Did you know that about 35% of the world’s food crops and 75% of the world’s flowering plants need pollinators for survival and reproduction, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture? Did you also know that 40% of insect pollinators are threatened with extinction?
Pollinators are crucial creatures to maintaining the world’s biosystem and to having healthy plants right here in your garden in Ohio. Believe it or not, you can help both your garden and the world by helping Ohio’s pollinators. Here is a roundup of five of our favorite pollinator-friendly perennials to plant in your garden this month.
Salvia
Pollinators will salivate over your salvia! Seriously, butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees are attracted to salvia flowers.
Salvia grows to about thirty-six inches tall, and this plant thrives in heat. It’s drought tolerant and low maintenance after the plant is established.
These flowers need full sun, and they bloom during the spring, summer, and fall as long as you continually deadhead them. They also need well-draining, loamy soil, but these flowers don’t need any fertilizer apart from a dose of compost each season.
Plus, salvia make for great border flowers and they don’t attract rabbits or deer.
Fun Fact: Salvia has been used in Chinese medicine to increase heart health and blood circulation.
Lavender
Lavender is great for supporting pollinators (particularly bees), and it makes for fragrant flowers. Lavender also works well as beautiful cut flowers. You can use lavender in soaps, salves, homemade colognes, and food. Lavender also makes a great addition to any Ohio tea garden and these flowers can deter deer from your garden too.
Lavender grows best in Ohio in spring or early summer, and it thrives in full sunlight. But, make sure to give lavender some shade during the summer’s heat to help the plant survive.
These purple flowers are drought-tolerant. So, give lavender well-draining soil such as sandy soil. Water it sparingly after the plant’s first season as this will help prevent root rot and fungus.
Lavender flowers grow well in poor soil, because the lack of nutrients causes the flowers to concentrate their oil, which intensifies their signature fragrance. However, you should add a dose of compost when you first plant lavender.
Fun Fact: Stems with closed flowers will have longer lasting color and fragrance than stems with open flowers.
Bee Balm (Monarda)
Bees go bonkers for bee balm! Bee balm (a.k.a. monarda, wild bergamot, and horsemint) grows to be forty-eight inches tall and thirty-six inches wide. Bee balm blooms from late spring through the late summer, and it gives landscapes an adorable cottage feel with brightly colored flowers.
Plant bee balm in fertile, well-draining soil that is between 6.0 and 7.0 in pH. Also, ensure that it gets full or partial sun and weekly waterings. Prune the plant to give it good airflow so that you avoid the plant getting powdery mildew. Other than that, bee balm is a low-maintenance plant for Ohio gardens. You can even let some of the flowers go to seed, and these seeds will feed the birds in your garden.
Fun Fact: Bee balm got its name from pioneers using its leaves to soothe bee stings.
Butterfly Flower (asclepias tuberosa)
Butterfly flower is an iconic prairie wildflower that is native to Ohio. It’s aptly named, because butterflies love it. The flowers’ tubular shapes entice butterflies to take a drink from these showy, orange flowers. This flower attracts monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.
Butterfly weed grows to about one to two feet tall. It blooms during the summer (from June to August) and is a great beginner flower for those just starting out in gardening because it’s an easy-to-grow flower. Butterfly weed is drought tolerant and does best in full or partial sun.
For soil, give butterfly weed well-draining soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. This hardy plant doesn’t need fertilizing. After the plant is established, which is usually during the first year, you can cut back on its watering and water it once a month. Butterfly weed actually likes dry soil!
Fun Fact: Native Americans used butterfly flowers’ fibers for making bowstrings and textiles.
Speedwell (Veronica)
Speedwell is pollinator friendly, deer resistant, rabbit resistant, and low maintenance. These flowers also grow quickly and give great height to a garden because they can grow up to three feet tall and two feet wide. Some of our favorite speedwell colors are pink, blue, and pale bluish-pink.
Speedwells thrive in full sun but can tolerate partial shade. These flowers like well-drained, loamy soil. They don’t need fertilizer, but you can give them a yearly helping of fertilizer if you want to give them an extra boost. Give these drought-resistant plants one inch of water each week.
Fun Fact: Speedwell symbolizes success, loyalty, and fidelity.
Reach Out to Stockslager’s Greenhouse & Garden Center for Guidance, Supplies, & Pollinator Plants
If you want to be a pollinator pal, then let’s be friends. Come by Stockslager’s Greenhouse & Garden Center and let us assist you in helping Ohio’s pollinators. We have all of the above pollinator plants available in our central Ohio greenhouse (while supplies last). Call our garden center at 937-687-2722 for questions about availability.
You can learn more about pollinators in our Ultimate Guide to How You Can Help Pollinators in Ohio.
If you have any questions about Ohio’s pollinators or about gardening, then you can visit us or give us a call, and one of our knowledgeable experts will be happy to assist you. We want to help bring your pollinator garden dreams to life. We hope that you’ll stop by!
