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Best Native Plants for Pollinators in Maryland
A pollinator garden isn't about planting the showiest flowers — it's about offering food across the whole season, plus the host plants that caterpillars (and therefore birds) actually need. Here are the natives that pull the most weight in a Maryland or DC garden, organized so something's always in bloom.
The big idea — "keystone" plants: research (Doug Tallamy and others) shows a few native genera support the lion's share of caterpillars: oaks, willows, cherries, goldenrods, asters, and native sunflowers. If you do nothing else, plant from those. And remember: nectar feeds adult butterflies, but host plants feed their young — a real pollinator garden needs both.
SpringCritical early food when little else is blooming.
- Zizia aurea — Golden Alexanders. Early yellow umbels; host for black swallowtails.
- Aquilegia canadensis — Wild Columbine. Feeds early bees and the first hummingbirds.
- Packera aurea — Golden Groundsel. A spreading carpet of spring nectar.
- Penstemon digitalis — Foxglove Beardtongue. Late-spring bumblebee favorite.
SummerThe peak — and where mountain mint reigns.
- Pycnanthemum muticum — Mountain Mint. Pound for pound the best pollinator plant you can grow here.
- Monarda fistulosa — Wild Bergamot. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds all over it.
- Asclepias tuberosa / incarnata — Milkweeds. The monarch's only host; gorgeous in their own right.
- Echinacea purpurea — Purple Coneflower. Nectar in summer, goldfinch seed in fall.
- Liatris spicata — Blazing Star. Purple spikes butterflies can't resist.
- Eutrochium — Joe Pye Weed. A swallowtail landing pad in mid-late summer.
FallThe most important — and most overlooked — season for pollinators.
- Symphyotrichum spp. — Asters. A keystone genus; fuels monarchs and bees heading into winter.
- Solidago spp. — Goldenrods. Another keystone; the single biggest fall nectar source. There are many cultivars of goldenrod that look beautiful and won't take over your yard.
- Helianthus spp. — Native Sunflowers. Late blooms plus seed for birds.
Want a garden alive with bees and butterflies?
Designing for pollinators across the whole season is exactly what I do. I'll build you a planting that hums from April to October.
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