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FLOWERING PLANTS
ARE POLLINATOR
PLANTS
Do you want your garden to come alive this summer with bees, butterflies, birds and beneficial insects?!
Imagine your garden buzzing with bees, fluttering with butterflies, and alive with birds and beneficial insects—nature in action, right in your backyard. Want to make it happen? Here's the secret: every flowering plant is a pollinator plant.
Pollinators—like bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and beetles—are drawn to flowers because they offer nectar and pollen, their essential food sources. While feeding, these tiny visitors perform one of the most magical tasks in nature: pollination. As they move from bloom to bloom, pollen grains hitch a ride on their feet and bodies, landing on the female parts of the next flower and sparking the creation of seeds and fruit. The pollen grain grows a tube that travels all the way down the stigma to the ovary of the flower where it then fertilizes the female egg inside the ovary. It then develops into an embryo within a seed. The flower is the reproductive structure of flowering plants. The fruit is the swollen ovary of the female reproductive structure. And inside the fruit are the seeds.
Next time you bite into a strawberry, take a closer look—the seeds on the outside and the tiny hairs (stigmas) are the remnants of this beautiful process.
[Videos] Allium buzzing with bees. Oak Leaf Hydrangeas on the Highline in NYC.
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Why Native
Plants Matter
Some pollinators rely on very specific plants to complete their life cycles. That’s why planting native is so important—native plants have co-evolved with local pollinators, making them the best hosts for supporting their life cycles. At Vineyard Gardens, we’re passionate about helping you create vibrant, pollinator-friendly gardens using native and well-researched perennials. Whether you're starting fresh or enhancing an existing landscape, your choices make a real difference for pollinator health and biodiversity. There has been a surge of understanding around the importance of caring for the native ecosystem through native plants to protect our pollinators. Horticulturalists are continually doing research and trials on plants that stand out as pollinator favorites. More and more customers are looking to grow pollinator friendly gardens and to cultivate a healthy native landscape.
Not sure where to begin? Check out the Cape Cod Native Plants website for a fantastic online tool to help you select the right plants for your site conditions.
St Johns Wort
Echinacea purpurea
Rudbeckia fulgida Goldsturm
More and more customers are joining this movement to support a healthier planet—and you can too.
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Pollinator
Power Plants:
Our Favorite Perennials
Here’s a list of powerhouse plants that will invite pollinators and energize your garden all season long:
Mondarda, Spotted Beebalm
🌱 Native Pollinator Perennials:
Ageratum (Coelestinum)
Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)
Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium ‘Gateway’)
Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum)
Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
Mallow ‘Rose’ (Hibiscus moscheutos)
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolius)
Woods Purple Aster (Eurybia divaricata)
Baptisia (Baptisia australis)
Beebalm (Monarda didyma)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida)
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
Lavender
🌿 Perennial Pollinators:
Agastache (‘Kudos’ Coral, Ambrosia, Mandarin, Blue Fortune, Black Adder, Little Adder)
Bluebeard (Caryopteris)
Coneflower (Echinacea) – Sombrero Series, White Swan, Green Twister
Coreopsis – Solanna™ Bright Touch, UpTick™ Gold & Bronze
Goldenrod (Solidago)
Lavender (Lavandula)
Milkweed (Asclepias)
Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Salvia
Perennial Sunflower (Helianthus)
Stonecrop (Sedum)
Yarrow (Achillea)
Asters
Goldenrod, Rudbeckia photo by keith kurman
Sedum, Butterfly Milkweed, Quickfire Hydrangea
Swamp Milkweed
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POLLINATOR FRIENDLY SHRUBS
Clethra, Sweet Pepperbush
Native Pollinator Shrubs:
Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Beach Plum (Prunus maritima)
Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum)
Inkberry (Ilex glabra)
Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
American Elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis)
Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)
Sweet Fern (Comptonia peregrina)
Willow (Salix)
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
St. John’s Wort - Hypericum
Pollinator Shrubs:
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
Double File Viburnum (Viburnum plicatum)
Fothergilla
Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)
Ninebark (Physocarpus)
Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)
St. John’s Wort (Hypericum)
Buttonbush
Purple Leaf Sand Cherry
Elderberry
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POLLINATOR FRIENDLY TREES
Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis Pendula) photo by keith kurman
Native Pollinator Trees:
Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
White Oak (Quercus alba)
American Holly (Ilex opaca)
Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Magnolia virginiana
Dogwoods – Gray, Silky, Red-twig, Pagoda, Flowering
Additional Pollinator Trees:
Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora 'Little Gem')
Stewartia
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Ready to Grow a
Buzz-Worthy Garden?
Let your garden be a living, blooming, buzzing celebration of life.
Visit us at Vineyard Gardens to explore our curated selection of native and pollinator-friendly plants.
Talk to our team for personalized advice on what will thrive in your space.
Start planting and be part of the pollinator movement—one flower at a time!
Agastache, Allium, Rudbeckia
Foam Flower, Tiarella cordifolia
Native Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
