Adding Food for Pollinators to the Garden

Provide food for bees, birds, and butterflies by incorporating plants that offer them nectar, seeds, berries, and pollen. The first thing to think about is adding flowers; flowers are not only beautiful, they also offer food for native pollinators, birds and butterflies. Flower shapes that attract pollinators include:

Compositae - daisy-shaped flowers - because the center of the blossom is actually several individual flowers that they can gather nectar from all at once. The flowers in the picture below are Layia platyglossa, commonly known as tidy tips.

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Flowers with “landing pads,”  known as a Umbelliferae, are similar to Compositae in that they have many small flower clusters to drink from. “Landing pad” flowers include yarrow, lantana, verbena, and milkweed. The picture below shows several varieties of yarrow.

Pollinators also like the umbrella-shaped flowers from plants such as dill, parsley, carrots, and Queen Anne’s lace.

Trumpet-shaped flowers like Penstemon and Mimulus allow butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to seek nectar from deep down in the throat of the flower.