The gardening adage that you should put the right plant in the right place applies to gardening for bees and other pollinators as well. During the District 7 Spring Fling last Saturday, author Heather Holm offered a helpful list of which are the best plants for bees and other pollinators, depending on the soil and sun in your garden.

Here are her suggestions for the best plants for bees and other pollinators on different sites in northern gardens:

Sunny, Dry

• Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
• Hoary vervain (Verbena stricta)
• Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)
• Spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata)

Sunny, Moist

• Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
• Blue verbain (Verbena hastata)
• Common boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
• Virginia mountain mint (Pycnantemum virginianum)
• New England aster (Syphyotrichum novae-angliae)

Shady

• Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)
• Zigzag goldenrod (Solidago rigada)
• Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)
• Large leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla)

Heather has a wealth of information on pollinators available in her book and on her website. She’s a frequent speaker at garden events. Monday we’ll give you her list of the best plants for butterflies.

How many of these plants are in your garden?