How to Attract Spring Pollinators to Your Vegetable Garden
As you look across your vegetable garden at all the seedlings stretching towards the sun, do you see any friends fluttering about? Are there bees, birds, or butterflies anywhere to be seen? If your answer is no, then maybe you need to set up a cocktail hour with some hors d’oeuvres to make sure your pollinator pals know they are invited to the party.
Planting pollinator friendly flowers in or around your veggie garden will draw in the bees and butterflies for a few weeks while your veggies take their time to grow and bloom. Once they do, the pollinators will be thrilled to have the main course ready and be ever more willing to assist you in your veggie cultivation.
Depending on what type of pollinators you are looking to attract - birds, bees, butterflies, moths, beetles - choose your colors carefully. Animals see on a very different color spectrum than humans. While we might prefer certain colors that are pleasing to the eyes and look pretty in our yards, the pollinator friends we want to make have their own unique preferences.
Hummingbirds (and other common backyard birds) prefer bright red and orange flowers.
Bees are attracted to blue, purple and yellow flowers —they cannot see red.
Moths prefer primarily white flowers
Butterflies are most attracted to soft pink flowers with wide landing spaces
Syrphid flies are attracted to purple flowers
Those little yellow flies that hang around that look like mini-bees are actually pollinating flies!
Below are 5 of the best annuals that you want close to your vegetable garden that will send out a warm invite to pollinators and bring them to the garden party.
1) Cosmos
Not that kind of cosmo! Although
I fully support your drink of choice. Cosmos are great companions for your veggies! Not only do they bring a bright pop of color against the greenery, but they attract the best of the best pollinators. The wide petals offer landing room for butterflies and the bright yellow center offers the sweet promise of nectar for bees.
2) Zinnias
Zinnias are a crown jewel of annuals with their bright colors and puffy petal structure. They also keep their blooms throughout the summer and well into fall. Most varieties don’t exceed 12” but keep careful of planting the ones that can exceed 24” — we don’t want to compete with the veggie garden. I recommend “Thumbilina Zinnias” (Zinnia elegans)These blooms will bring butterflies, bees, moths, and even friendly beetles to your garden. These are a personal favorite of mine as they are very easy to start from seed!
3) Salvia
If you’re looking to attract bigger pollinators, salvia is an excellent choice to bring in hummingbirds! Depending on the variety, you can get salvia in pink, purple, red, or white blooms to attract an entire army of pollinators. They won’t bring all the butterflies to your yard, but the bees will certainly love them! *Be careful of the variety you choose of these as well as some can reach 36” tall! I prefer the “Red Hot Sally” variety (Salvia splendens) which only grow 10-12”.
4) Pansies
These delicate little blooms are the perfect low-growing, early season annuals for attracting bees as they awaken from hibernation. Their few but wide petals offer a spacious landing zone for butterflies. Plant a blue or yellow variety to attract bees and a baby pink variety to attract butterflies.
5) Petunias
One of the most popular pops of color and dramatic growth habits comes from adding petunias to any garden. Their vivacious colors (purple, blue, white, red, pink) and long trumpet-shaped blossoms attract every single form of pollinator, most especially hummingbirds. If you plant petunias, you might choose to keep them in a pot next to your vegetable seedling so they can cascade over the edges of their container rather than snake through your garden.
I would love to hear if you have these or other annuals in your vegetable garden! Send me a message below to cultivate some conversation!
