Pollinator Plants for the Southeast

Whether you have the space to create an expansive , pollinator - favorable landscape or just enough room to pot up a couple plants that are pollinator favorites , we can all do our part in aid these beneficial bugs . A skilful office to start up is seek out the plant life that bear the pollinators native to our area . To aid in that search , we asked regional experts to share some of the safe pollinator plants for their realm . Below , you ’ll find four picks for theSoutheast . To find out even more about garden for pollinators , break outGardening for Pollinators : Everything You Need to Know and develop for a Gorgeous Pollinator Garden .

1. Chinese abelia

Name:Linnaea chinensis(syn.Abeliachinensis)

Zones:6–9

Size:5 to 8 pes tall and 2 to 3 understructure wide-cut

weather : Full Dominicus to partial shade ; average to moist , well - drained soil

Native range : Southeastern China

I like the straight specie of Chinese abelia chiefly for its fragrant blossom cluster , which are so heavy that they almost give the plant a weeping issue when it is in bloom from too soon to late summer . This is a bee and butterfly stroke magnet , and it hum with pollinator activity during this time . After the flower slice they are replaced by bracts that turn a soft pinko ( pictured ) ; these hang on right up until we get a hard freeze , extending the time of year of interest group and providing cutting for fall nosegay . Chinese abelia enjoys even wet but can be quite drouth kind once established . Because there are so many hybrids on the market , the consecutive metal money can be a small hard to find oneself , but it is worth seeking out .

2. Bat-faced cuphea

Name:Cupheallavea

Zones:9–12

Size:18 to 30 inches tall and 24 to 36 inches wide

Conditions : Full Lord’s Day ; systematically moist , well - drain dirt

Native range : Mexico

Although this sun - loving tropical plant life must be treated as an annual or overwinter indoors throughout much of our part , it is well worth growing . Like all cupheas , it is not bad for pollinators and will feed a master of ceremonies of bees , butterflies , and hummingbirds from later spring until freeze . It looks dead unadulterated spilling over the side of a container , and if it is implant in the basis it will be comparatively drought liberal once established . Its flowers expect very much like tiny bats ’ faces , ended with short ruddy ears , which make it a fun choice for start children frantic about garden . Although nothing is truly cervid substantiation , bat - faced cuphea is quite cervid resistant .

3. Delta Blues™ chaste tree

Name:Vitexagnus-castus‘PIIVAC-I’

Size:8 to 10 feet grandiloquent and all-embracing

Conditions : Full sun ; well - drained soil

Native range : Mediterranean region , Asia

Chaste tree diagram is a classical southerly flora , and Delta Blues ™ packs great deal of that southern charm into a nice , average - size works that will meet easily into most garden spaces . It is extremely drought tolerant , cervid resistant , and quite tolerant of salt . The dark purple flower spikes are set against foliage that is a delicate , minty green . After an other summertime flush of flowers , it will continue to rebloom throughout the summer , especially if you deadhead after the first set of blooms finishes . Pruning is a matter of orientation . Delta Blues ™ chaste tree can be trail into a vase shape if you ’d like to establish under it , or you could permit its arm fill in all the way to the ground for a more relaxed feel .

4. ‘White Flame’ salvia

Name:Salvia‘White Flame’

Zones:7–10

Size:18 to 24 inches magniloquent and 12 to 18 inches wide

Conditions : Full sun ; mean to moist , well - drained land

Native range : Hybrid

Part of my work at the University of Tennessee Gardens is conducting industrial plant trials , and that ’s how I got to lie with ‘ White Flame ’ salvia . It was send to us as a new launching , and although it was listed as an annual , it has come back for us three years in a row . It is a hybrid of two salvia species : longspike Mexican sage ( Salvia longispicata , Zones 7–10 ) and mealycup salvia ( S. farinacea , Zones 8–10 ) . In the Southeast , many salvias have a leaning to “ surge , ” blooming vigorously for a few weeks and then accept a break before they bloom again . ‘ White Flame ’ never stop over . It is invariably in bloom , and it never looks grimy , unlike some other white summer peak .

Contributing editor Jason Reeves is conservator of the University of Tennessee Gardens in Jackson . He can be followed on Facebook at“Jason Reeves – in the garden . ”

Photos , except where noted : courtesy of Jason Reeves

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