Regional planting guide
Exact species from trusted regional guides, ordered to bring complementary habitat roles forward.
“North American native” is still a continental description, not proof a plant is native where you live. Confirm your ecoregion and current state or local guidance before planting.
We recommend choosing at least three species from each early, mid, and late bloom period where site size allows.
Five-role coverage
Showing Host plants & nestling food plants
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mid season · late season
Helianthus annuus
A mid-to-late Southern Coast selection used by bees, beneficial insects, and butterfly or moth larvae.
Habitat roles
late season
Baccharis pilularis
A late woody resource for pollinators, beneficial insects, and larvae.
Habitat roles
late season
Solidago rugosa
A high-diversity fall resource for bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, flies, and migrating monarchs.
Habitat roles
late season
Solidago speciosa
A late Midwest resource used by bees, beetles, beneficial wasps, and moth larvae.
Habitat roles
late season
Symphyotrichum laeve
A late prairie aster visited by butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, and flies.
Habitat roles
late season
Helianthus angustifolius
Supports specialist longhorn bees and numerous butterfly and moth larvae late in the Southeast season.
Habitat roles
late season
Helianthus maximiliani
A tall, late-blooming prairie sunflower that closes the Northern Plains forage gap.
Habitat roles
mid season · late season
Eriogonum umbellatum
A low-water buckwheat carrying Sierra Foothills habitat value from mid into late season.
Habitat roles
mid season · late season
Grindelia hirsutula
A mid-to-late Southern Coast species supporting pollinators, beneficial insects, and larvae.
Habitat roles
How to use this page
Start with your region, then cover early, mid, and late bloom. A single “pollinator plant” cannot provide a season of habitat.
Match sunlight, soil moisture, mature size, and hardiness. Ecological value is most useful when the species also fits the conditions of the planting site.
Recheck current state and local guidance before buying, because plant classifications and recommendations can change over time.
Why plant choice must be narrowed to an ecoregion rather than treated as continent-wide.
The recommended next step for a ZIP-code and ecoregion-specific plant list.
Support for planning a succession of bloom from early spring through fall.
Exact Southern California species, bloom periods, and ecological roles.
Exact California Sierra Foothills species, bloom periods, and ecological roles.
Exact Northeast species, bloom periods, and documented pollinator or host-plant roles.
Exact Southeast species, bloom periods, and documented pollinator or host-plant roles.
Exact Midwest species, bloom periods, and documented pollinator or host-plant roles.
Exact Northern Plains species, bloom periods, and documented pollinator or host-plant roles.
Ranks locally native plant genera by the butterflies and moths they host, connecting host plants to caterpillars and the birds that eat them.
Connects fruit- and seed-bearing plants, retained flower heads, shrubs, and grasses with food, shelter, and winter structure for birds.
Guidance for retaining natural nesting and overwintering features such as stems, seed heads, wood, soil, and leaf litter.
Connects native tree and shrub cover and leaf litter with winter bird abundance and feeding activity in residential yards.
Guidance for combining native trees, understory plants, and leaf litter into sheltered habitat where insects can complete their life cycles.
For a finer geographic match, use the Pollinator Partnership Find Your Roots tool.
Save exact species, check mature size and hardiness, then place them in a design you can keep refining.
