10 Best Native Perennial Plants For Bee Gardens!

Pollination gardens are created with friendly native plants that bees love. Our native bee and non-bee pollinators such as birds, bats, butterflies, ants, flies, moths and beetles are attracted by the brightly colored, contrasting flowers that open seasonally filled with nectar and pollen for food sources.

When we reference bees in our articles (unless otherwise noted), they are native bees (about 4000 species) found in North America - not the Honey Bee which was brought in from Europe by the Early American settlers.

Native plants are recommended over many of the hybrid varieties. This is because some hybrids are bred for other characteristics and often the nectar and pollen aspects are removed completely.

Bees are not generally drawn to solid red hued flowers. So most of our native perennial plants selections heavily consist of yellow, blue, pink, orange, and purple to attract the most types of bees. 

10 Best Native Plants For Pollinator Gardens

• Aster Purple Dome - late summer to early fall light purple flowering
• Black-eyed Susan - mid-summer to fall flowering - yellow flowers with black centers
• Monarda Jacob Cline - known as bee balm - summer red flowers
• Walkers Low Catmint Nepeta - commonly called catmint - lavender colored flowers summer to fall (an excellent option to areas where lavender doesn't grow well)
• Moonbeam Coreopsis - known as tickseed - light yellow flowers late spring to early fall
• Gaillardia Mesa Bicolor - known as blanketflower - deep rusty red flowers summer to early fall
• Asclepias tuberosa - known as orange butterfly weed or milkweed - orange flowers late spring/early summer to late summer/early fall
• Purple Echinacea - known as coneflower - pink to purple flowers throughout summer
• Blue False Indigo - baptisia australis - blue lupine like flowers in spring
• Salvia May Night - spiky purple flowers early/mid summer to early fall

Click here for tips on planting your Pollination Garden - one of the hottest new gardening ideas!