If you can plan your garden to bloom all season long, you will ensure a reliable nectar source and pollen supply throughout the growing season. Strive to always have at least three plants in bloom from early spring through late fall.

Composite: Provide a platform for resting and have many small blooms close together

Echinacea (Coneflower), Ratibida (Prairie/Gray-Headed Coneflower), Liatris (Blazing Star), Symphyotrichum (Aster), Solidago (Goldendrod)

Umbelliferous: Numerous small, shallow flowers and a flat landing platform

Zizia (Golden Alexander), Astrantia (Masterwort), Angelica (Garden Angelica), Foeniculum (Fennel), Anethum (Dill)

Tubular and Bilabiate: Long tubular flowers, often with a flat lower lip for perching

Lobelia (Cardinal Flower), Chelone (Turtlehead), Monarda (Bee Balm/Wild Bergamot), Pycnanthemum (Mountain Mint), Penstemon (Beardtongue)

Nodding: Flowers that nod or hang down with no suitable landing area

Allium cernuum (Nodding Onion), Thalictrum (Early Meadow Rue), Pulsatilla (Pasqueflower), Geum (Prairie Smoke), Dicentra (Bleeding Heart)

Complex: Concealed nectar in spurs that can only be reached by visitors with a long tongue or proboscis

Aquilegia (Columbine), Asclepias (Milkweed/Butterfly Weed), Viola (Violet), Tropaeolum (Nasturtium), Delphinium (Larkspur)

Large swaths of color are easier for pollinators to locate and provide better forage. Many pollinators are only able to travel a short distance each day.

Provide habitat as well as forage. Position larval host plants out of direct sight lines to conceal feeding damage. Provide ground nesting sites and hollow stems or wood bee blocks for native bee populations.

Native plants are phenomenal pollen and nectar producers and are easy for pollinators to navigate. Native plants directly support native wildlife and pollinators and will provide the greatest benefit to pollinators in all stages of life.

Leave a shallow dish or saucer with fresh water in the garden for pollinators. Sanitize and refill regularly.

Pollinators are busy and expend a lot of energy as they buzz from flower to flower. Stones or pavers provide a spot for pollinators to rest and warm up in the sun.

Biological and cultural control methods should be prioritized and exhausted before considering chemical control methods.

Only begin spring clean-up once nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50F to preserve habitat and protection for overwintering pollinators, or skip most of the cleanup entirely. Leave plants standing through the winter to provide habitat and shelter, as well as winter interest. Pollinators overwinter in a variety of plant materials, with some nesting in hollow stems and others choosing to burrow into leaf litter.

Plantings should be managed to control invasive species, weed pressure, and plant health. Successful pollinator plantings can be low maintenance once established, but will still require some degree of regular maintenance to be as beneficial as possible, especially in their first few years of establishment.