Boost your garden’s popularity among birds, bees, and butterflies with Bunny’s favorite pollinator plants
❶ Milkweed (Asclepias): This sun-loving perennial is crucial for feeding the caterpillars of endangered monarch butterflies. There are many kinds, but butterfly weed (which blooms orange), common milkweed (white, pink, or lavender), and swamp milkweed (dark pink) are all great choices for Lowcountry gardens.
❷ Salvia ‘Cathedral Deep Blue’ (Salvia farinacea): Bunny’s absolute favorite member of the showy salvia family boasts spikes of purple-blue flowers ideal for providing months of color along the front of a full-sun border.
❸ Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus): Hummingbirds go especially crazy for this native perennial that reaches some four feet tall and blooms in part sun or shade. The red flowers make way for berries that feed various wildlife.
❹ Gomphrena (Gomphrena globosa): Flourishing in hot, humid weather, this drought-tolerant annual is also called “globe amaranth” for its round flowers that can be found in shades of magenta, lavender, red, white, and orange.
❺ White gaura (Oenothera lindheimeri): This perennial earns its nickname of “whirling butterflies,” with delicate flowers that flit through the air on wand-like stems. Plant in full sun with good drainage.
❻ American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana): Growing to about five feet tall and wide, this native shrub bows under the weight of jewel-like purple berries each fall, inviting birds to feast. It thrives in part shade.
❼ White trailing lantana (Lantana montevidensis): Let this resilient ground cover sprawl throughout a sunny spot, and it’ll load up with blooms from spring until the first frost.
❽ Society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea): Star-shaped lilac flowers rise above the grassy foliage of this clump-forming perennial. It’s great for mass plantings, but avoid busy areas, as the leaves smell of garlic when disturbed.
