Designing a summer flower garden that’s as attractive to people as it is to native pollinators takes a little bit of thought and planning. The good news is that the same design principles that make dynamic, long-lasting summer borders — choosing plants that bloom in succession, including a variety of bloom types and grouping plants in clumps — often also create a garden that’s an oasis for pollinators.
Just make sure the plants you include are rich in nectar and pollen and support the native birds, bees and butterflies in your area. For inspiration, take a look at seven gorgeous summer borders bursting with color that feature smart planting designs and pollinator-friendly plants suited to the region.
Ann-Marie Powell Gardens Ltd
1. Cottage-style border in the United Kingdom. This overflowing bed in Hampshire bursts with cottage-style garden blooms in a classic pastel color palette of lemon yellow, lavender and pink. The showiest flowers are pollinator-friendly, including masses of beebalm, yellow yarrow, purple catmint and mounds of lavender farther back along the stone patio.
Ann-Marie Powell Gardens Ltd
The designer chose to group plants into swaths and small clusters, a tactic that creates soothing masses of color and acts as an easy-to-spot target for visiting bees and butterflies.
Plants in this garden bed include:
- Yarrow (Achillea sp.)
- Catmint (Nepeta sp.)
- Beebalm (Monarda sp.)
- Lavender (Lavandula sp.)
- Ornamental grasses
Healy Design Inc.
2. Bursting with blooms in Ohio. Layers of colorful perennials, flowering shrubs and billowing ornamental grasses make for a standout backyard pollinator garden in Cleveland. Growing nectar- and pollen-rich flowering plants that bloom at different times can be a great way to ensure that you always have something to enjoy in the garden and that pollinators have a steady food source.
Consider this mix of plants that feature successional bloom times: Spring-blooming salvias, late-spring blooming lavender, summer-blooming beebalm and catmint and late-summer into fall-blooming coneflower and Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’.
Plants in this garden bed include:
- Beebalm (Monarda sp.)
- Coneflower (Echinacea sp.)
- Salvia
- Hydrangea
- Ornamental grasses
The Crafted Garden
3. Wild garden in New York. This pollinator garden bordering woodland in New York provides a colorful landing spot for native birds, bees, butterflies and other insects. The designer used a mix of North American natives like beebalm and coneflower and introduced species like bluebeard — a bee magnet — and butterfly bush.
The Crafted Garden
Plants in this garden bed include:
- Coneflower (Echinacea sp.)
- Bluebeard (Caryopteris sp.)
- Beebalm (Monarda sp.)
- Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, USDA zones 5 to 9) find your zone
- Butterfly bush (Buddleja sp.)
- Ornamental grasses
Jenny Bloom Garden Design
4. Colorful urban garden in London. To wild birds, bees and butterflies, this lush, colorful flower garden in East London looks like a safe, food-rich haven. While the designer used some evergreens for structure and reserved room for a small patch of turf, the majority of garden bed space was reserved for pollinator-friendly plants like ‘Blackbird’ penstemon (a hummingbird favorite), bee-attracting ‘Caradonna’ sage, pink masterwort and ‘Rozanne’ cranesbill.
Jenny Bloom Garden Design
Plants in this garden bed include:
- ‘Blackbird’ penstemon (Penstemon ‘Blackbird’, zones 8 to 10)
- ‘Caradonna’ sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, zones 4 to 9)
- ‘Rozanne’ cranesbill (Geranium ‘Rozanne’, zones 4 to 9)
- Bush morning glory (Convolvulus cneorum, Zone 8)
- Masterwort (Astrantia major, zones 4 to 7)
BOXHILL
5. Desert oasis in Arizona. Providing a reliable water source for wild birds, bees and insects is as important as choosing plants that will help provide them with food sources. The designer of this arid garden in Arizona laid out beds to include two sources of water: a shallow birdbath and a recirculating urn fountain.
Low-water, desert-friendly plants include bee- and butterfly-favorite lantana and red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora), which has tubular pink flowers that hummingbirds favor.
See
birdbathsand
outdoor fountainsBOXHILL
Large-scale American century plant (Agave americana) and mature trees provide year-round garden structure.
Plants in this garden bed include:
- Shrimp plant (Justicia brandegeeana, zones 9 to 11)
- Bulbine (Bulbine frutescens, zones 8 to 10)
- Red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora, Zone 5)
- Lantana
- Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides, Zone 8)
- Pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris, zones 6 to 9)
- Foxtail fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myers’, zones 9 to 11)
- American century plant (Agave americana, zones 8 to 11)
Edger Landscape Design
6. Native plant garden in Northern California. Drifts of California native flowers, such as lavender-blue Cleveland sage and foothill penstemon, create a colorful, low-water border in this Northern California backyard centered around a wooden gazebo.
It’s easy to make the mistake of writing off native plants if you have a small garden border and want lots of color, but there are plenty of garden-sized, beautiful native bloomers for every region that also offer benefits to wildlife.
Edger Landscape Design
If bold flower colors and supporting pollinators are priorities, look for native plants like long-blooming salvias and penstemons at a well-stocked native-plant nursery.
Plants in this garden bed include:
- Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii, zones 8 to 11); shown here
- Western redbud (Cercis occidentalis, zones 5 to 9)
- Foothill penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus, zones 6 to 10)
- Canyon liveforever (Dudleya cymosa, Zone 6)
See how to grow more native plants
Acres Wild
7. Lavender corridor in the United Kingdom. Even a formal ornamental garden creates an opportunity for using pollinator-friendly plants. In this garden in Surrey, the designer laid out symmetrical rose beds on either side of a stone walkway leading to a garden room. Instead of using the classic choice of boxwood, the designer edged the beds with dozens of bee-friendly lavender plants.
Find a landscape designer near you
Acres Wild
While planting lavender en masse gives up some room for more plant diversity, it will turn your garden into a bee magnet while also creating a stunning, simple planting design. Other areas of the same garden also provide a more diverse range of pollinator-friendly plants.
Plants in this garden bed include:
- Lavender (Lavandula sp.)
- Geranium
- Rose (Rosa sp.)
Barbara Pintozzi
Houzz readers: Which plants do pollinators love to visit in your garden? Upload your best photos in the Comments.
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