What's Your Best Pollinator Plant? 🐝🦋

[@orrinrobbins2644]

Attended the open garden on Friday, June 21st. It is even prettier in person. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Bought 2 tees shirts, won a soil cube veggie mix. Talked shop with some very nice gardeners (kindred spirits) from all over. Thank you Jim & Stephanie for being gracious hosts.

[@annbergquist4253]

Kudos to Steph for her fabulous talents photographing not only Jim talking about plants but close-ups of plants and pollinators on them. She does an absolutely fantastic job and it's so much appreciated.

[@stephanyputnam]

thank you !

[@EastRiverHomestead]

You probably won't read this comment, but I have a lawn made exclusively of weeds. Dollar weed, crabgrass, Henbit, etc. I cannot grow grass so, I decided to plant chocolate mint and let it run. It will soon be a mint lawn and when I mow - oh yeah! It smells divine and the bees blanket the blooms so, I don't mow until it is no longer blooming. Maybe I will make a video of my mint lawn. You inspire me that way.

[@stephanyputnam]

we do read them : )

[@EastRiverHomestead]

@@stephanyputnam Seriously! Wow! I've been with you guys for years and thought I was invisible. Have you guys ever seen Dean Day Sanders garden in Duluth, GA? I am a family member through marriage. Fine folk.

[@kaval1er]

Anise hyssop is hands down all the pollinators favorite in my garden. I see things on there that I didn't know existed.

[@rnguyen2516]

How long does it stay in bloom for you? I want to add that and penstemon, but not sure how long penstemon stays in bloom.

[@camillewallace3784]

Thank you Jim and Stephanie for opening your garden to us all. What a fabulous treat to see it in person - so filled with color and pollinators!

[@bensturges7412]

Best pollinators in Eastern Washington: Redbuds and black currants early in year, bee balm, goatsbeard, and hydrangeas in summer, and sunflowers in Fall. Goatsbeard and currants serve smaller pollinators like bee fly and hover fly.

[@annadam]

OMG My daughter and I have an ongoing debate about the scent of the cestrum!! I say peanut butter and she says fried chicken! So happy to hear you say peanut butter! 🤣

[@JetJ321]

So funny to hear this! My daughter said citrus and I say peanut butter.

[@annadam]

@@JetJ321 Yay! Another vote for peanut butter 😂

[@MelodyHopkins]

One of the favorites in my yard is my Vitex (chaste tree). There's all kinds of bees all over it. The hummingbirds like the two Vermillionaire cuphea plants that I have and of course my Black and Blue and Bodacious Hummingbird Falls Salvia. The butterflies like the zinnias.

[@ddnsc6752]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful space with all of us!! I have a number of flowering plants ( in SC) but..my mountain mint popped open a few days ago and what a joy to watch the numbers of pollinators that take advantage this smorgasbord!! There are so many pollinators that the mint sways with the large numbers of the bees, wasps, hover flies...truly amazing!!

[@Anirra-in-Z3b-4a]

I was lucky enough to be able to visit the open garden. When he says he has alot of bees, he mean ALL the bees. It was impressive.

[@jeanniecollier6763]

Joe Pye weed is full of every pollinator I can think of every year.

[@annetteshaver1821]

I absolutely love ❤️ all the information you put on your channel. You and Stef are great. Thank you so much! You have so much knowledge that you share to your viewers. ❤️💕❤️💕

[@shadowboxcat]

He does! Vast knowledge. I have a hundred questions I'd like to ask him!

[@persephonespomegranate]

Similar experience to you in zone 6a Southern Ontario, Canada. Blue Fortune Agastache is #1 in my gardens, followed by a butterfly bush, tall sedums and multiple varieties of perennial Salvia & Catmint. Pollinators are very happy 💜 🦋 🐝 🌱 🌸

[@vickiesorenson2383]

Ty for producing these videos. Your vast knowledge having been a nursery man for a long time reflects here. I like your cute fence in the video. Enjoy watching your videos!

[@SummiBegum]

Thank you for mentioning the big rabbit problem. Living that right now 😅

[@kristopherfante9646]

Slender mountain mint brings in a ton of pollinators. Plus, it’s foliage compliments many big leaves of other plants. Grows well in sun or shade, wet or dry, and doesn’t seed much or spread much. Very well behaved.

[@MickF04]

It looks like you have Little Adder Agastache. We planted a couple this year for the first time and are doing well. The main pollinator performer for us here in Central Texas (8b) is Mystic Spires Blue Salvia. It can be a bully similar to the Salvia you described. But the Mystics attract everything, even during the hottest parts of the Texas summer. But ZERO bumble bees this year. We had them on the Mystics by mid-May last year. I fear nest destruction or disturbance due to new construction throughout our small town. Sigh.

[@abbysbud1]

What a SPECTACULAR yard!!!!!!!! ❤😮😮😮😮❤

[@waynem.7226]

Good stuff, Jim. Right now, the Dropmore catmint and Major Wheeler honeysuckle vines are just crazy buzzing with bees and hummingbirds. As soon as they begin blooming, it will be the large stands of Pink Diamond hydrangeas, pink obedient plant liatris and black and blue salvias. Here in northeast Ohio, my b&b salvia actually survived our (milder) winter and returned from last year's roots. Impressed me.

[@annwoleben5439]

Pollinators must be ecstatic when they find your garden!

[@dylan8285]

Right now mines a patch of common milkweed that’s in full flower and the pollinators love it and it perfumes the air with what I can only describe as a combo of a lilac and a peony fragrance. It’s contained within hardscape on 3 sides and the fourth side is a weekly maintained lawn there very happy in cultivation it’s almost 6 ft tall

[@rima717nc]

Pollinators are enjoying the veronica, salvia, and lantana in my garden now.

[@ivylarsen5355]

My best pollinator plant is our southern live oak, it’s a host to over 400 species of moths and butterflies. Persimmon and sugar hackberry are also good host plants for the southeast. In Florida the lantana you showed “ham and eggs” variety is highly invasive but we do have a native lantana that has yellow flowers that bees love. 😊

[@TheBarefootedGardener]

Pollinator plants that are notable: Pickerel Rush & Thalia dealbata, which are both aquatic plants (Gotta get you a proper water feature near that cool rustic stone patio!!) Verbena bonariensis also Salvias, Cannas… I’ve got a lot going on too.

[@poetryandpower263]

In spring pollinators stormed the spiderwort, and then St. Johns wort, and now the Golden Jubilee Agastache

[@ryanstauffer6785]

We have several germanders (Teucrium chamaedrys) and when they're in bloom the pollinators go nuts for it. Easily their favorite thing in the yard.

[@cyhomer]

I have several hunks of germander also. You don’t hear much about it…yes, the bees love it!

[@KatharsisderWelt]

North Carolina here, most pollinators I see are on: Goumis and Autumn olives in Spring, Salvia in Summer, Loquat in Fall, and Camillea in Winter

[@paulalougee3202]

Being we moved from Clayton, NC to Advance, NC I am still establishing my gardens so can’t name my best pollinator yet. I did however plant bee balm this spring along with several herbs that I am waiting to go to seed (flower) for the pollinators. I was blown away by the fact that bees drill through a flower to capture pollen from a flower that is too long for them to reach. It is like I won the “Fact Lottery “. Thanks!

[@J_3_P_O]

Lavender and catmint very busy with bees in my garden at the moment. Still waiting on coneflower, liatris and butterfly bush to open flowers.

[@nevar23]

Right now, the coneflowers, agastache, bee balm, and butterfly bushes are the most popular at my house. I need to plant some salvia that blooms later. I have several plants but they're all bloomed out already. It seems like every plant and shrub in my garden is struggling in the heat/no rain here in Georgia, even things that normally do fine.

[@Gaylarenee]

Black and Blue Salvia is the biggest draw for humming birds and the crepe myrtles are always covered on bees. I plant cone flowers with my tomatoes. Your garden is beautiful.

[@Cmallon81]

Zone 7b outside of DC. The pollinators were on the cone flowers and butterfly bushes but they have basically abandoned those for the chaste tree now that it is in bloom.

[@thomasnoble1816]

Even though they look past peak, our Downy pagoda plants are still getting a lot of pollinator love.

[@kikiray8783]

I’m in zone 10b. African Blue Basil is a bee magnet. In my yard it is a perennial. Propagates very easily.

Sweet Almond Bush and Mystic Spires Salvia here in 9b Central Florida!

[@lizpoole82]

One year, I planted the African Blue Basil like Jim. That sucker went from a 4-inch baby pot to a full sized shrub in one season! (TX Zone 9a Gulf Coast) I hacked it back a couple times. Bees loved it as much as my Mystc Spires. Surprisingly, a Lufa vine is one of the pollinators favorites. I have it on an arch trellis that I also grow cucumbers and melons on, and they pollinators go nuts for those big beautiful yellow flowers! Lots of salvia, sunflowers, and coneflowers, too.

[@margiedavis3127]

The oak leaf hydrangea is a literal beehive in May when it is in full bloom. Guara is another great plant for the bees to ride and harvest.

[@topaz3468]

Just spectacular!! What a great tour!! 🌺🌺🌺🌺

[@tshane250]

I have some white flowering Veronica that seems to be the bees' favorite. Pretty much at all times of the day, too.

[@zamplify]

Anise hyssop is a big winner for me, and plumbago. Bumbles love both!

[@cyhomer]

My earliest pollinator attractor is our big old Eastern Redbud. The bumblebees cover it every spring.

[@rnguyen2516]

What a wonderful and important video, Jim! Your garden is so beautiful. May I suggest some kind of pollinator camera? Wouldn’t that be fun to see the wildlife enjoying the garden that you and Stef created? It would be fun for us, too! My number one pollinator is Mystic Spires Blue. I planted a drift of maybe 7 or them, and it is well-loved from morning to night! It has been in bloom from March to June and I still has new buds. I can’t even deadhead them because there are so many bees and butterflies on them, lol. But the blooms have looked good from March to June. I’m only starting to deadhead the faded blooms. I do need to add more host plants.

[@peacefish4422]

I really like watching bees on my buttonbush just because the 'buttons' are so cute; my oakleaf hydrangea has more small flying insects around it than any plant I've ever seen, so clearly the little guys love it.

[@kaychaney6102]

So enjoyed this. Thank you both.

[@cherylsanatore7631]

The Bumblebees are all over my Heucheras and Echinacea right now. When my Firelight Tidbit Panicle Hydrangeas bloom, they will include those too!❤

[@rrman2party]

Jax, FL 9b. Firebush, Hamelia patens. Full morning sun. Humming birds, butterlies, and moths all day long.

[@HeathersGreenhouse]

We lived in Raleigh for 10 years and loved it. Now that we're back in SC it's neat to see how different/similar our garden is to Raleigh now.

[@dianeasberry7928]

My number one pollinator plant is Mystic Spires salvia, vitex, salvia farinacea, and catmint for bumblebees and honeybees.

[@katiekane5247]

My Gold Fortune Agastache hands down has the most diversity of pollinators. Both my Rudbeckia are about ready to open, the assorted Salvia are busy with bees and hummingbirds. The Mountain Mint really wants some rain but the Liatris is about half bloomed, I'm sure it wouldn't mind a shower either. Very dry in north Georgia!

[@warp9p659]

For me, right now it's the St. John's Wort, Wild Bergamont, and Coneflowers that the pollinators are on. I've also got New England Aster blooming, which normally doesn't bloom and shouldn't bloom until mid-late August.

[@JimPutnam]

Those late summer things are all trying to bloom now. So weird

[@jamesl1332]

Same here with acanthus, mountain sage, and Turks cap. But it's been so cool and wet so far this whole year. ​@@JimPutnam

[@joannc147]

Followed your lead and bought a Cestrum - couldn’t decide where to plant it. Decided on a big container and the flowers are just beginning to open today. 👍🏻 HOW are you able to keep this garden in prime condition right now? I’m a few miles away from you and I simply can’t keep up with the watering for my entire ppty. This drought has stressed my trees and shrubs like I’ve never seen before. It’s upsetting to witness! Thank you for a tour of your lush garden - a delight to see all the flowers and those flourishing perennials. ❤

[@AlisonMWyman]

Veronica spicata seems to be the absolute favorite for pollinators in my yard. I have three in dark purple and they are always covered in native bees, honey bees, and thread-waisted wasps. I just bought two more Veronica spicata in a pinkish purple color for a new bed I'm creating. The bees are already enjoying it while it's sitting on my patio.

[@IonaReavis]

Really enjoyed the garden tour today. Your home is amazing. Had my picture taken with you and I think I forgot to thank you. Also won one of the butterfly candy bushes. Very happy to bring that home. And now I have a story to go with it.

[@pat9604]

Always learn so much from you. I had some hamelia/firebush pop up in my garden that I didn't plant. I put them where I wanted them and they attract so many butterflies, and hummingbirds it's amazing. They go down each winter, but come back bigger each year. Same with my mystery celosia that I never planted. They come back each year and the pollinators think they're yummy. I have to work to keep them where I want them, after all, I am the boss of my garden.😅 I love the spread of rudbeckia, tickle seed and blanket flower and so do the bugs.

[@valerieenlow6282]

Don’t know my “favorite” pollinator plant, but I do enjoy seeing the bumble bees on the Gaura. They seem to be too large to land on the whispy Gaura flowers, but they do!

[@tpdoolin8445]

Great video! I'm sure it's even better in person. You mentioned caterpillars Jim. It made me wonder if you have any milkweed to host monarch larvae?

[@giuliespeziani4766]

Verbena and Yarrow are loved by pollinators and birds alike.

[@bobebbeskotte8006]

Salvia Black and Blue is my #1 favorite and by far the favorite for hummingbirds. Here in NW Ohio mine have come back every year for 10-12 years until this year. We had a very mild winter and I lost all but 1-2 of them. The ones that survived are just now popping out of the ground. Agastache/Hyssop is one of the best for pollinators. Far superior to butterfly bushes. I had a terrible time with pollinators in 2023. My zucchini flowers weren't getting pollinated and I got very few zucchinis. I have clover in the lawn and all kinds of flowers but bees and butterflies seem to avoid me.

[@WilliamLyons5]

For me, 6B/7a. My Rosa Rugosa, butterfly weed & bush for sure.

[@keithsmith4944]

Always had success with pineapple sage. Bees also loved my penstemon and hummingbirds seem to be enjoying my rose of Sharon and butterfly bushes the most.

[@Thehealinggarden-2]

Haas Halo Hydrangea it’s very popular among pollinators in my garden! It grows well in shade too!

[@judymckerrow6720]

Thank you Jim and Stephany. 💐💚🙃

[@tinawilder5721]

The pollinators are all over my phlox, salvias and echinacea. My marigolds are flowering now and they always love them too

[@marshawilliamson8602]

My mountain mint is quite popular with the pollinators at the moment.

[@terrivance8750]

Jim, One of my best pollinators--Joe Pye Weed. 🐝😊

[@Kimbergem1]

My top pollinator plant in zone 6 Michigan is the calamint. The bumbles also love my rugosa rose bush

[@LauraRodriguez-Peace]

Thank you Jim, and Stef. 🌿

[@CynLynRin]

Hypericum densiflorum, Bushy St. John's Wort. I have three, small shrubs which have hundreds of flowers that are swarmed by all sorts of insects. The native bees are almost comical as they jump from flower to flower and roll around. One issue is that each flower is short lived so the plant, at any one time, is covered in buds, open flowers, and less pretty spent flowers. Earlier this spring, my Nyssa sylvatica, Wildfire Blackgum, was a raucous pollinator party!

[@connieschultz2027]

Lavender or rosemary get a lot of pollinator attention!

[@annsfrench]

I have two plants that bring in tons of bees: African blue basil and Moonlight grevillea.

[@HunterTN]

Our lavender started blooming and was initially covered entirely by bumblebees. It took a couple days for the honey bees to find it. Sometimes the bumblebees stop climbing around on the flowers and sit in one place for a while. Looks like they're on break.

[@marksnelson208]

My best pollinators here in Central Florida are my dwarf firebush shrubs (hamelia patens compacta) and my jatropha tree (jatropha integerrima).

[@madeleinerojano3808]

My favorite go to pollinators are Miss Huff Lantanas and the Pugster Butterfly Bushes both have always been pollinator magnets for my garden

[@RamyHanna3D]

Thanks for sharing...so helpful to see plants in scale with a person! I'm in zone 9b, and right now my favorite is a Salvia Indigo Spire that the ruby throated hummingbirds are loving....in fact so much, that I took down my hummer feeders 😆...less work too! The bees like it as well.

[@doctortcbkk2027]

Bee Balm and Agastache are full of my Honey bees! Atlanta zone 7b/8a

[@jamesbarron1202]

Vitex Agnus Castus is the best I have so far but I’m growing Vitex Negundo from seed which will be even better. Not as pretty but much better for my beehives. They prefer that species more. Summer bloomers are the most important here in Texas when we’re in a dearth.

[@jamesl1332]

Right now the hummingbirds love the salvia darcyi and are transitioning to acanthus, the butterflies are transitioning from the sea holly and hollyhock to rudbeckias, and everything else loves the coneflowers and Gregg's mist. That reminds me, almost time to trim all those perennials!

[@GreenGranny]

My favorite polinating plant that the Bee's are all over is Monarda citriodora aka Lemon beebalm. The Bee's love the lambada bee balm too but I'm partial to the dark lavender tall flower column of Lemon beebalm. Gorgeous plant!!!

[@samaradixon4376]

Steph is amazing at the video.

[@stephanyputnam]

thank you!

[@White_belt_at_life]

My Ceanothus wins in my Garden but I also love the Salvia, Hot Lips, for the Hummingbirds!

[@gwynethgaspari6255]

I'm seeing pollinators on the hypericum, lamb's ear, blue sea holly, and Montana Minnie Goldenrod. Philly PA z7.

[@chrisjanssens4333]

Not very showy, but I find small bees go crazy when the Buxus genus is in bloom!

[@Jpatmeadowbrook]

Spotted lantern fly is back in NJ

[@esthersnell2357]

Hey Ya’ll garden looks great! We’ve had tons of bees every year in our garden & we love it! But, this year no bees, we can maybe count on 2 hands the bees we see in the garden this year. What are your thoughts? I hope the open garden is going smoothly! Hubby & I wanted to come, but he wasn’t able to take off! We are there in spirit!!! 🪴 Hope y’all enjoyed Tybee, we go often, super hot & humid this time of year there though!

[@RebeccaW_NC]

Nicotiana is drawing in all the bees right now in my yard.

[@faric7131]

Thanks for being a great teacher, my garden is flourishing because I added colorful perennial bushes last fall. Fav pollinator is lantana, brings lots of monarchs and hummingbirds.

[@vinithakahandaliyanage4758]

Love your beautiful garden! Greetings from Southern Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦

[@dia9491]

Scabiosa, royal carpet alyssum, and drumstick allium is very popular with the pollinators at my garden in SE TN.

[@taylorswf23]

Penstamon, liatris spicata, mountain mint, coneflower, bee balm. In short, natives and nativars have been the kings and queens of the garden ❤🐝🦋

[@staceya419]

Hi Jim and Steph. Your garden is looking lovely. In older tours of your front garden you had a very upright white blooming buddleia. I have not notice it in your current tours. Did the white blooming butterfly bush died or relocated? Thank you for sharing your lovely garden. I wish I could make it to your open house.

[@warp9p659]

I've noticed that too. I think it was white Butterfly Towers. I've never found one yet in a garden center.

[@Tofog22000]

Your garden is looking great! Without a doubt Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) is the best in my garden.

[@nicholasryan5401]

Beautiful natural looking garden, its a pollinators dream.

[@FeiyLo]

Great introduction. The most popular plants for bees in my garden are Lacy Phacelia (aka bee's friend), nepeta, foxglove, penstemon, and meadow sage. The favorites of wasps and hoverflies are orlaya and yarrow.

[@lorraineclark7455]

Wow! You have a wonderful mixture of pollinators. I am trying to catch up in my garden. 9A north FL

[@JennJenn9]

I’m blessed with Hover Flies & I’m kinda obsessed with them - super cute & fun to watch dart around 😊 plus their larvae eat aphids! I sow Meadowfoam aka Poached Egg Plant (Limnanthus douglasii) to attract them

[@heidicliniteembermaypop6831]

My top pollinator plants are salvia, echinacea and #1 is my maypop passion fruit vine. The fritillary caterpillars 🐛 eat it, cocoon & 🦋 then pollinate it! 🌺

[@PeggyMills]

Pollinators are loving my golden jubilee hyssop right now along with the usual coneflowers and nepetas.

[@leightodd7335]

Partridge pea is my #1 pollinator flowering plant. 1A would be 3-4 types of milkweed cause they do double duty as a host plant. Of course no single plant will work for the thousands of insects and I'm in the midwest so your mileage may vary but PP sure has a lot of variety of insects as guest. Thanks Jim Oh Dr Dir has so many great introductions my fav for the hydrangeas is still White Wedding.

[@mariarametta1282]

I love the variety of plants you have. in my garden the best pollinator is Mystic Spires Blue Salvia it gets covered and it looks beautiful.

[@nicolegreenough961]

I have a cestrum as well and it is always covered in pollinators. Mine will grow 5-6 ft every year