowers with vibrant blue and yellow colouring.
Butterflies have different preferences. Since caterpillars transform into butterflies, adding
nectar plants close to caterpillar hosting varieties will improve your chance of seeing a butterfly in your garden!
Other pollinator-friendly plants include honeysuckle. However, this plant is considered an invasive species to Ontario and North America; I would recommend native plants when possible. Below is a list of some plants and the pollinators they attract to your garden.
Plant Species | Pollinators |
Sunflowers, Woodland
| Common ringlet butterfly Long-horned bees |
Milkweed, Butterfly
| Monarch butterfly Cuckoo bees |
Boneset, Common
| Red admiral butterfly Yellow faced bees |
Tick-trefoil, Showy
| Northern cloudywing butterfly Leafcutter bees |
Violet, Common Blue
| Great spangled fritillary butterfly Sweat bees |
Comment below some plant species you plan to have in your garden this season!
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This blog post includes a small list of some plants that will help your garden flourish, and there are many more tips out there that can help your garden thrive this season. Other factors include growing conditions, size, and shapes of plants.
To learn more about planting for pollinators and where this information came from, check out these resources below:
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