The latest buzz about bees isn’t good.
Over the past few years, beekeepers have reported unusually high losses of bees in their hives.
Bee experts say the losses are due to invasive mites, new diseases, pesticide poisoning and changes to the habitats where bees forage.
Hives can’t sustain themselves without worker bees, so this loss, called Colony Collapse Disorder, is alarming.
What can we do? Add plants and flowers to our landscapes that bees and other busy pollinators love.
No time to research all that?
Relax — we did it for you. Our crews will even install the best pollinator plants to make your property buzz-worthy.
Why Pollinators Matter
Bees aren’t the only pollinators out there. Hummingbirds, bats, beetles, butterflies and flies also carry pollen from one plant to another as they collect nectar.
These hard-working creatures help pollinate more than 75 percent of our flowering plants and nearly 75 percent of our crops.
Love those blueberries on your morning cereal? The peppers in your stir fry? Chocolate? Coffee?
Thank the pollinators.
Better yet, help them by planting the flowers, shrubs and trees they love.
Level Green Landscaping co-owner Doug Delano and Level Green landscape designer Shelley Russell share 15 pollinator plants for the Northeast — five flowers, five shrubs and five trees.
Check out our extensive list.
Perennials To Attract Pollinators
Bee Balm
Bees love this bloom so much it has bee in its name. Also known as monarda, it’s an old-fashioned favorite, with bright, showy petals in vivid reds, pinks and purples.
Deer resistant and easy to grow, it not only attracts bees, but butterflies and hummingbirds, too.
Rudbeckia
The rudbeckia family includes coneflower, black-eyed Susan and several other summer-blooming annuals and perennials. Bees, butterflies and beetles love them all. Coneflowers are great for a meadow or prairie garden. Leave them through the winter — birds love their seeds.
Lantana
Lantana flowers start out as a light color and darken as they age, so you get changing looks through the season. Look to lantana for any hot, dry problem spots on your property. It thrives with little moisture in full sun. Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds love the abundant nectar lantana blooms produce.
Achillea
Achillea, also known as yarrow, has feathery foliage and flat-topped flowers that butterflies love.
Extra perks: it’s drought resistant and hungry deer and rabbits leave this perennial alone.
Asters
Asters are daisy-like perennials that bring great color to your property in late summer and fall when many summer blooming plants are fading. Plant these, then wait for the butterflies.
Shrubs To Attract Pollinators
Virginia Sweetspire
This pretty native shrub offers small white flowers that bloom in 4-inch spires on graceful, arching branches.
Its leaves turn red to purple in fall, continuing the show.
Butterfly Bush
This shrub, also known as buddleia, gets its name for good reason. It attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and other beneficial pollinators in droves.
These big, dense bushes feature impressive flower spikes that bloom in intense hues of pink, orange, red, and purple throughout the summer. Bonus: they don’t need a lot of water.
Redtwig Dogwood
There’s a lot to love here, and not just for pollinators. Coral-red branches are the standout feature, but this beauty also boasts yellowish-white flowers, followed by small blue berries.
It’s a great winter accent in the dreary landscape. Here at Level Green, we especially love ‘Arctic Fire’ for its compact habit that fits nicely just about anywhere.
Lilac
Who can blame pollinators for flocking to this fragrant favorite? Gorgeous clusters of blooms in a host of beautiful lavenders and purples, and that fragrance that makes you inhale and sigh.
They can get quite sprawling, though, so our favorite here at Level Green is ‘Miss Kim,’ a nice dwarf variety.
Bluebeard
Striking deep blue flowers appear in late season and even the leaves are pretty, with silvery undersides. The blooms are magnets for bees and butterflies, but deer and rabbits say no thanks.
Trees To Attract Pollinators
Serviceberry
This small tree packs a big four-season punch in the landscape: plenty of pretty white flowers in spring, berries birds love in the summer, stunning red foliage in fall and silvery bark in the winter.
Flowering Dogwood
Many consider this to be the most spectacular of all native flowering trees, with its showy canopy of long-lasting white and pink spring blooms the pollinators can’t resist.
Extra perks here: red fruits and scarlet fall foliage.
Sweetbay Magnolia
Native along the Atlantic coast to New York, this beauty features cup-shaped, fragrant, creamy white flowers as big as three inches in diameter. Cone-like fruits with bright red seeds show up in fall and offer a second round of beauty.
Eastern Redbud
Have you ever seen a redbud in full bloom? You never forget it. It’s like fluffy pink fireworks. But this beauty isn’t fragile — it adapts to lots of different conditions and thrives in most types of soil. The only thing better than a redbud is a group of redbuds.
Tulip Poplar
You might know it as the tulip tree. Its pale green or yellow flowers yield lots and lots of nectar — a buffet for the pollinators. There must be something to this tree — Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee have all named it their state tree.
Choose The Best Pollinator Plants With Level Green
At Level Green Landscaping, we love bees — and all the other tiny pollinators who help our plants thrive.
We know just the right plants that look beautiful on your property, thrive in the Northeast and that pollinators love.
Let’s work together, for the sake of the bees.
If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy customers.
Our focus is on commercial properties like offices, mixed-use sites, HOAs, municipalities and institutions in Maryland, Washington DC and parts of Virginia.
Contact us at 202-544-0968. You can also request a free consultation online to meet with us one-on-one.
We’d love to hear from you. Give us a buzz.
