Planning path
Pollinator Garden Planner
Plan high-value pollinator plantings with bloom continuity, native plant emphasis, grouped plantings, pesticide caution, and habitat beyond flowers.
Current bloom plan
4-bloom pollinator runway
Start with one visible corridor: early color, summer nectar, native habitat, and late-season fuel before scanning every high-pollinator candidate.
- Early bloom Pacific Beauty Calendula · cool-season color · Flower · 60 days
- Summer nectar California Giant Zinnia · annual nectar row · Flower · 75 days
- Native anchor Purple Coneflower · perennial habitat · Native · 365 days
- Late fuel New England Aster · fall nectar · Native · 365 days
- High-value picks
- 49 crops
- Native anchors
- 14 crops
- Flower lanes
- 9 crops
- Herb flowers
- 15 crops
- Container-ready
- 32 crops
- Fall-window fuel
- 30 crops
- Direct-sow access
- 42 crops
Pollinator habitat checks
- Continuous bloom
- Choose plants with overlapping bloom windows so nectar and pollen are available from spring into fall.
- Native plant emphasis
- Start with regionally appropriate native plants and use local plant lists before treating ornamental flowers as habitat substitutes.
- Plant in groups
- Plant multiple individuals of useful species together so pollinators can forage efficiently.
- Pesticide caution
- Avoid routine pesticide use in pollinator plantings and check any pest-control plan against pollinator risk.
- Habitat beyond flowers
- Leave room for host plants, seed heads, stems, and nearby cover instead of planning only for bloom color.
Regional pollinator checks
Pair high-pollinator catalog entries with regional native status, bloom-period coverage, beneficial-insect habitat structure, exact species matches, and non-exact species exclusions
- Xerces Midwest Native Pollinator Plant List Xerces checks Midwest pollinator plant-list scope, bloom-period coverage, beneficial-insect habitat structure, exact catalog species matches, and non-exact species exclusions
High-pollinator seed candidates
- Berseem Clover Cover Crop Cover Crop · Cool · 60 days
- Hairy Vetch Cover Crop Cover Crop · Cool · 180 days
- Crimson Clover Cover Crop Cover Crop · Shoulder · 90 days
- Buckwheat Cover Crop Cover Crop · Warm · 35 days
- Blue Boy Bachelor's Button Flower · Cool · 65 days
- Pacific Beauty Calendula Flower · Cool · 60 days
- Jewel Mix Nasturtium Flower · Shoulder · 55 days
- Sweet Alyssum Flower · Shoulder · 50 days
- California Giant Zinnia Flower · Warm · 75 days
- Indian Summer Rudbeckia Flower · Warm · 90 days
- Mammoth Sunflower Flower · Warm · 90 days
- Sensation Mix Cosmos Flower · Warm · 75 days
- Tall Verbena Flower · Warm · 90 days
- Common Chives Herb · Cool · 80 days
- Santo Cilantro Herb · Cool · 50 days
- Bouquet Dill Herb · Shoulder · 55 days
- Common Thyme Herb · Shoulder · 90 days
- Italian Flat Leaf Parsley Herb · Shoulder · 75 days
- Arp Rosemary Herb · Warm · 120 days
- Broadleaf Sage Herb · Warm · 75 days
- Common Anise Herb · Warm · 120 days
- Common Borage Herb · Warm · 60 days
- Common Lemon Balm Herb · Warm · 70 days
- Florence Fennel Herb · Warm · 80 days
- Genovese Basil Herb · Warm · 68 days
- German Chamomile Herb · Warm · 60 days
- Greek Oregano Herb · Warm · 90 days
- Munstead Lavender Herb · Warm · 90 days
- Black-Eyed Susan Native · Warm · 90 days
- Blanketflower Native · Warm · 365 days
- Canada Goldenrod Native · Warm · 365 days
- Clustered Mountain Mint Native · Warm · 365 days
- Common Milkweed Native · Warm · 365 days
- Dense Blazing Star Native · Warm · 365 days
- Eastern Bee Balm Native · Warm · 365 days
- Foxglove Beardtongue Native · Warm · 365 days
- Joe Pye Weed Native · Warm · 365 days
- Lanceleaf Coreopsis Native · Warm · 365 days
- Little Bluestem Native · Warm · 365 days
- New England Aster Native · Warm · 365 days
- Purple Coneflower Native · Warm · 365 days
- Swamp Milkweed Native · Warm · 365 days
- Astro Arugula Vegetable · Cool · 35 days
- Lacinato Kale Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
- Green Globe Artichoke Vegetable · Warm · 120 days
- Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
- Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
- Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
- Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
Supporting planning paths
- High Pollinator Value Seeds 49 catalog entries with high pollinator value
- Native Catalog 14 native pollinator entries
- Flower Catalog 9 pollinator-supporting flower entries
- Succession Sowing Planner 16 repeat-sowing pollinator candidates
- Crop Rotation and Companion Planner Keep insectary plantings visible beside crop-family planning
Source basis
- CSU vegetable planting guide 7 entries cite this source
- Penn State Extension planting pollinator-friendly gardens Continuous bloom, plant diversity, and pollinator habitat planning
- Penn State plant factsheets 4 entries cite this source
- Penn State planting for pollinators 2 entries cite this source
- Penn State pollinator recommendations 1 entry cites this source
- Seed Savers seed saving guide 14 entries cite this source
- UMN companion planting guide 2 entries cite this source
- UMN planting the vegetable garden 1 entry cites this source
- UMN starting seeds indoors 7 entries cite this source
- Wisconsin Extension cover crops and green manures 4 entries cite this source
- Xerces grow pollinator-friendly flowers Native plant lists, spring-to-fall bloom guidance, and pollinator flower planning
- Xerces Native Plants for Pollinators and Beneficial Insects: Midwest Xerces Midwest Native Pollinator Plant List regional pollinator source
- Xerces pollinator-friendly native plant lists 7 entries cite this source