Spring is a great time to evaluate your garden and research native plants that boost pollen and nectar availability. By including natives in your landscape, you provide pollinators with the plant species that they prefer to eat. Native plants thrive here in Western New York because they are adapted to our local climate and soils. They require less water, fertilizer, and maintenance.
POLLEN, NECTAR, MORE INSECTS—WHO CARES?
Nearly all pollinators drink nectar, which is basically sugar water. Consequentially, growing nectar-rich plants in your garden boosts pollination. The sugar provides insects with energy to fly, build nests, and reproduce.
Pollen (a fine dust produced by the male part of a plant) is necessary for sexual reproduction of flowering plants. Without pollination, plants cannot produce seeds. As a result, plant communities, food production, and the global ecosystem are all negatively impacted.
Bees are unique in that they use both nectar and pollen. The nectar provides energy for adult bees while the pollen delivers protein their young. Butterflies, the second most important pollinators after bees, almost entirely feed on nectar. Unlike the adults, butterfly and moth caterpillars (larval stage) feed on leaves. Butterflies, moths and hoverflies transfer pollen from flower to flower as they fly around helping plants reproduce.
When pollinators have access to food and shelter throughout spring and summer, your garden will attract and support wildlife, which is a key part of a healthy ecosystem. According to Douglas W. Tallamy, American entomologist, ecologist, conservationist and author, and professor in the department of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. “People know next to nothing about the most diverse group of organisms ever to evolve.” Tallamy states. “Of the four million insect species on earth a mere one percent interacts with humans in negative ways. The other ninety-nine percent of the insect species pollinate plants; return the nutrients tied up in dead plants and animals to the soil; keep populations of insect herbivores in check; aerate and enrich the soil; and … provide food either directly or indirectly for most other animals.”
“If insects were to disappear … our own extinction would not be far behind. We need healthy insect populations to ensure our own survival,” stresses Tallamy. “The more natives you incorporate into your garden, the happier the little creatures in your neighborhood will be.”
SPRING BLOOMING NATIVE PLANTS
Wild columbine or Eastern red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) flaunts several attributes that make it attractive to pollinators. The red color and elongated spurs are filled with sweet nectar that, amazingly, has twice the sugar content of other North American columbines. Long-tongued bees, butterflies, hawk moths, and the ruby-throated hummingbirds are fond of the flowers’ nectar. The caterpillars of the rare native Columbine Duskywing Butterfly feed exclusively on the columbine leaves.
The Northern spice bush (Lindera benzoin), a shrub native to eastern North America, is an important source of nectar and pollen for small flies and bees. Its leaves are a larval host for the Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly. Clusters of tiny, fragrant, yellow-green flowers bloom from April to May. Shiny red fruit ripen later in the season and entice voracious songbirds. The northern spice bush prefers full sun but can also tolerate heavy shade.
Several serviceberry including the downy shadbush (Amelanchier arborea) and round-leaved shadbush (A. sanguinea) are native to Western New York. They produce nectar-rich, drooping clusters of white flowers in early spring that attract honeybees and mining bees. A slow-growing, small tree, the shadbush can eventually reach fifteen to twenty-five feet tall.
HEAT UP YOUR SUMMER GARDEN WITH COLORFUL NATIVES
Plants popular with pollinators during the summer are usually the easiest to find and grow. Most thrive in full sun. Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum) is a native perennial that grows two to six feet tall and attracts large numbers of native bees with candelabralike white flower spikes. (Staking may be necessary to keep veronicastrum’s architectural flower spikes erect.) The larvae of the Culver’s Root Borer Moth feed on its roots. The narrow-leaved mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) boasts silvery foliage and a long bloom period. Dainty white flower clusters sit atop branching stems and exude a refreshing, minty scent when cut or crushed. Mountain mint attracts and nourishes hundreds of insect species including many native bees, bee flies, beneficial flies, butterflies, skippers, moths, beetles and wasps. Numerous animals eat its seeds. Since mountain mint is vigorous and travels by rhizomes, pick your site carefully, giving it plenty of room to spread out.
Bees, bumblebees, wasps, hummingbirds, and hawk moths are all attracted to the purple-pink flowers of wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). It grows two to four feet tall and tolerates a variety of soils. Bee balm (Monarda didyma) is easy to grow and thrives in full sun or partial shade. Its red blooms and nectar entice hummingbirds. Several moths depend on bee balm for food including the Orange Mint Moth, Hermit Sphinx Moth, Gray Marvel Moth, and the Meal Moth.
The flower structure and abundant nectar make milkweed a crucial plant for supporting diverse pollinator populations. Monarch butterflies use milkweed flowers as a nectar source and a host plant for laying eggs. Bumblebees are able to skillfully reach the pollen sacs of milkweed because of their body proportions and habits. Flies, beetles, and wasps also frequent milkweed flowers. Native milkweeds include common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) and forest or poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata).
The Viburnaceae family includes the native mapleleaved viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium), a shrub that grows from three to six feet tall and tolerates full shade and dry soils. Butterflies are attracted to its white flowers and birds nibble on the reddish-purple fruits. V. acerifolium is a larval host for the spring azure butterfly. Additional native viburnums include the hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides) with fragrant, flattopped clusters of small white flowers, and nannyberry (Viburnum lentago) with a mixture of light green, pale yellow, and red-pink fruit which slowly ripens into blue-black berries.
Several dogwoods are native to areas in Western New York including pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) and gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa). The flowering dogwood is a slow-growing, resilient tree known for its showy white bracts, petite yellow flowers, and red berries. It is a small deciduous tree that typically grows fifteen to thirty feet tall with a broadly pyramidal habit.
Consider planting pollinator-loving annuals (yes, native annuals) interspersed amongst the native perennials. Annuals grow quickly and bloom over many weeks while attracting pollinators galore.
Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and pale jewelweed (Impatiens pallida) produce beautiful, complex flowers with long nectar spurs that jut out the back of the blossoms. The flowers of the two species are orange with reddish spots and yellow with rosy speckles, respectively. They are perfectly designed for hummingbirds, but also loved by the common Eastern Bumblebee. Both are self-seeding, grow two to five feet tall, and prefer moist soil in partial shade. The seeds erupt and are ejected away from the plant (explosively dehiscent) when they are ripe.
In Erie, Cattaraugus, and Oneida counties, the partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata var. fasciculata) is a true native annual that germinates quickly. Bright yellow flowers thrive in full-to-part sun growing about two feet tall. Its long bloom period lasts from June through October. Attractive, narrow, thin, maroon seed pods split open in the fall and launch the seeds. Like jewelweed, it is explosively dehiscent.
The partridge pea is a larval host plant for the gray hairstreak, a gossamer-winged butterfly in the Lycanidae family, the second largest family of butterflies. It is a source of pollen for native bees. The dried seeds of the partridge pea are gobbled up by goldfinches and mourning doves. The partridge pea readily self-sows in moist to dry soil and forms a thicket creating a long-lasting wildlife habitat. It flourishes in hot dry areas with lean soil but also adapts well to containers.
TIME FOR CHANGE
For many years, I thought a beautiful garden meant creating a “sterile” environment that was free of plant-eating pests. I have since learned that gardens need to function as balanced communities to support all organisms. According to Tallamy, “a plant that has fed nothing has not done its job.”
I challenge you to plant just one spring or summer-blooming native in your garden this year. When a non-native plant dies, replace it with a native. Try to assemble a diverse plant collection by layering groundcovers, perennials, shrubs, and trees. Create an environment rich in habitats using leaf litter, logs, branches, and mulch to support insects, reptiles, birds, and small mammals.
The value of native plants will become evident as you spend time in your garden—captivated by the relationships that exist between plants and insects.
Note: Part two of this series will include native pollinator plants for fall and winter.
Colleen O’Neill Nice is a horticulturalist who is passionate about plant propagation and enjoys nurturing her garden in Clarence, New York.
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of Upstate Gardeners’ Journal.
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