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 Nectar & pollen plants
Clear filterearly season
Prunus virginiana
A woody early-bloom option with flowers for pollinators and foliage used by caterpillars.
Habitat roles
late season
Symphyotrichum laeve
A late prairie aster visited by butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, and flies.
Habitat roles
late season
Helianthus maximiliani
A tall, late-blooming prairie sunflower that closes the Northern Plains forage gap.
Habitat roles
mid season
Monarda fistulosa
A broadly recommended regional species visited by bumble bees, hawk moths, and hummingbirds.
Habitat roles
mid season
Echinacea angustifolia
A compact prairie coneflower recommended for mid-season Northern Plains forage.
Habitat roles
mid season
Asclepias speciosa
A Northern Plains milkweed that combines monarch host value with nectar for bees and other beneficial insects.
Habitat roles
early season
Tradescantia occidentalis
An early Northern Plains flower visited by bumble bees and other pollen-gathering insects.
Habitat roles
early season · mid season
Dalea purpurea
A nitrogen-fixing prairie plant highly attractive to bees, butterflies, flies, and beetles.
Habitat roles
mid season
Coreopsis tinctoria
A Northern Plains annual that adds accessible composite flowers to the middle of the bloom sequence.
Habitat roles
mid season · late season
Vernonia fasciculata
Extends Northern Plains forage into late summer.
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 Northern Plains species, bloom periods, and documented pollinator or host-plant roles.
Exact California Sierra Foothills species, bloom periods, and ecological roles.
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 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.
Documents Prunus virginiana fruit, cover, and nesting value for birds and its use in shelterbelts and habitat plantings.
Guidance for retaining natural nesting and overwintering features such as stems, seed heads, wood, soil, and leaf litter.
Connects fruit- and seed-bearing plants, retained flower heads, shrubs, and grasses with food, shelter, and winter structure for birds.
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.
