Pollinators are critical to our food supply. Many of the foods we enjoy, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee and chocolate, are possible thanks to birds, butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects.
Planting a variety of plants with different bloom times, flower shapes and scents make your garden a welcoming habitat for all types of pollinators. By incorporating late summer and fall blooming plants you provide an essential source of food for birds, bees and butterflies when food is more scarce.
The Growing Place offers a wide selection of pollinator-friendly plants that will provide your garden with beautiful fall color as well as support an ecosystem for beneficial pollinators. Below are some of our top choices that can be planted through September for winter hardiness.
Agastache
Known for their fragrant foliage and profuse, showy spikes of blooms, this group of plants attract both hummingbirds and butterflies. Offered in a variety of colors and sizes, this plant is suitable for any sunny spot in your garden. Once established, these drought tolerant plants are very long bloomers that will provide late season color and nectar for pollinators.
Allium
This family of plants come in a variety of sizes good for any garden space. They produce strap-like foliage with colorful balloon-like flower clusters in pink, white, purple and blue. Allium is a fun and easy-to-grow plant that are a pollinator favorite during late summer.
Asclepias
Also known as Milkweed, this plant provides nectar-rich flowers for many pollinators but are essential to monarch populations as the leaves are the only food source for their larvae. This is an essential native plant in any pollinator garden with many delightful, showy species to choose from.
Aster
A must for the pollinator garden, this showy plant is a standout in the fall garden. The prolific clusters of vibrant colors are a magnet for nectar-loving butterflies, skippers and other beneficial pollinators. Cultivars tout resistance to mildew, while native varieties are host plants for the larvae of Pearl Crescent and Silvery Checkerspot butterflies.
Calamintha
The sprays of pure white flowers that bloom from mid summer to late fall are a great source of nectar for bees and other pollinators. These neatly mounded plants keep their shape all season so they are perfect along a border or pathway.
Caryopteris
This compact sub-shrub with bright foliage have masses of blue flowers that are very attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. This plant adds brightness to an autumn garden and is a good nectar source for late season pollinators.
Chrysanthemum
These prolific bloomers are widely known as late season garden mums. Not to be confused with annual or florist mums, these perennial varieties are hardy to our zone 5 winters. The bright array of flower colors make them a favorite source of nectar for beneficial pollinators in fall as they are often one of the last garden plants to finish blooming.
Coreopsis
These cheery flowers bloom in a range of colors from yellows to oranges to reds with a variety of sizes from groundcover to 6 feet tall! The native variety is considered to be a good source for honey among beekeepers but these bright flowerheads are a beacon for all pollinators. Removing faded flowers will encourage prolonged flowering.
Echinacea
Also know as coneflowers, these daisy-like flowers with a raised cone bring a delightful mix of colors from rich purple, magenta, pink, red, orange, light yellows, creams and whites mid-summer through fall. Butterflies and other pollinators will be attracted to the flowers, while the dried seed heads serve as an important food source for songbirds.
Liatris
This native should be one of your first choices for attracting monarch butterflies. These dramatic upright flowering stems attract hummingbirds and bees as well with their fuzzy flowers in white or shades of pinkish purple. Besides being a monarch magnet, the dried seed heads are enjoyed by finches.
Lobelia
Known for their beautiful spires of blue or red blooms in late summer through early fall. This native is an outstanding hummingbird plant that does best with some shade and tolerates average soils.
Rudbeckia
A vigorous, well flowered plant, Rudbeckia is certainly a garden favorite. Varying in height and habit, these plants provide bold splashes of color with their vivid yellow, golden or rust colored flowers. These blooms offer a long season of color that attracts late season butterflies, while leaving the stems and seed pods in the winter will attract songbirds.
Sedum
Know for their succulent foliage, range of colors, and easy care, these pollinator-friendly plants have become a garden favorite. The clusters of vibrant blooms that flower through fall attract butterflies and other pollinators.
Vernonia
In late summer this vigorous plant will be covered with intense purple flower clusters on tall stems that attract a variety of butterflies.
Fresh deliveries of pollinator-friendly perennials are still arriving! Visit us at either location to add some late blooming food for bees, butterflies, birds and many other pollinators.
