My Pollinator Pal
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Gulf Coast Plants That Pollinators Love
Native plants feed the bees and butterflies that already live here. These six bloom from spring through fall, so something is always open.
Black-eyed Susan. Blooms for months and feeds bees and butterflies.
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
• Blooms from late spring into fall
• Nectar for bees and butterflies, and seeds for birds
• Host plant for the Gorgone checkerspot and bordered patch butterflies
• Native in all five Gulf states
• Likes sun and ordinary garden soil
Aquatic milkweed. White flowers with pink tips, and it likes wet feet.
Aquatic milkweed (Asclepias perennis)• White flowers, May to September
• Host plant for monarch, queen and soldier butterflies
• Native in all five Gulf states
• Loves wet ground: pond edges, ditches and low spots
Partridge pea. Yellow flowers all summer, loved by native bees.
Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)• Yellow flowers with red centers, June to October
• Special value to native bees and bumble bees
• Host plant for sulphur butterflies
• Native from the Texas coast east to the Florida Panhandle
Blanket flower. Tough, sun-loving, and it handles sandy soil and salt spray.
Blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella)• Red and yellow blooms, May to August, longer with rain
• Bees and butterflies visit it
• Grows on dunes and sandy soil, and handles salt spray
• Native to Texas and Louisiana, and listed as native in Alabama. Elsewhere on the Gulf, including Florida, it has naturalized and grows wild along beaches and roadsides.
Narrow-leaf sunflower. Blooms August to November, when bees need it most.
Narrow-leaf sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius)• Yellow blooms, August to November
• Special value to native bees
• Native in all five Gulf states
• Likes moist soil and sun to part shade
American beautyberry. Small flowers feed bees, and the purple berries feed birds.
American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)• Small lavender flowers, late spring through summer, visited by bees and butterflies
• Bright purple berries in fall that feed birds
• Host plant for the spring azure and snowberry clearwing
• Native in all five Gulf states
• Best in woods and shaded edges, usually a bit inland
Start small
Pick one or two for a sunny spot, and add a wet-loving plant if you have a damp corner.
Sources: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; Native Plant Society of Texas; UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions; UF/IFAS Hernando County; Alabama Plant Atlas; Florida Native Plant Society; Florida Wildflower Foundation; Mississippi State University Extension; Chesapeake Bay Program.
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Photo credits: my own (black-eyed Susan, aquatic milkweed, blanketflower); Dr. Thomas G. Barnes/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (partridge pea); Architect of the Capitol (narrowleaf sunflower); Michael Hammetts on Unsplash (American beautyberry).