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Eastern redbud
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Virginia bluebell
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Goldenrod with a monarch butterfly
The choice of color is one of the most important creative decisions a gardener makes. Color shapes the experience of a space by commanding attention, expressing a mood and pulling the viewer through the landscape. But if you are planning a new native plant garden, or introducing native plants into an existing landscape, color is much more than a design consideration. To birds, bees, butterflies and other important pollinators, it is a dinner invitation.
Native plants have evolved in symbiotic relationships with local wildlife. Plants offer nourishment and shelter in exchange for life-sustaining services such as pollination and seed dispersal, and at the heart of this mutuality is color.
Cultivate an ecosystem that nurtures these relationships in your own garden by choosing a variety of plants that appeal to numerous native species. Pollinators respond to color in highly specific ways, depending on how they perceive it. For instance, a red flower appears black to a bee, who sees only the ultraviolet end of the color spectrum; purple, violet and blue flowers are much more appealing to them. Monarch butterflies are drawn to bright oranges and pinks, hummingbirds favor vivid reds and oranges, and nocturnal moths are attracted to pale or white blossoms that are visible at twilight. Plant a diversity of colors to support a diverse ecosystem — a palette to satisfy every palate.
Rather than scattering individual plants across a landscape, create large drifts of similar colors by planting natives en masse. Doing so helps make colors more visible to pollinators. It also allows for more efficient foraging, because less travel time between visits conserves precious energy.
Mother Nature schedules the flowering of her early spring blossoms to coincide with the emergence of the insects that feed on them. Choose early bloomers such as eastern redbud, with its pink, magenta or white flowers; white serviceberry; or white fringe tree — all understory trees that blossom when nascent pollinators need their sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen the most.
Continue catering to local preferences throughout the growing season by planting native species that bloom in succession, offering a consistent diet during the months that pollinators are most active. Satisfy spring appetites with Virginia bluebells, red and yellow wild columbine, and frothy white foamflower. Through the summer, serve a selection of nutrition-rich blooms such as red, pink, purple or white bee balm; orange butterfly weed; purple coneflower; black-eyed Susan; and pink and purple Joe Pye weed. In fall, grow goldenrod to contrast with the purple of New England aster.
As flowers begin to fade in late summer and early autumn, Mother Nature completes her seasonal menu with a selection of colorful native berries. Bright red drupes decorate winterberry branches. Elderberries turn from dark purple to almost black, while serviceberry fruit ripens to deep bluish purple. Clusters of deep lavender-colored fruit cling to American beautyberry branches, as frosted blue berries hang heavy on eastern red cedar boughs. Birds feast on the berries, scattering seeds and ensuring that, come spring, color will keep native wildlife coming back for more.
