Pollinator Packs for Northern Gardeners

Since our 150th anniversary in 2016, MSHS has been promoting Pollinator Packs for gardeners interested in attracting bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators. The idea for the Pollinator Packs came from volunteer Mary Maguire Lerman, who thought they would be a great way to celebrate the anniversary and encourage more gardeners to care about pollinators.

pollinator pack planting — Anise hyssop, shown here at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, is a magnet for pollinators.

The plants for the packs are grown by Glacial Ridge Growers of Glenwood and will be for sale for a limited time in a nurseries and at a few plant sales. Each pack includes six perennial plants perfect for attracting pollinators to your garden.

Here’s what’s in each pack:

pollinator packs milkweed — If you want monarchs, you need to have milkweed.

Bees: Anise Hyssop, Blue Wild Indigo, Vanilla-scented Clematis, Prairie Smoke, Foxglove Beardtongue and Wild Petunia

Butterflies: Pale Purple Coneflower, Wild Lupine, Button Blazingstar, Meadow Blazingstar, Prairie Blazingstar and Orange Coneflower

Monarchs: Showy Milkweed, Butterfly Milkweed, Whorled Milkweed, Sullivant’s Milkweed, Common Milkweed, Swamp Milkweed

Hummingbird: Beebalm ‘Panorama Red’, Cardinal Flower, Blue Lobelia, Heuchera ‘Firefly’, Giant Purple Hyssop, Wild Columbine

Once established, these plants will give years of beauty to your garden and necessary pollen, nectar and larval food to the pollinators we all depend on.

Where to Buy the Pollinator Packs

These retailers and garden centers will be carrying the Pollinator packs in 2019:

Axdahl’s

Bachman’s Garden Centers

By the Woods, Chanhassen

Ballantine Greenhouse

Eco Gardens, Northfield

Forest and Floral, Park Rapids

Hampden Park Co-op, St. Paul

Mississippi Market, St. Paul

Mother Earth Gardens, both locations

The Open Door