Gardening for Pollinators: Plants that Attract Bees, Wasps, and Other Flying Insects

Aster – this perennial is fast growing, deer resistant, and great for pollinators, blooming from late summer through fall. The flower colors range from purple, pink, blue and white. Asters prefer areas with full to partial sun, with moist but well- draining soil. The New England Aster is the most popular among gardeners due to its vibrant purple-pink flowers and late season blooms.  

Black-eyed Susan – this is another garden staple, fast growing, and the scratchy hairy leaves help keep pests away.  Black-eyed Susans are easy to establish and require little maintenance (they even self-seed so you don’t have to).  They prefer full sun with moist, well-draining soil.  The flowers are yellow, orange, and red. 

Goldenrod – a perennial wildflower that is tall and slim with fluffy golden spikes in shades of yellow.  You may want to stake the taller varieties, so they don’t bend over. It will grow in any sunny location and will survive in any soil type.  Goldenrod does not require fertilizer.  

Joe pye weed – A sweet vanilla scent will attract pollinators from all over the area. It generally grows in upright clumps that can reach up to 7 feet.  Joe Pye weeds have thick stems with dark green, serrated leaves that can be up to a foot long. In midsummer, tiny mauve or pink-purple flowers bloom in large clusters atop the stems.  It prefers full to partial sun, and moist, well-draining soil. 

Lupine aka bluebonnet – This plant may look like a wildflower, but it is a fast-growing legume in the pea family that happens to have a tall, showy spire of colorful blooms. These blooms are typically purple, but can also be blue, white, red, pink, or yellow. Lupine prefers full sun, and moist, well-draining soil.

Sunflowers – A classic flower for any garden that will begin blooming mid-summer and last to early fall.  Annual sunflowers grow on sturdy, hairy upright stems that can grow to be 3-10 feet tall. The stems can hold a single flower or be branched with multiple blooms. The flowers are yellow, red, mahogany, and bicolor.  They prefer full sun, and well-draining soil. 

Zinnia - These are fast-growing, annual flowers that require minimal care. They love hot weather and thrive easily. Zinnia varieties come short, tall, and spreading, with flowers that are rounded and may be daisy-like, double, cactus-flowered, or a formal-looking dahlia-type. Zinnias flowers can be pink, purple, yellow, orange, white, red, and green.  They prefer full sun, and well-draining soil. 

Borage – an easy, fast-growing, self-seeding annual with vivid blue flowers and the flavor and scent of cucumbers.  It is considered an herb, but it is often planted to entice pollinators to the garden. It prefers partial to full sun and well-draining soil. 

Comfrey – a perennial that features coarse, hairy leaves up to 8 inches long, with clusters of tiny bell-shaped flowers that bloom on drooping stems in late spring. The flower can be purple, pink, and white.  Comfrey prefers partial to full sun, and loamy, well-draining soil.

Chives – Easy to grow cousins of onion and garlic, with a mild onion-y flavor and edible purple flowers that attract bees. They prefer full sun with light shade and loamy, sandy soil.

Hyssop – purple giant hyssop is a tall-growing perennial, and the fragrant flowers are known to attract bees and wasps.  Growing almost 6 feet tall, it is often chosen to go up against a fence or in borders.  The pale purple or pink blooms form on several spikes at the top of the stem. The leaf stems are covered in short, white hairs. It prefers partial to full sun, and moist, loamy or sandy soil.

Mint – a very hardy perennial that is simple to identify, not just because of their fresh and spicy scent, but because all members of the mint genus have opposite leaves and square stems. Long stems grow upward, flop over, and roots will form where the stems touch the soil enabling the mint plant to spread quite easily. Its small white or purple summer-blooming flowers attract bees. Mint prefers partial to full sun, and loamy, moist well-draining soil.

Rosemary – a fragrant herb that grows as a perennial evergreen shrub. It features slender, needle-like leaves on erect woody stems. And it produces clusters of small, light blue to white flowers typically in the late spring to early summer. Rosemary prefers full sun and sandy, loamy, well-draining soil.

Watermelons – a sprawling, vining annual with large, lobed leaves with a hairy, coarse texture. They bloom in mid- to late-summer with small, yellow flowers that are often unattractive to honeybees and bumblebees. This is a plant that has a long hot growing season. Watermelons prefer full sun and loamy, sandy, well-draining soil.

Cantaloupes – a vining plant that is easily recognized by the beige netted pattern that forms on the outside of the fruit.  The most common reason why cantaloupes will flower but not fruit is that they aren’t being pollinated. There’s no substitute for bees when it comes to pollination. They are the most reliable way for your cantaloupes to be pollinated. A decent supply of bees will ensure an abundant crop of cantaloupes.  

Pumpkins – When most people think of a pumpkin, they picture a large, spherical, orange fruit with a ribbed rind. There are, however, a variety of pumpkins that come in colors including white, red, pink, and blue, with rinds that can be smooth, bumpy, oval, flattened, or round.  A pumpkin is a low-growing vining annual with large, coarse leaves. The plants flower with yellow blooms in July and August, producing rapidly growing fruits that are left to ripen on the vine for the fall harvest. Pumpkins require cross-pollination; the best way to achieve wide-spread pollination is through bees, which move pollen from the plant’s male flowers to the female flowers.  Pumpkins prefer full sun and moist, loamy soil.

Bell Peppers – may be the most colorful crop in the garden. Most often found in shades of red, yellow, orange and green, you can also grow white, purple, and brown varieties. Some even produce a rainbow of different colored fruits on one plant. Bell peppers grow into compact bushes with large, alternate leaves, white flowers and fruits on multiple branches. This plant requires crosspollination in order to fruit. Bell peppers prefer full sun and loamy soil.

Tomatoes – Tomato plants do not rely on bees for pollination and fruit production as they can self-pollinate. However, not all flowers will be pollinated through self-pollination, so insects such as bees can increase the total fruit production by pollinating flowers that would otherwise not have been pollinated. Growing quickly to at least 6 feet tall, the late-maturing Beefsteak tomato plant will produce a bountiful harvest in about 85 days. It needs a sturdy cage, trellis, or stake to support its fruit. They prefer full sun and well-drained soil.