Native Plants for a Northwest Pollinator Garden

A garden full of pollinators is a garden full of fruit. Bees, flies, butterflies and hummingbirds move pollen for squash, berries, apples and many other crops. The Northwest is home to hundreds of native bee species, and native plants are what they evolved with. Even a small border of natives next to the vegetable bed makes a difference.

Plan for bloom from late winter to fall

Pollinators need food all season, not just in June. The trick is to pick plants that flower at different times. Here are reliable natives, roughly in bloom order:

• Red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum). A shrub with hanging pink flowers in late winter and early spring. One of the first hummingbird foods of the year.
• Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Oregon's state flower. Bright yellow spring flowers that native bees love, followed by tart blue berries.
• Camas (Camassia). Spring bulbs with tall spikes of blue flowers. They grow well in spots that are wet in winter.
• Western columbine (Aquilegia formosa). Red and yellow spring flowers for hummingbirds, happy in part shade.
• Mock orange (Philadelphus lewisii). A shrub covered in fragrant white flowers in early summer.
• Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum). A tough, drought-tolerant perennial with yellow daisy flowers through early summer.
• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Flat clusters of small flowers that suit many small bees and beneficial insects. Very drought tolerant once established.
• Goldenrod (Solidago) and Douglas aster (Symphyotrichum subspicatum). Late summer and fall flowers when little else is blooming.

Garden sunflowers and single-flowered dahlias are also great additions near the vegetables. See flower planting times.

Planting tips

• Plant in fall. Northwest fall and winter rain settles natives in without much watering, and they're ready to grow in spring.
• Group the same plant together. A patch of one kind of flower is easier for bees to find and work than single plants scattered around.
• Water the first summer. Even drought-tolerant natives need regular water in their first dry season. After that, most need little or none.
• Buy from native plant nurseries or native plant sales, which often carry local forms of these species.

Leave room for nests

Flowers are only half of what pollinators need. Most native bees nest in the ground, in small patches of bare, undisturbed soil. Others, like the mason bees that pollinate fruit trees in spring, nest in hollow stems and holes in wood.

• Leave a sunny patch of bare soil unmulched.
• In fall, leave some flower stalks standing instead of cutting everything down. Many insects overwinter in them.
• Avoid insecticides on or near flowering plants. If you must treat a pest, spray in the evening when bees aren't flying, and never on open flowers.