Spring is the time to plant and seed. If you usually pick plants and flowers for your garden intuitively or by color, shape and size, perhaps this year you can try to change your approach a bit. This time, pick your plants based on whether or not they can repel pests or attract pollinators. This way of gardening will help you solve 2 problems at once, keeping nasty bugs out of your garden and harvesting more crops thanks to pollinators.
Here at Lilylover, we’ve made a short guide on the types of plants that repel pests and the kinds that attract “good” insects and birds to your garden.
1. Rocky Mountain Bee Plant
These beautiful pink flowers love dry, well-drained, sandy soil and full sun. They are quite easy to grow and don’t need much care. The best thing about these flowers, apart from their incredible fragrance, is the fact that they can attract many pollinators to your garden.
It can attract bees, wasps, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
2. Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle flowers have a variety of colors from yellow to red, and their sweet smell can turn your garden into a real paradise. They prefer full sun and well-drained soil and grow best with some support like a trellis or fence.
It can attract hummingbirds and hawk moths.
3. Lavender
We’ve included lavender into our article twice because in addition to repelling pests, it can also attract “good” insects to your garden.
It can attract honey bees and butterflies.
4. Yarrow
If you want to have many beautiful flowers around your yarrow, plant it in a place that gets full sun in well-drained soil. Choose average or poor soil in order to prevent the plants from growing too tall.
It can attract butterflies and bees.
5. Sunflower
Plant sunflowers in a place where they can get 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. These plants prefer loose and well-drained soil and are mostly drought-tolerant.
It can attract bees and birds.
6. Gaillardia
These gorgeous, often 2-toned flowers prefer dry and sunny places and don’t like heavy, wet soil. Gaillardias, or blanket flowers, can bloom till the end of the season, which is why they’re worth including in your flower beds.
It can attract butterflies, bees, and moths.
7. Lupine
Lupines like well-drained soil and sunny sites. They can tolerate some shade, but in this case, it will give you fewer flowers. With time, lupines can raise the fertility of soil.
It can attract butterflies.
Do you have a garden? Would you like to plant any of the flowers and plants from our list? Share the pictures of your flower beds in bloom in the comments!
