Pollinator Friendly Garden Plants
The key to a pollinator friendly garden is to plant a variety of blooming plants — those that rotate bloom times from February through October providing constant nourishment. Include larval host plants for caterpillars as well as pollen and nectar plants. And include native plants. Provide a shallow water source such as a birdbath. Provide shelters, such as bee blocks, and bare soil areas for ground nesting bees. Many pollinators need a place to overwinter, so avoid cleanup until the spring. Lastly, for a pollinator friendly garden, do not use pesticides. Instead apply horticultural oil or insecticidal soap in the evening when the bees are not active.
Pink Pollinator Flowers for Bees
For the girl (or guy) who loves pink, a garden rife with pink pollinator flowers is in order. Luckily you and the bees have plenty of options when it comes to pink pollinator flowers. Check to verify that your selections will grow in your USDA zone and that you have the correct light conditions for them. Utilize plenty of pink native flowers and don’t forget to include shrubs and trees.
Native Pink Flowers for Bees and Other Pollinators
Pink native flowers for bees that bloom in early spring blooms include Cut-Leaved Toothwort, Spring Beauty, and lavender, although the latter is more of a pinkish/purple. As spring segues into summer, additional pink pollinator flowers are available to choose from. Nodding wild onion, milkweed, pink Turtlehead, Sweet Joe-Pye weed, Queen of the Prairie, Swamp Rose Mallow, Monarda or Bee Balm and Obedient plant are excellent pink blooming plants for a pollinator garden. Pink fall bloomers are less common, but Hollow or Spotted Joe-Pye weed are at their peak in the autumn and annuals, such as zinnias, are still in full bloom giving pollinators plenty of nectar.
Other Pink Pollinator Garden Plants
Redbud and Steeplebush add a pop of pink to the pollinator garden in the spring and summer respectfully. Celosia comes in many colors, including pink. Cosmos is a long blooming annual peppered with shades of pink. Foxglove, while a biennial, will self-sow providing year after year of pink, bell-shaped blooms. Eriogonum or California buckwheat is a low, spreading evergreen with clusters of creamy/pink blooms from late spring to early fall, the seeds of which provide food for birds and small mammals in the fall and winter. Gaura is a perennial that, with the right conditions, grows into a shrub filled with long-lasting white, pink or red blooms that seem to float above the plant.
