Did you know that different insects have different favorite foods? In recent years, concern for pollinators, including various types of bees, butterflies, and even beetles, has inspired gardeners all over the world to grow food for these
critical creatures.

To ensure food sources for insect pollinators, gardeners have created veritable buffets to entice and feed bees, butterflies, and other winged arthropods. But, as Margret Couvillon, assistant professor of pollinator biology and ecology in Virginia Tech’s Department of
Entomology, found, there was very little information to make the perfect flower feast for these critters. Through a research donation from Virginia-based Kaeser Compressors, Couvillion, her lab, and her collaborators from Virginia Tech’s School of Plant and Environmental Sciences joined forces to find out what plants or combination of plants would best attract and feed the most and the most diverse insect pollinators.

Couvillion and her former graduate student Micki Palmersheim ’21 planted test gardens and collected pollinator data over two years. Their goal was to count how many insects visited which types of flowers and to determine which plants were preferred by different species of pollinators. The findings determined which plants were general crowd pleasers, which produced the highest diversity of insects, and which kept them coming back for more — or had the highest number of insect visitors, usually bees. With this information, Couvillon and Palmersheim published a research paper on what ornamental plants will attract abundant, diverse insect pollinator communities to mid-Atlantic gardens.

The two “recipes” for home pollinator gardens grew from that research: the crowd-pleasing Virginia Tech Diverse Pollinator Garden that will bring a variety of pollinators to visit and feed, and the “seconds, please” Blacksburg Bee Garden focused on plants that really bring the bees.

These gardens can take up large hillsides or be planted as a section of flower beds. No pollinator garden is too small.

Additional suggestions include taking care of the garden by weeding and trimming plants as needed because a healthy garden supports healthy insects. Once the garden is planted and blooming, be sure to snap a few pictures of these helpful visitors to share with family and friends.

Virginia Tech diverse pollinator garden

  • Purple coneflower
  • Zinnia
  • Helen’s flower
  • Yarrow
  • Catmint
  • Dwarf goldenrod

Perfect for nature lovers, this garden will attract all sorts of critters. Better have your insect ID book handy. A classic image of reds, purples, and yellows, this garden recipe will provide a wonderful mixture of flowers, from the petaled coneflower and Helen’s flower, to the unique colorful spires of the catmint and goldenrod. Be sure to plant in full sun, and follow any spacing instructions for each plant, as some of them can spread out over time.

Blacksburg bee garden

  • Black-eyed Susan
  • Brown-eyed Susan
  • Joe-Pye weed
  • Purple coneflower
  • Helen’s flower
  • Sedum

A garden fit for a queen, these plants will keep the bees coming back for more. Bees are an irreplaceable part of our ecosystem, and this garden definitely keeps them busy. This garden recipe offers a lot of yellows and purples and a mixture of plant heights, meaning this pollinator garden will look dynamic and colorful. If you have a yard with more shade, focus on the brown-eyed Susans, Joe-Pye weed, and sedum, also called stonecrop flowers. Plant the others where they can get the most sunlight.

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