Creating a pollinator friendly garden is as easy as picking out the best plants to make your bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies happy. Flowers are not only lovely to our eyes but essential to the ecosystem. Bugs and animals of all types depend on flowers for nutrition and survival. Gardeners can do their part by planting varieties that benefit pollinators the most.
Did you know that bees pollinate flowers, trees, and shrubs but so do other animals and insects! Birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps and small mammals are all also common pollinators. Bees, other animals, as well as the wind, can carry pollen from plant to plant. Worldwide, approximately 1,000 plants grown for food, beverages, fibers, spices, and medicines need to be pollinated by animals in order to produce the goods on which we depend. Foods and beverages produced with the help of pollinators include blueberries, chocolate, coffee, melons, peaches, pumpkins, vanilla, and almonds. All things that we as humans love to treat ourselves to. I know I couldn’t live without my coffee and chocolate!
So, let us return the favor and create gardens that are a treat for pollinators.
Here are five plants that you can grow to turn your garden into a pollinator’s paradise:
Dianthus – Dianthus are not only beautiful and come in a wide variety of colors but butterflies will dance around them all season long adding even more color to your landscape. They are also easy to grow and will brighten up any spot in your landscape. 
Echinacea – Easy to grow and long-lived, the Echinacea (Coneflower) has a very hardy nature, proving resistant to environmental stressors, from heat and humidity to cold and drought. Echinacea‘s are impervious to most pests and diseases, sending up blooms in summer in a range of colors — pink, white, yellow, orange, and more! — and in fall drawing in songbirds, which come to feast on their seed-filled cones. Not only will it bring in songbirds, but butterflies will adore them as well. 
Lupine – These plants are easy to care for and do best in full sun to partly shaded areas of the garden and best of all they are a joy to grow! They will bloom in beautiful colors from early spring through early summer. Hummingbirds will fill your garden with activity as they are drawn to the unique blooms of these beautiful plants.
Veronica – Bees and butterflies won’t be able to stay away from these bold blooms on their tall, cut-worthy stalks. They tower over landscapes in stunning colors that create an impressive view for all to admire. The pollinators will fall in love and so will you!
Penstemon -These flowers flutter in the garden like flags waving over the butterflies and hummingbirds to come for a visit. Beginning in late spring or early summer in most climates, the flowers continue through summer and even go into fall, and are simply electrifying in any setting. They make wonderful cuts for the vase, but who can bear to see them leave the garden? 
Quick Tips:
- Choose native species and wildflowers – wildflowers get bad press for seeming ‘weedy’, but these kinds of plants are what your local pollinators are used to and are the most beneficial to those populations.
- Plant flowers away from high traffic areas – the less disruption from humans, animals, and machines the better. You don’t like being pestered while you’re trying to eat, do you?
- Provide water and “puddling” stations – pollinating is thirsty work! Bees often get dehydrated during the day, so leaving them some shallow pools of clean water helps them tremendously. Add small stones to the pool so that they have something to stand on while they drink.
- Avoid using pesticides – try natural remedies to deter the “bad” bugs and invite “good” bugs to even the score (i.e.: don’t kill spiders and other pest predators if you can manage it.)
- Plant colorful and fragrant flowers for best results.
- Bees’ favorite colors are violet and blue.
- Hummingbirds’ favorite colors are red, purple, and orange.
By choosing some key plants and following these tips your garden will become a balanced and healthy environment that all can enjoy!