We’re hearing a lot about our pollinators these days and the importance of avoiding pesticides, buying organic when feasible and minimizing bare expanses on our properties.

I’m all for some lawn to walk and play on but I also know how important it is to include flower beds, veggie gardens as well as trees and shrubs in your backyard. The larger the property, the more opportunity there is to increase this biodiversity. These plants (and their visitors) can add to your garden’s beauty, too!

Susan Biensch’s “Wildlife-friendly Habitat” certified garden
Susan Biensch’s “Wildlife-friendly Habitat” certified garden

Here are some plants that will support a wide variety of pollinators, from our many native bees and butterflies to the efficient Hover Flies as well as beetles, hummingbirds, moths and wasps. (Did you know many of our wasps are very tiny and only use their stingers to paralyze their prey which are often potential pest insect species?)

See which ones might suit your garden and visual appeal. As you look, notice how the different shapes suit different pollinators – for the size or ability to access the pollen and nectar.

Spring

Spring is a great time for many of our shrubs like Wild Plum and Apple that sport pretty blooms. Some smell lovely and all are a great food source for those pollinators that emerge at this time and are in need of food.

This Red Admiral Butterfly is drinking nectar from a Golden Currant shrub.
A tiny halictid bee is taking pollen from a hawthorn flower.
A tiny halictid bee is taking pollen from a hawthorn flower.
Even trees like this willow are important for our insects. Can you see the bee gathering pollen?!
Hepaticas are pretty and have a soft fur to protect their parts from the still cold temperatures of early spring.
Hepaticas are pretty and have a soft fur to protect themselves from the still cold temperatures of early spring.
This native bee was busy pollinating our bellwort flowers a few weeks ago.
This native bee was busy pollinating our bellwort flowers a few weeks ago.
Another of our native bees, this time a much smaller one, was gathering pollen from the Bloodroot flower. It moved its body all the way around the outside of the centre, both ingesting pollen as well as ‘gathering’ some on the hairs of its body.

Summer

By the time summer arrives there is an increase of pollinators including more butterflies that are emerging from their dormant state or returning from their overwintering sites (as with Monarch Butterflies). Hummingbirds, too, are now back in many parts of the country although some warmer areas like British Columbia are fortunate to have them pretty much year round!

This bumblebee was one of several moving quickly along a Culver’s Root flower head.
Thanks to our Photo Contest, we get to share many beautiful images from Canadians like yourself. This one shows a Monarch Butterfly getting nectar from an Echinacea flower. © Bill McMullen | CWF Photo Contest
Common Yarrow have small flowers that are perfect for our tinier pollinators.
Common Yarrow have small flowers that are perfect for our tinier pollinators.

Autumn

Some pollinators are still active in the early and late autumn. The food from your flowers can make the difference in how well they survive winter or their migration south.

There are so many aster species in Canada.
Some asters bloom at the end of the summer while others will bloom into mid or late autumn. Their colours range from dark or pale purple to white.
Some asters bloom at the end of the summer while others will bloom into mid or late autumn. Their colours range from dark or pale purple to white.
Our native sunflowers bloom anywhere from the end of summer through to mid-autumn.
Obedient plants are a late summer – early autumn bloomer. This halictid bee was inside one of its tubular flowers and kept an eye on me the whole time I was around it.
If you have space and are able to let goldenrod grow in the corner of your garden or the back of beds, they are beneficial to many pollinators.
If you have space and are able to let goldenrod grow in the corner of your garden or the back of beds, they are beneficial to many pollinators.
Some species spread faster than others and will need weeding from time to time.

For more plant ideas, visit our Native Plant Encyclopedia, our Wildlife-friendly Demonstration Garden online maps or our Native Plant Nursery List.