The Plants That Bring Your Garden to Life — Our Pollinator Favorites Collection

Every summer, our team heads out.

To trial gardens. To breeder farms. To the kinds of places where you walk row after row of plants in full summer bloom and start taking notes. What's still going strong in August? What are the bees actually landing on? What would look amazing in someone's front yard all season long?

What we kept finding, year after year, was that the best summer bloomers and the best pollinator plants are almost always the same plants. That's not a coincidence. Plants with prolific flowering capacity in turn produce a lot of nectar and pollen. And pollinators notice.

Over time those summers shaped a list. Not an official one at first — just a shared enthusiasm among a staff that spends a lot of time thinking about plants. We have birders, monarch enthusiasts, and even beekeepers! This list had to hold up to that kind of scrutiny — and it does.

Our work with the Cincinnati Zoo's pollinator program gave us an even deeper understanding of what pollinators actually need — not just what looks good at the garden center, but imperial data that shows which plants draw pollinators in a real garden through the whole season. That partnership shaped this list as much as anything.

This collection was built around one idea: that you shouldn't have to choose between a beautiful garden and one that supports wildlife. These are plants for front yards, front porches, and neighborhood beds. Plants that perform all summer and bring in bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and more.

Here's what we picked, and why.

For the Bees

If you want bee activity in your garden, this group will deliver it all summer long. Agastache, Lavender, Nepeta, Monarda, and Coreopsis are among the most reliable bee plants you can grow — and what makes them special is not just that bees love them, but that they keep blooming. These are prolific, long season performers that don't quit when summer gets hard.

Plant them in mass for the most dramatic effect. A sweep of Agastache or a full bed of Nepeta in bloom is not just beautiful — it becomes a destination. You'll hear the hum of bees at work before you see them.

Many of these will also flush a second round of flowers if you cut them back after the first bloom. That's two full seasons of activity from one plant, and the bees will find both flushes every time.

Plants for bees:

• Agastache | Little Adder
• Agastache | Summerlong — Coral, Lemon, Lilac
• Lavender | SuperBlue
• Nepeta | Whispurr
• Monarda | BeeMine — Purple, Red
• Coreopsis | UpTick — Cream, Cream & Red, Gold, Red

For the Butterflies

Butterflies are drawn to color and abundance — and this group has it. What makes it even better is how these plants work together at different heights.

Cosmos, Cleome, Echinacea, and Sunflowers bring the action up to waist level. When these are in full bloom butterflies are right there with you — not across the yard, but at eye level, working flower to flower while you're standing in the garden. It changes the whole experience.

Lower in the garden, Lantana, Ageratum Monarch Magic, and Buddleia take over. Wide, open blooms packed with nectar mean butterflies don't just land and leave — they linger. These are the plants you watch. Masses or groupings of these selections in full bloom on a warm afternoon can have a dozen butterflies on it at once.

Achillea adds a beautiful flat topped flower that butterflies use as a landing pad, working across the whole bloom in a way that is endlessly watchable.

Asclepias deserves a special mention. Milkweed is not just a pollinator plant — it is the only plant monarch caterpillars can eat. No milkweed, no monarchs. Adding even one Asclepias to your garden puts you directly in the monarch migration story, and that is something worth being part of.

Plants for butterflies:

• Asclepias | Silky
• Buddleia | Chrysalis
• Lantana | Shamrock — Red, Rose, Yellow
• Ageratum | Monarch Magic
• Echinacea | Artisan — Red Ombre
• Echinacea | PowWow — Wild Berry, White
• Cosmos | Apollo
• Cleome | Lavender Dreams
• Zinnia | Zesty — Pink, Purple, Scarlet, Yellow
• Tithonia | Mexican Sunflower
• Sunflower | Sunfinity Yellow
• Sunflower | Sunfinity Double Yellow
• Achillea | Milly Rock — Red, Rose

For the Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are built for tubular flowers. Their long narrow beaks are perfectly designed to reach nectar that other pollinators can't get to, and they are strongly drawn to blue and purple blooms. This group delivers both.

Salvia Black & Blue is one of the finest hummingbird plants you can grow. It blooms from early summer through frost, the deep cobalt blue flowers are striking in the garden, and hummingbirds find it reliably. Salvia Mystic Spires offers the same appeal with a slightly different habit — both belong together. Agastache, Monarda, and Verbena round out the group and pull double duty, attracting heavy bee traffic at the same time.

Every plant in this group blooms from late spring through fall. That is not a short window — that is an entire season of activity right outside your window.

What makes this group especially versatile is scale. These are not plants that need a large bed to perform. A large container with Salvia, Agastache, and Monarda on your porch or patio becomes a hummingbird destination. Plant it near a window and you will catch them up close — hovering, darting, coming back regularly. That is a very different experience than spotting one across the yard.

Plants for hummingbirds:

• Salvia | Black & Blue,
• Salvia | Mystic Spires,
• Agastache | Little Adder,
• Agastache | Summerlong — Coral, Lemon, Lilac,
• Monarda | BeeMine — Purple, Red,
• Delphinium | Diamonds Blue,
• Verbena | Santos Purple

Come See Them in Person

Reading about these plants is one thing. Standing next to a full blooming Buddleia with butterflies working every stem, or watching a hummingbird work its way down a spike of Salvia Black & Blue — that is something else entirely.

Our Pollinator Favorites collection is available online now for pickup, and in store at both our Beavercreek and Middletown locations starting Friday. These are not small starter plants. They are big, blooming, and ready to go straight into your garden or container right now.

And if you want a guided introduction to the whole collection, join us Saturday morning at 11am at both locations for a free pollinator walkabout. Members of our staff — including our birders, monarch enthusiasts, and our very own beekeeper — will walk you through the collection, share planting tips, and help you build a garden that pollinators will find all season long.

Your garden is about to get a lot busier.

Shop the Pollinator Favorites Collection.

Register for the Free Walk About.