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If you don’t think you have space for a pollinator garden, think again. You may live on a cute, postage-stamp-sized lot or have a property drenched in cool shade, but there’s always somewhere sunny to tuck a few containers. And just a few pots of flowers can attract a surprising number of pollinators.
When you’re creating a container garden for pollinators, you want to think about more than arranging colorful blooms that are pleasing to the human eye. Try to select flowers that are popular with a wide range of bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators, such as those we’ve listed below. Plants with similar soil and watering needs should be grouped together for easy care. Throw in a plant or two for the caterpillars to feed on.
Get started with one—or several—of these pollinator-friendly plants for containers, and you’ll be getting visits from every bee and butterfly in the neighborhood.
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Salvia
- Botanical Name: Salvia spp.
- Sun Exposure: Full
- Soil Type: Well-draining, rich in organic matter
- Soil pH: Slightly acidic (5.5-6.5)
- Pollinators: Butterflies, hummingbirds
Salvias include culinary sage, Russian sage, red salvia, blue salvia, and more. Pot up one of the clump-forming types in a large container or tuck annual salvia flowers into a mixed container. The tubular blossoms will attract pollinators for months until the flowers fade away at the first frost.
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Pentas
- Botanical Name: Pentas lanceolata
- Sun Exposure: Full, partial
- Soil Type: Well-draining
- Soil pH: Acidic, neutral (6.5-7.2)
- Pollinators: Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
Pentas is an easy summer annual that may overwinter in Zone 10. Often sold in hanging baskets and containers, the compact foliage bears clusters of red, pink, lavender, or white star-shaped flowers. Pentas grows in any well-draining soil and requires less watering than most flowers. This plant has a long bloom season and will attract hummingbirds along with other pollinators.
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Lantana
- Botanical Name: Lantana camara
- Sun Exposure: Full
- Soil Type: Well-draining, moist
- Soil pH: Slightly acidic, neutral, alkaline (6.0-8.0)
- Pollinators: Bumblebees, butterflies, hummingbirds
Lantana has no issues with scorching summers, happily producing flowers as long as you water the containers when dry. Though common lantana can grow into a large shrub, there are compact varieties of the festive, multi-colored flowers for planters and hanging baskets. Butterflies and hummingbirds especially love it.
04 of 14
Lavender
- Botanical Name: Lavandula spp.
- Sun Exposure: Full sun
- Soil Type: Well-drained, sandy
- Soil pH: Neutral (6.7-7.3)
- Pollinators: Bees, butterflies
This Mediterranean plant has a heavenly scent that you will relish as much as pollinators do. Lavender needs space to grow and good drainage, so plant it in a clay pot in soil amended with coarse sand. Bumblebees, honey bees, and butterflies will pay your lavender a visit.
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Dill
- Botanical Name: Anethum graveolens
- Sun exposure: Full sun
- Soil type: Rich, moist, well-drained
- Soil pH: Slightly acidic (5.5-6.7)
- Pollinators: Syrphid flies, bees, small wasps; host plant for black swallowtail caterpillar
Dill can serve dual purposes in your container garden. Grab a few sprigs whenever you want to can pickles, and leave the rest for the pollinators. If you let it flower, the smaller pollinator insects will appreciate the yellow blooms. Black swallowtail caterpillars will happily munch on the ferny foliage.
06 of 14
Zinnia
- Botanical Name: Zinnia spp.
- Sun Exposure: Full sun
- Soil Type: Well-drained, average
- Soil pH: Acid, neutral (5.5-7.5)
- Pollinators: Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds
Zinnias provide the perfect landing pad for butterflies, making it one of the most popular spots in the flower patch. Many types of bees, nectar-feeding moths, and hummingbirds may swing by as well. This cheerful Central American flower will keep blooming until the first frost as long as you deadhead the flowers. You can start them in containers with seeds or easily find them at garden centers once the weather warms up. Zinnias are moderately drought-tolerant once established, though regular water will keep those flowers coming.
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Yarrow
- Botanical Name: Achillea spp.
- Sun Exposure: Full, partial
- Soil Type: Well-drained, sandy
- Soil pH: 4.5-8.0
- Pollinators: Bees, butterflies, flies, wasps
Yarrow makes a great container plant since it can be aggressive in some gardens. The medicinal scent and tightly packed flowers attract lots of native bees and other insects. Keep this plant on the drier side and pair it with other flowers that don’t like fertilizer or rich soil. Yarrow comes in shades of white, yellow, and pink and blooms from late spring into early fall.
08 of 14
Asters
- Botanical Name: Symphyotrichum spp.
- Sun Exposure: Full, partial
- Soil Type: Moist, well-drained
- Soil pH: Varies
- Pollinators: Bees, syrphid flies, butterflies
Asters have a shorter bloom season than many flowers on this list, but they provide a new source of nectar when other plants are winding down in the fall. Refresh your container garden with asters in shades of blue, white, and purple when the other flowers begin to fade. The smaller-sized bees, butterflies, and flies will appreciate the boost.
09 of 14
Swamp Milkweed
- Botanical Name: Asclepias incarnata
- Sun Exposure: Full, partial
- Soil Type: Moist, loamy, clay
- Soil pH: Acidic, neutral (5.0-7.5)
- Pollinators: Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds; host plant for monarch caterpillar
Because it doesn’t have a long taproot like other milkweeds, A. incarnata is the best choice for a container. All kinds of pollinators will visit the rosy pink flowers, but the real joy is in finding monarch caterpillars on your plant. Swamp milkweed can grow 3 to 4 feet tall, so give it a heavy pot that won’t easily tip over. Keep the soil moist.
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Bee Balm
- Botanical Name: Monarda didyma
- Sun Exposure: Full, partial
- Soil Type: Moist, well-drained, rich
- Soil pH: Acidic, neutral
- Pollinators: Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths
The tubular flowers of bee balm attract many pollinators besides bees. For planters, choose a compact variety like ‘Petite Delight,’ which has pinkish-purple blooms and grows up to 18 inches tall. Bee balm prefers to have consistently moist soil. Containers will keep this vigorous member of the mint family constrained.
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Anise Hyssop
- Botanical Name: Agastache foeniculum
- Sun Exposure: Full, partial
- Soil Type: Well-draining, loamy, sandy
- Soil pH: Slightly Acidic (5.5-6.2)
- Pollinators: Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
Though it also belongs to the mint family, anise hyssop prefers soil on the dryer side. Anise hyssop’s leaves have an anise scent and the subtle flavor of mint and licorice. It’s known as hummingbird mint for good reason. The flower spikes appear from late summer into fall, drawing hummingbirds to your garden. The leaves and flowers can be used in salads and teas.
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Coreopsis
- Botanical Name: Coreopsis spp.
- Sun Exposure: Full sun
- Soil Type: Well-drained but moist, average fertility
- Soil pH: Mildly acidic to neutral (6.0-7.5)
- Pollinators: Bees, butterflies
Coreopsis can be annual or perennial and may have slender or broad leaves. It can be used in mixed containers to fill in around taller plants. These plants are known as tickseed because of the appearance of the seeds, which songbirds enjoy eating in the fall. These wildflowers will be more vigorous in average or low-fertility soil.
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Cosmos
- Botanical Name: Cosmos bipinnatus
- Sun Exposure: Full
- Soil Type: Well-draining, average fertility, sandy
- Soil pH: Neutral (7.0-7.5)
- Pollinators: Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
Cosmos are easy to grow from seed, but you may also see plants at the garden center. Established plants easily handle the summer heat and dry spells, only requiring water about twice a week in containers. Trim off spent flowers to encourage more blooms.
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Blanket Flower
- Botanical Name: Gaillardia pulchella
- Sun Exposure: Full
- Soil Type: Well-draining, sandy
- Soil pH: Mildly acidic, neutral, slightly alkaline (6.0-8.0)
- Pollinators: Bees, butterflies
Fiery blanket flower can be spotted baking in prairies or along roadsides and dunes in sandy soil. These tough plants are compact and must have good drainage, which makes them great container plants. After the bees and butterflies have done their jobs, blanket flower produces large seed heads for songbirds to enjoy.
Read the original article on Southern Living
