Looking to build a native plant garden and not sure where to start? This kit -- including 50 of the most colorful and popular plants for attracting pollinators -- will get you going.
The plants in this kit are landscape plugs, approximately 2 x 5 inches, and once they establish you should have blooms all season, beginning with the violets in March all the way through to October with the stunningly beautiful New England Aster.
The numbers in this kit assume a garden of approximately 100 square feet arranged in any shape. You can curve it along a walkway or go for a rectangle. Since most of these plants do well in part shade, you can also align it along a wood's edge as long as the plants get four to six hours of sun each day.
You might also want to plant it near a patio. Try sipping coffee while watching the butterflies and hummingbirds dive for nectar. Add a water source, such as a birdbath--perfect!
Best plants for pollinators--kit
You'll need about 100 square feet of space, preferably good, humussy soil. There are 50 plants in this kit, and they are all 4- to 5-inch plugs.
(H) = Hummingbirds. The bloom time and bloom color are in parentheses.
- 10 Common Blue Violet (groundcover) (blue, March-May)
- 5 Golden Alexanders (yellow, May-June)
- 5 Purple coneflower (purple, June-August) (H)
- 5 Showy Goldenrod (yellow, late fall)
- 5 Black-eyed susan (yellow/black, August-October)
- 5 Cardinal flower (red, August-October) (H)
- 5 New England Aster (violet September-November)
- 5 Showy Tick Trefoil (bright pink, July-August)
- 5 Little Bluestem (grass) (amber, fall)