9 Perennial Flowers That Attract Pollinators
Perennial flowers are the best friends of gardeners and pollinators. When perennials are planted in the right location they’ll return year after year to provide attractive blooms filled with color, fragrance, and pollen.
Many easy-care perennials provide long-lasting garden beauty and attract various types of pollinators with nectar or pollen-rich blooms. Plant some of these 10 perennial flowers in your garden this spring and enjoy the steady traffic of pollinators all summer.
Bee Balm (Monarda)
Bee balm will reach a mature height of 4-feet. The plant is fragrant, self-propagating, and blooms abundantly throughout the summer.
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Here’s a great pollinator-attracting plant for dry climates. Butterfly weed is an orange-blooming perennial that is drought tolerant. The plant will reach 3-feet tall when mature and produce clusters of tiny blooms that create a flat landing surface for pollinators.
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
This perennial flower reaches a mature height of 5-feet and grows best in moist soil. Cardinal flowers will bloom throughout the summer with bloom colors of red, pink and white.
Coral Bells (Heuchera)
Coral Bells need partial shade and rich soil to perform their best. This evergreen, perennial flower has colorful foliage and produces tall, long-lasting spikes of flowers that are filled with nectar.
Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
This is a good perennial flower choice for poor and/or dry soil conditions. Evening Primrose will produce yellow or pink flowers on 3-feet tall stems that may need support to remain upright.
Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)
Hyssop is a garden favorite for pollinators. This perennial will produce masses of blue-violet flowers in mid-summer on 3-feet tall plant stalks.
Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria)
This perennial flower grows best in dry soil and full sun. Red Hot Poker reaches a mature height of 4-feet and produces bright colored plumes in shades of red, orange, yellow and bi-colors.
Salvia (Salvia officinalis)
Salvia comes in both the annual and perennial varieties and is an easy-care plant that attracts pollinators of all types. Mature heights range from 1-5 feet and plant produces blooms in shades of red and purple.
Verbena (Verbena officinalis)
A perennial flower that is irresistible to birds, butterflies, and bees. Verbena will deliver red, pink, purple, or white flowers all summer when planted in moist soil.