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
Clear filterlate season
Solidago speciosa
A late Midwest resource used by bees, beetles, beneficial wasps, and moth larvae.
Habitat roles
early season
Geranium maculatum
Provides spring forage for several groups of native bees and tolerates some shade.
Habitat roles
late season
Symphyotrichum laeve
A late prairie aster visited by butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, and flies.
Habitat roles
early season
Zizia aurea
An early-season resource whose shallow flowers also serve small bees, flies, and beneficial wasps.
Habitat roles
mid season
Asclepias incarnata
A monarch larval host and strong nectar resource for moist to wet sites.
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 Midwest species, bloom periods, and documented pollinator or host-plant roles.
Exact Northeast species, bloom periods, and documented pollinator or host-plant roles.
Exact Northern Plains species, bloom periods, and documented pollinator or host-plant roles.
Exact Southeast 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.
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.
