Waterwise Plants for Pollinators

Spring is a great time to start planning (or finalize) your garden. With the many plants available, why not consider adding dual purpose blooms to your landscape? There are a variety of plants that are not only beautiful, but offer great benefit to our local pollinators.

Pollinators aren’t just honey bees! Colorado is home to about 950 species of native bees, 250 species of butterflies, over 1000 species of moths, 11 species of migratory hummingbirds and 18 species of bats.

When planting for pollinators, it is best to provide an ample variety of plants that offer nectar as well as pollen, and bloom at varying times throughout the season.

Another consideration when purchasing seeds or plants is to ensure your selection has not been treated with neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids are a systemic pesticide that remains in the plant and surrounding soil for many years. These pesticides can be found the plant itself as well as the pollen and nectar, making them toxic to the pollinators that feed upon them.

Below you’ll find a list of drought tolerant, pollinator friendly plants for zone 6a. There are many additional plants available, however these will tolerate our hot temperatures and require less water than most all while providing nectar and pollen.

Table of Contents

Perennials

Common Name	Scientific Name	Bloom Time
Crested Prickly Poppy	Argemone polyanthemos	Summer
Fringed Sagebrush, Prairie Sagewort	Artemisia frigida	Summer
Butterfly Milkweed	Asclepias tuberosa	Summer
Chocolate Flower	Berlandiera lyrata	Summer
Purple Prairie Clover	Dalea purpurea	Summer
Scarlet Hedgehog Cactus	Echinocereus coccineus	Spring
Sulphur Buckwheat/Flower	Erigonum umbellatum	Summer
Four Nerve Daisy	Hymenoxys scaposa var. scaposa	Summer
Scarlet Gilia, Skyrocket	Ipomopsis aggregata	Summer-Fall
Gayfeather, Dotted Blazing Star	Liatris punctata	Summer-Fall
Blue Flax	Linum lewisii	Spring-Fall
Blackfoot Daisy	Melampodium leucanthum	Spring-Fall
Colorado Four O’Clock	Mirabilis multiflora	Summer
Tufted Evening Primrose	Oenothera caespitosa	Summer
Yellow Sundrops	Oenothera (Calylophus) serratulata	Spring-Summer
Broadbeard/Narrow-leaf Penstemon	Penstemon angustifolius	Spring-Summer
Colorado Beardtongue	Penstemon auriberbis	Spring-Summer
Beardlip Penstemon/Scarlet Bugler	Penstemon barbatus	Summer
Desert Beardtongue	Penstemon pseudospectabilis	Summer
Sidebells Penstemon	Penstemon secundiflorus	Summer
Rocky Mountain Penstemon	Penstemon strictus	Summer
Prairie/Mexican Coneflower	Ratibida columnifera	Summer-Fall
Yarrow	Achillea asteraceae	Spring
Aster	Aster asteraceae	Summer-Fall
Coreopsis	Coreopsis asteraceae	Summer-Fall
Blanket Flower	Gaillardia asteraceae	Summer-Fall
Pasque	Pulsatilla patens	Spring
Lemon Queen Sunflower	Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’	Summer
Hyssop	Hyssopus officinalis	Summer-Fall
Lavendar	Lavendula lamiaceae	Summer
Catmint	Nepeta lamiaceae	Summer
Agastache		Summer-Fall
Salvia		Spring-Summer

Grasses

Common Name	Scientific Name	Bloom Time
Indian Ricegrass	Achnatherum (Oryzopsis) hymenoides	Summer
Big Bluestem	Andropogon gerardii	Summer
Silver Bluestem	Bothriochloa laguroides	Summer-Fall
Sideoats Grama	Bouteloua curtipendula	Summer-Fall
Blue Grama	Bouteloua gracilis	Summer-Fall
Switchgrass	Panicum virgatum	Summer-Fall
Little Bluestem	Schizachyrium scoparium	Summer

Shrubs

Common Name	Scientific Name	Bloom Time
Leadplant	Amorpha canescens	Summer
Rabbitbrush	Ericameria nauseosa (Chrysothamnus nauseosus)	Summer-Fall
Tree Cholla	Cylindropuntia imbricata var. imbricata	Spring-Summer
Apache Plume	Fallugia paradoxa	Summer
Winter Fat	Krascheninnikovia lanata	Summer-Fall
Soapweed Yucca	Yucca glauca	Summer
Blue Mist Spirea	Caryopteris lamiaceae	Summer
Russian Sage	Perovskia lamiaceae	Summer-Fall
Goldenrod	Solidago asteraceae	Summer-Fall