Pollinator Garden

Schizachyrium scoparium

Little bluestem is a host plant for many different species of insects, including 9 different skipper butterflies. Some insects, including female bumblebee queens, overwinter at the base of the plant to remain protected until the spring.

Photo: Northern Wildflowers.

Sorghastrum nutans

In a North American prairie ecosystem, yellow prairie grass is one of the most significant and beautiful grasses. Songbirds eat the seeds and gamefowl find shelter in the base of the grass. It is also a host plant for skipper butterflies.

Photo: Teri Knight.

Eutrochium

Blooms: July-September

Joe Pye weed attracts a wide variety of butterflies and bees and is a larval host for several moths. The plant has also been used in traditional Indigenous medicine for various purposes. The name of this plant may refer to a 19th-century Indigenous man named Jopi, who used the plant to cure typhus.

Asclepias tuberosa

Blooms: June-August

The leaves of butterfly milkweed are a food source for monarch butterfly larvae. Many other pollinators, including the ruby-throated hummingbird, are attracted to the flowers. It has been used to treat many different ailments, especially lung diseases, by Indigenous peoples and early settlers. Therefore, the genus name Asclepias honours the Greek god of medicine, Asklepios.

Asclepias syriaca

Blooms: June-August

The leaves of common milkweed are an important food source for monarch butterfly larvae, and other insects will feed exclusively on it at different stages of life. You can wrap an elastic or string around the seed pods, and allow them to dry out on the plant in order to collect and plant them along roadsides or in your garden.

Liatris spicata

Blooms: July-October

Blazing star attracts many kinds of bees and butterflies, as well as hummingbirds. Indigenous peoples in North America have used blazing star roots as a pain reliever and fever treatment. The leaves were also used as an antiseptic and to treat an upset stomach. Liatris is now considered threatened in Ontario.

Echinacea purpurea

Blooms: June-September

Purple coneflower supports a wide variety of bees and butterflies. It can be a larval host for the silvery checkerspot butterfly, sunflower moth and wavy-lined emerald moth, among others. Echinacea has powerful medicinal properties, and has been used to treat headaches, sore throats and even snake bites.

Ratibida pinnata

Blooms: June-August

Gray-headed coneflower is loved by bees, butterflies and other insects. Like purple coneflower, it is a host for caterpillars of several different moths. The center disks begin gray-coloured and turn dark brown throughout the season. A licorice scent is released when the center of the flower is rubbed!

Heliopsis helianthoides

Blooms: June-August

False sunflower attracts many different types of pollinators. It is not a true sunflower, which is the genus helianthus. Holcopasites heliopis, a ground nesting cuckoo bee, is a specialist pollinator of false sunflower.

Rudbeckia hirta

Blooms: June-September

Black-eyed Susan attracts many different bees, butterflies and birds. Rudbeckia is a pioneer plant, meaning that it is the first to grow after a fire or natural disaster damages an area. It is also a larval host for Silvery Checkerspot, Gorgone Checkerspot and Bordered Patch butterflies.

Monarda fistulosa

Blooms: July-August

Often called "bee balm", wild bergamot is a favourite of pollinators, and a larval host for the Hermit Sphinx moth. Both Indigenous peoples and settlers have considered this plant incredibly useful; it has been used as a medicine, fragrance, flavouring, tea, and even meat preservative!

Lobelia Siphiliica

Blooms: July-September

Great blue lobelia attracts many pollinators, including bees, butterflies and hummingbirds! The tubular, lipped shape of the flower creates an easy landing pad for bees. This plant has been used by Indigenous peoples to treat coughs, nosebleeds, headaches, and even as an "anti-divorce remedy" which was secretly served to a husband and wife.

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

Blooms: August-October

Asters provide an important source of nectar and pollen in the fall months. Its pollinators include bees, butterflies, flies, beetles, moths. The plant hosts pearl crescent and checkerspot caterpillars. Songbirds enjoy eating the seed heads in the winter, if the stalks are left standing. Symphyotrichum is known to have medicinal properties that aid in digestive and respiratory ailments.

Symphyotrichum ericoides

Blooms: August-September

Like New England aster, heath aster blooms in late summer and fall, providing nectar and pollen after other plants have finished blooming. It hosts pearl crescent and silvery checkerspot caterpillars, as well as the wavy-lined emerald moth. Chickadees, juncos and goldfinches will pick at the seeds in winter.

Photo: Dan Mullen.

Anemone canadensis

Bloom: May-June

Anemone is taken from the Greek word anemos, meaning "wind". The plant is known to some as windflowers, perhaps due to the way they sway in a gentle breeze, or how the seeds are distributed by wind. This groundcover can spread aggressively by rhizomes, but if surrounded by taller perennials, they will co-exist well.

Photo: St. William's Nursery.

Fragaria vesca

Bloom: April-June

Wild Strawberry is one of the first spring flowers, followed by delicious red berries. The plant carries great significance in some local Indigenous traditions.

Photo: Erik.