Knowing your location helps us recommend plants that will thrive in your climate, based on your Growing Zone.
Posted By American Meadows Content Team on Jun 13, 2023 · Revised on Oct 3, 2025
Over 85% of U.S. households have an outdoor living space. These spaces may vary widely from coast to coast – but each of our homes has the potential to serve as pollinator habitat!
Which pollinator garden plants are best? The ones that provide habitat - including food, shelter, resting and nesting sites for pollinators tirelessly foraging in a changing world. No matter the size of your space, you can help to sustain our delicate ecosystem.
Read on for our pollinator plant recommendations, creative pollinator garden ideas, and fun facts about pollinators.
Jump to a section to dig in!
Milkweed (Asclepias) plants are the host plants for Monarch Butterflies. These native wildflowers also provide abundant nectar for other pollinators.
A pollinator garden, or habitat garden, will help support the lifecycle of pollinators all year round. Pollinator plants create natural habitats that support your local ecosystem.
Don't be afraid of bugs in your garden - they're essential for a healthy web of life!
When it comes to pollinator gardens, native plants are a pollinator’s best source of habitat. Native plants strengthen entire ecosystems. Since wildlife and native plants have evolved together for so long, many pollinators have preferred plants for food and shelter. Favorite native plants include Echinacea (or Coneflowers), Rudbeckias (Black Eyed Susans), Bee Balm, Milkweed, Lupines, Asters, and many more.
Learn More: All About Native Plants & Native Plants For Your State
Some pollinators, like many butterflies and moths, even require specific host plants to survive. The most famous example of a host plant is the essential Milkweed plant for Monarch Butterflies. Native plants are the best sources of food, egg-laying and nesting sites, and protective spaces for sheltering from the weather and overwintering.
There are also many plants from around the world that have become welcomed additions to our North American gardens. Favorite introduced plants that attract pollinators include Poppies, Cosmos, Lavender, European Meadow Sage, Sedums, Nepeta, Daylilies, Veronica, Thyme, and Clover. In a pollinator garden, their abundant blooms provide nectar and pollen that will feed bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators.
Our friends at Barr Hill share our passion for pollinators. Founded by a beekeeper and a distiller, they strive to leave their local land and rivers better than they found them, to leave our communities stronger, our pollinator populations healthier, and our local farms more vibrant.
Each year, they honor the land and celebrate pollinators with an event called Bee’s Knees Week. The goal is to replenish habitat so bees can thrive.
How it works: all you have to do is order or make your own Bee’s Knees cocktail or mocktail. Then, take a picture and share it on social media. Barr Hill will plant 10 square feet of pollinator habitat for every photo shared. That’s where we come in - Barr Hill plants American Meadows wildflower seeds for bee-friendly blooms!
Learn more about Bee’s Knees Week from Barr Hill. Cheers!
Getting ready to dig in? For every petite patio or lengthy lawn, or any space in between, we have a creative pollinator garden idea for you!
To provide a steady supply of nectar and pollen for our flying friends, plan for 3 seasons of blooms. That means growing a mix of plants so you always have something in bloom from early spring through summer and fall.
An easy way to do this? Plant a wildflower seed mix from American Meadows! Our mixes are designed to bloom all season.
Cluster single species of pollinator plants in groups of at least 3 or more. This makes the plants in your garden easier for pollinators to see and smell, and helps make their work finding food a little easier. Studies show that 5-7 of the same plant is optimal.
If you find your plants a bit nibbled, that means you’re doing it right! If something isn’t eating your garden, then you’re not really part of the ecosystem. Providing habitat for pollinators means providing food, too. But don't forget to add a source of drinking water for your bee neighbors, too! Shallow bird baths or pots with pebbles in the bottom will allow for the bees to hydrate without drowning. They generally need to stand while they drink, so make sure your water is not too deep, or at the very least, they have little landing pads nearby to perch on.
Groundcovers and leaf litter create shelter for caterpillars and ground-dwelling pollinators, like bumblebees. Leaving your pollinator garden undisturbed at the end of the season helps provide a winter home for them. In spring - wait for temperatures to reach at least 50°F so that these flying friends can wake up from dormancy before cleaning up your garden.
Twigs, logs, and rock features are also helpful landscaping elements that can provide habitat and shelter for pollinators. You can also leave areas of bare dirt for the ground bees to burrow into. Or you can make or buy a bee hotel, which is a great option if you don't have a lot of space.
Most importantly, avoid using chemical pesticides and herbicides! These have long-lasting damaging effects on pollinators, people, and soil health. Look for plants that are neonicotinoid free for a healthy habitat! (All of our wildflower seeds and bee-friendly plants are neo-nicotinoid free)
Pollinator garden signs can help spread the word about pollinators, and encourage your neighbors to put their outdoor space in the fight to make things better! Our friends at Pollinator Partnership, a non-profit whose mission is to promote the health of pollinators, offer free downloads of Pollinator Garden Signs that you can print and post in your garden to help raise awareness.
American Meadows is proud to collaborate with Runamok.
Runamok is a family-owned provider of premium, organic maple syrup and honey-based products. They share our deep commitment to protecting the land and pollinators, and they have even planted a thriving pollinator meadow at their office with American Meadows wildflower seeds.
Runamok works only with beekeepers who place their hives in healthy pesticide-free landscapes. They know that honey quality is directly linked to the habitat quality of these vital pollinators.
Runamok supports bees and the environment by:
Providing habitat and encouraging biodiversity
Reducing their environmental footprint with solar power and sustainable practices
Using sustainable packaging and recycling byproducts
Maintaining bird-friendly, certified organic sugarbushes
September is National Honey Month! Celebrate with us by learning how you can support both native bees and honeybees in your yard. Let's work together to create a better world for ourselves, our communities, and the environment we cherish.
Sunflowers are like a beacon for pollinators - like this Monarch butterfly and honeybee! They're easy to grow from seed, and sure to bring a smile.
One monarch caterpillar can eat at least 20 milkweed leaves before becoming a butterfly. Grow at least 10 plants in your butterfly garden for a Monarch Waystation.
There are over 20,000 known bee species in the world, and over 4,000 bee species native to North America! This includes different species of bumblebees, carpenter bees, sunflower bees, and so many more. Honeybees are not native to North America - they are an introduced species.
Most native bees are solitary, meaning they nest alone, rather than in a hive like honeybees. Bumblebees are the exception, as they nest in small groups of 50 to 400.
Pollinating insects are cold-blooded and need to warm up to become active. Bumblebees, thanks to their insulating fuzzy layers, are able to fly in cooler temperatures than many other bees.
Most butterflies and moths spend the winter in the larval stage - otherwise known as caterpillars. Leaving fallen leaves, spent flower foliage, bare soil, and groundcovers in your garden will provide overwintering habitat for them. In spring, avoid cleaning up this leaf litter until temperatures are consistently about 55°F.
Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are some of the most recognizable pollinators, but bats and moths are also critical - but often overlooked - nighttime pollinators.
