By Suzanne DeJohn, Gardener's Supply
Images courtesy of Gardener's Supply
Pollinator garden designs feature easy-care plants that together ensure colorful blooms all season long. That means plenty of nectar and pollen for the pollinators, and a beautiful landscape accent for you!
With a hexagonal shape inspired by honeycomb cells, these Pollinator Raised Beds can be configured in a variety of ways to suit your space.
Hummingbird Garden
Bold flowers in brilliant hues attract these winged wonders. Once hummingbirds discover this garden's buffet of blooms, they'll stick around all summer and return again each spring. The star of this garden is the Rocket's Red Glare red hot poker in the center. It's surrounded by hummingbird mint and salvia, plus fuchsia, nasturtium, and calibrachoa.
Learn more about the plants and view the planting plan:
In addition to the familiar honeybee, there are hundreds of native bee species that are also important pollinators. This garden puts out the welcome mat for bees and other beneficial insects. It features flowers in shades of blue, purple, and yellow — colors that are especially attractive to bees. Perennials include Chocolate Joe Pye weed, black-eyed Susan, cranesbill, and catmint. Annuals like calendula and thyme round out the buffet.
Learn more about the plants and view the planting plan:
In spring, the orange milkweed foliage provides food for monarch butterfly larvae. Summer brings continuous blooms in a rainbow of hues. And come autumn, the nectar-rich, fall-blooming aster helps monarchs fuel up for their migration. Other perennials include coneflower and liatris, plus annual flowers like zinnia and nasturtium.
Few bulbs are easier to grow than amaryllis-and few bloom with greater exuberance and beauty. But many just toss them at the end of their initial show.
Importantly there are tricks to get them to bloom again. Click here for an informative article about extending the life of amaryllis.
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