When designing our gardens, there are so many ways to support pollinators, but it all starts with the plants! That said, not all plants are created equal when it comes to pollinator value, and different pollinators have unique preferences that we can use to inform our plant choices. Keep reading for a few considerations you should keep in mind — plus some of our favorite pollinator plants for Portland gardens — to help you create a diverse pollinator paradise that supports bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and more!
Quick Tips for Pollinator Gardening
Native plants are an important component of any pollinator garden, but that isn't to say non-natives do not offer any value. In fact, to cover a greater period of the year with blooms, you'll likely want to include at least a few non-natives — especially ones that bloom during the winter and early spring when food may be scarce. Additionally, you will want to incorporate flowers with various bloom structures to accommodate a variety of pollinators, from the tiniest bee to the largest butterfly. (More on that below!)
Even for non-native pollinator plants, species plants are the safest bet to provide with the nectar and pollen that they need to thrive. While extravagant forms of flowers are gorgeous to the human eye, in the process of selective breeding by humans, double flowers with extra petals often sacrifice reproductive structures like nectaries for floral oomph, so it's best to look for single-flowered varieties of plants where applicable. And in general, the closer to the straight species a plant is, the more pollinator value it likely offers.
Plants for Bees
While non-native honeybees are generalists that will visit a wide variety of flowers, many of our native bees have much more specific relationships with only a handful of native plants. And among our native bees, bumblebees tend to feed on the greatest variety of plants. This is something to keep in mind when out in your garden: Observe who is visiting your plants and try to incorporate plants that attract more than just honeybees.
Around the Nursery, we notice that many bees are particularly attracted to flowers with bright colors, especially shades of blue, purple, and yellow. They may visit a variety of flower colors and shapes, but some of their favorites feature wide landing pads. Flowers with umbel-shaped inflorescences like those in the carrot family are great choices, as are compound flowers in the Aster family. In fact, if you want to support a diversity of native bees, one of the best plants you can incorporate into your landscape is Douglas Aster (Symphyotrichum subspicatum), which supports more than 50 native species. Plants with tubular flowers large enough for them to enter, such as foxgloves and penstemons, are attractive to many larger bees, as are lipped flowers like those in the mint family, the Lamiaceae. This includes many herbs cultivated for culinary purposes, such as lavender and thyme, which are popular with certain bees, in part due to their strong fragrance, which bees also use to locate flowers.
Plants for Butterflies & Moths
Butterflies tend to be attracted to bright colors from red to yellow, and pink to purple, and while they primarily rely on their vision to locate flowers, some species are also attracted to sweet scents. Because they have a unique feeding mechanism that involves uncoiling their long proboscis to reach into flowers for nectar, butterflies often prefer a sturdy place to land and take a drink. Coneflowers and black-eyed Susans are just two nectar-rich flowers that offer a wide landing pad of petals, and clusters of small, shallow blooms such as those found on lantana or verbena also function well for this.
In addition to nectar to feed their adult form, butterflies also rely on host plants where they can lay their eggs to provide food for their caterpillars. Including larval host plants in your garden will not only attract adult butterflies, but support their entire life cycle. Some common host plants for butterflies include our native Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) for monarchs and Tarragon Sagebrush (Artemisia dracunculus) for swallowtails.
In contrast to their butterfly kin, many moths are active primarily during the night. As such, it isn't surprising to find that many moth-pollinated flowers bloom specifically in the afternoon or evening hours. In addition to synchronizing their flowering time with their pollinators' schedule, many of these plants also feature flowers that are easily visible in low-light conditions. As such, moths tend to be attracted to white, pale pink, or light yellow flowers that shine in the moonlight. Fragrance also plays an important role in many moth pollination syndromes, as scents can signal that there is nectar available even on the darkest of nights.
Plants for Hummingbirds
There is perhaps no more beloved pollinator across the Americas than our native hummingbirds, which occupy a unique ecological niche. Here in Portland, we enjoy the presence of Anna's hummingbirds year-round, but other species are seasonal migrants, and all share similar predilections when it comes to flowers.
These highly specialized avian pollinators are tiny marvels that have co-evolved with different plant species to develop long beaks that can reach the nectar hidden deep inside long, tubular or funnel-shaped flowers. Hummingbirds rely on their excellent sense of vision to identify such suitable nectar-rich flowers. Thus, in addition to their uniquely shape, the blooms of many hummingbird-pollinated plants come in high-visibility hues of red, orange, and pink, which sit at the high-visibility end of the color spectrum. Lobelia cardinalis and Monarda didyma are two characteristic examples of hummingbird-pollinated plants native to North America that our local hummingbirds will visit, although they will also seek nectar from flowers that may not be pollinated by hummingbirds in nature, or even in their typical color scheme! Many Salvia guaranitica cultivars like 'Black and Bloom,' for instance, are hummingbird favorites in our gardens, in spite of featuring bright blue flowers. And we've even seen them visiting lavender, which is native to the Mediterranean region, oceans away from the nearest hummingbird.
Our Top Picks for a Semi-Native Pollinator Garden
| Plant Name | Plant Type | Pollinator Type | Larval Host | Water | Light | PNW Native Status | Bloom Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis) | Annual | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Butterflies | Average Moisture | Part Sun | Summer | ||
| Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) | Annual | Honeybees, Bumblebees, and Butterflies | Average Moisture | Full Sun | Spring and Summer | ||
| California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) | Annual | Honeybees, Bumblebees, and Native Bees | Larval Host | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun | Native | Summer |
| Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) | Annual | Native Bees and Butterflies | Average Moisture | Part Sun | Spring and Summer | ||
| Camas (Camassia spp.) | Bulb | Honeybees, Native Bees, and Butterflies | Larval Host | Average Moisture to Wet | Part Sun | Native | Spring |
| Saffron Crocus (Crocus sativus) | Bulb | Honeybees, Bumblebees, and Butterflies | Dry to Average Moisture | Part Sun | Fall | ||
| Spring Crocus (Crocus spp.) | Bulb | Honeybees, Bumblebees, and Butterflies | Average Moisture | Early Spring | |||
| Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) |
Groundcover | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Butterflies | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun | Summer | ||
| Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) | Perennial | Native Bees and Butterflies | Larval Host | Dry to Average Moisture | Part Sun | Native | Summer into Fall |
| Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) | Perennial | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, Hummingbirds, and Butterflies | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun | Native | Summer into Fall | |
| Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) | Perennial | Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Hummingbirds | Average Moisture | Full Sun to Part Shade | Native | Spring into Summer | |
| Tickseed (Coreopsis grandiflora) | Perennial | Native Bees and Butterflies | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun | Summer | ||
| California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum syn. Zauschneria canum) | Perennial | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Hummingbirds, and Butterflies | Dry | Full Sun | Summer into Fall | ||
| Hardy Geranium (Geranium 'Rozanne') | Perennial | Native Bees and Butterflies | Average Moisture | Part Sun | Spring through Fall | ||
| Globe Gilia (Gilia capitata) | Perennial | Full Sun | Native | Summer | |||
| Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) |
Perennial | Honeybees and Native Bees | Larval Host | Average Moisture to Wet | Part Sun | Native | Summer into Fall |
| Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) | Perennial | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Butterflies | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun | Summer | ||
| Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma ‘Jacob Kline’) | Perennial | Bumblebees, Native Bees, Hummingbirds, and Butterflies | Average Moisture to Wet | Part Sun | Summer | ||
| Catmint (Nepeta x faasenii 'Walker's Low’ and other cvs.) |
Perennial | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Butterflies | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun | Summer | ||
| Smooth Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) | Perennial | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, Hummingbirds, and Butterflies | Average Moisture | Part Sun | Summer | ||
| Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) | Perennial | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, Butterflies, and Moths | Average Moisture to Wet | Part Sun | Native | Summer | |
| Hardy Salvias (Salvia guaranitica and cvs.) | Perennial | Honeybees, Bublebees, Native Bees, and Hummingbirds | Average Moisture | Full Sun | Summer into Fall | ||
| Stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium) | Perennial | Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Butterflies | Larval Host | Dry to Average Moisture | Part Sun | Native | Spring and Summer |
| Autumn Joy Sedum (Hylotelephium telephium ‘Herbstfreude') | Perennial | Honeybees and Butterflies | Dry to Average Moisture | Part Sun | Summer into Fall | ||
| Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) | Perennial | Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Butterflies | Average Moisture | Part Sun | Native | Late Summer | |
| Asters (Symphyotrichum cvs.) | Perennial | Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Butterflies | Larval Host | Average Moisture | Part Sun | Summer into Fall | |
| Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) | Perennial | Honeybees, bumblebees, Native Bees, Butterflies, and Moths | Average Moisture to Wet | Part Sun | Spring and Summer | ||
| Oregano (Origanum vulgare and cvs.) | Subshrub | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Butterflies | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun | Spring | ||
| Manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp. and cvs.) | Shrub | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Hummingbirds | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun | Native | Late Winter to Early Spring | |
| Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis cvs.) | Shrub | Honeybees and Bumblebees | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun | Late Summer into Fall | ||
| California Lilac (Ceanothus cvs.) | Shrub | Honeybees, Bumblebees, and Native Bees | Larval Host | Dry to Average Moisture | Part Sun | Native | Spring |
| Tall Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium syn. Mahonia aquifolium) | Shrub | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Hummingbirds | Larval Host | Dry to Average Moisture | Full Sun to Full Shade | Native | Late Winter |
| Mock Orange (Philadelphus lewisii) | Shrub | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees, Hummingbirds, and Butterflies | Larval Host | Average Moisture | Part Sun | Native | Spring |
| Red Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) | Shrub | Bumblebees, Native Bees, and Hummingbirds | Larval Host | Dry to Average Moisture | Part Sun | Native | Early Spring |
| Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) | Shrub | Honeybees, Bumblebees, and Native Bees | Dry | Full Sun | Summer | ||
| Pussywillow (Salix discolor) | Shrub | Honeybees, Native Bees, Hummingbirds, and Butterflies | Larval Host | Average Moisture to Wet | Part Sun | Early Spring | |
| Birch-Leaf Spirea (Spirea betulifolia) | Shrub | Native Bees and Butterflies | Average Moisture | Part Sun | Native | Summer | |
| Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas) | Tree | Honeybees | Dry to Average Moisture | Full to Part Sun | Early Spring | ||
| Flowering Crabapple (Malus floribunda) | Tree | Honeybees, Bumblebees, Native Bees | Larval Host | Average Moisture | Part Sun | Spring |
By incorporating these pollinator plants — and others — into your garden, you can create a vibrant and thriving ecosystem that supports the local pollinator population.
