Pollinator Friendly Plants
The list isn’t exhaustive, by any means! Instead, it highlights plants we regularly carry (or can order) here at Shooting Star Nursery. We’ve focused primarily on perennials, shrubs, and trees. While there are some vines that are visited by hummingbirds, they aren’t really a primary nectar source and aren’t included here. In addition, most grasses – especially those native to the western US or tallgrass/shortgrass prairies – are great host plants for skippers (a butterfly relative), and their seeds are good food sources for overwintering songbirds. Note: Plants marked as ‘native’ are native to the western US.
Everything we grow at Shooting Star Nursery is Neonic-Free! Neonicotinoids (neonics for short) are a class of pesticide extremely toxic to bees and other pollinators and are a major factor in pollinator declines. The chemical, called a ‘systemic,’ moves throughout the entire plant, making pollen and nectar in flowers toxic. Both systemic and persistent, neonics continue to affect bees long after a spray through soil absorption. Neonicotinoid pesticide active ingredients to avoid include: Acetamiprid, Clothianidin, Dinotefuran, Imidacloprid, Thiacloprid, and Thiamethoxam.
You can be assured plants grown at Shooting Star Nursery are neonic-free and pollinator friendly!
Download printable PDF|
Botanical Name |
Common Name |
Comments |
| PERENNIALS |
||
| Achillea millefolium (native) | Yarrow | bees, butterflies, wasps |
| Agastache sp. (native) | Hummingbird Mint | hummingbirds, bees |
| Allium sp. | Garlic/Onion family | bees, moths |
| Amsonia 'Blue Ice' | bees, moths, butterflies | |
| Aquilegia formosa (native) | Columbine | bumblebees, hummingbirds, moths |
| Asclepias fascicularis/speciosa (native) | Milkweed | bees, butterflies, moths; host plant for Monarchs |
| Aster (some native) | bees, butterflies | |
| Callirhoe involucrata (native) | Poppy Mallow | bees, butterflies |
| Coreopsis | bees, butterflies | |
| Crocosmia | hummingbirds, butterflies | |
| Dicentra formosa (native) | Bleeding Heart | butterflies (host plant) |
| Echinacea | Coneflower | bees, butterflies |
| Erigeron (native) | Fleabanes | bees, butterflies |
| Eriogonum sp. (native) | Flowering Buckwheat | bees, butterflies |
| Eriophyllum lanatum (native) | Oregon Sunshine | bees, butterflies |
| Eschscholzia californica (native) | California Poppy | bees, butterflies, moths |
| Eupatorium 'Baby Joe' | Joe Pye Weed | bees |
| Fragraria vesca (native) | Alpine Strawberry | bees, butterflies, moths |
| Gaillardia sp. (Western native) | Blanket Flower | butterflies, bees |
| Geranium sp. | Cranesbill | bees |
| Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' | Sunflower | bees, butterflies; birds love the seeds |
| Helleborus | Hellebore/Lenten Rose | bees |
| Hesperaloe parviflora (native) | Red Yucca | hummingbirds |
| Heuchera micrantha (native) | Coral Bells/Alum Root | hummingbirds |
| Kniphofia uvaria | Red Hot Poker | hummingbirds, bees |
| Liatris spicata | Gayfeather | butterflies, bees |
| Liriope | Lily Turf | bees |
| Lobelia laxiflora (native) | Mexican Lobelia | hummingbirds, bees |
| Menta sp. | Mints | bees, wasps |
| Monarda sp. | Bee Balm | bees, hummingbirds |
| Monardella sp. (native) | Coyote Mint | bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, moths |
| Nepeta sp. | Catmint | bees - lots and lots of bees! |
| Oenothera sp. (native) | Evening Primrose | night-flying moths |
| Penstemon sp. (some native) | hummingbirds, bees, butterfly host plant | |
| Perovskia atriplicifolia | Russian Sage | bees |
| Phlomis fruticosa | Jerusalem Sage | bees |
| Potentilla sp. (some native) | Cinquefoil | butterflies, moths, bees |
| Rudbeckia sp. | Black-Eyed Susan | bees, butterflies |
| Salvia sp. (some native) | Sages | bees, hummingbirds |
| Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' | Pincushion Flower | butterflies, bees |
| Scutellaria 'Smoky Hills' (native) | Skullcap | bees, moths |
| Sedum spathulifolium (native) | butterflies | |
| Sidalcea cusickii (native) | Checkermallow | butterflies, bees |
| Solidago (native) | Goldenrod | bees, butterflies, moths |
| Stachys lavandulifolia | Pink Cotton Lamb's Ear | bees, butterflies |
| Teucrium spp. | Germander | lots of different bees |
| Thalictrum | Meadow Rue | butterflies, moths |
| Thymus sp. | Thyme | bees |
| Verbena lilacina (native) | Verbena | butterflies |
| Zauschneria (native) | California Fuchsia | hummingbirds, moths, bees |
| SHRUBS |
||
| Abelia grandiflora | Abelia | bees, butterflies |
| Amelanchier alnifolia (native) | Saskatoon Serviceberry | butterflies & moths; birds love the berries |
| Arbutus unedo 'Compacta' | Dwarf Strawberry Tree | bees, hummingbirds |
| Arctostaphylos spp. (native) | Manzanita | bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, moths; birds love the berries |
| Artemisia tridentata (native) | Big Sagebrush | butterflies, moths, bees; birds love the seeds |
| Baccharis (native) | Coyote Bush | bees, wasps, butterflies, moths |
| Buddleia | Butterfly Bush | bees, butterflies, hummingbirds |
| Carpenteria californica (native) | Bush Anemone | bees, butterflies |
| Caryopteris | Bluebeard | bees |
| Cornus sericea (native) | Red Osier Dogwood | butterflies, moths |
| Erica | Heath | bees |
| Holodiscus discolor (native) | Creambush/Oceanspray | butterflies, bees, hummingbirds |
| Lavandula sp. | Lavender | bees, hummingbirds |
| Lonicera involucrata (native) | Twinberry | hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, moths; birds love the berries |
| Mahonia spp. (native) | Oregon Grape | bees, butterflies, moths; birds love the berries |
| Myrica californica (native) | CA Wax Myrtle | butterflies, moths |
| Osmanthus | Shrub Olive | bees, butterflies |
| Philadelphus lewisii (native) | Mock Orange | bees, butterflies, moths |
| Physocarpus capitatus (native) | Mock Orange | bees, butterflies, moths |
| Pieris sp. | Andromeda | bees |
| Rhamnus californica (native) | Coffeeberry | bees, butterflies, moths |
| Rhus aromatica/trilobata (native) | Fragrant Sumac | butterflies & moths; birds like the berries |
| Ribes sp. (native) | Currants/Gooseberries | hummingbirds, bees, butterflies |
| Rosa nutkana/woodsii (native) | Wild Rose | bees |
| Rosmarinus | Rosemary | bees, butterflies, hummingbirds |
| Salix hookeriana (native) | Hooker's Willow | bees, butterflies, moths; great host plant |
| Sambucus caerulea (native) | Blue Elderberry | bees, moths; birds love the berries |
| Sarcococca | Sweet Box | bees |
| Spirea densiflora/douglasii (native) | Spirea | hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, moths |
| Symphoricarpus alba (native) | Snowberry | hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, moths |
| Vaccinium ovatum (native) | Huckleberry | hummingbirds, butterflies, moths; birds love the berries |
| Vitex agnus-castus | Chaste Tree | bees, butterflies, hummingbirds |
| TREES |
||
| Acer circinatum (native) | Vine Maple | butterflies, moths, bees |
| Acer macrophyllum (native) | Big-leafed Maple | butterflies, moths, bees |
| Alnus rhombifilia/rubra (native) | Alders | butterflies & moths; birds love the seeds |
| Cercis occidentalis (native) | Western Redbud | hummingbirds, bees, moths, butterflies |
| Crataegus douglasii (native) | Black Hawthorn | bees, butterflies, moths; birds love the fruit |
| Chilopsis linearis (native) | Desert Willow | hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, moths |
| Prunus virginiana (native) | Western Chokecherry | bees, butterflies, moths; birds love the fruits |
| Quercus garryana/kelloggii (native) | White Oak/Black Oak | butterflies & moths |
| Styrax japonica | Japanese Snowbell | bees, hummingbirds |
| Tilia | Linden | beloved by honeybees |
| Yucca brevifolia (native) | Joshua Tree | butterflies, moths |