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Plant Herbs for Pollinators

Caterpillar on parsley
Parsley is an herb caterpillars love.

Once while poking around my vegetable garden, I noticed the parsley was looking sparse. I hadn’t harvested that much, had I? Closer examination showed it wasn’t me, but a very hungry caterpillar who had been chomping on the parsley. Since then, I’ve always planted extra parsley—for the caterpillars and also for other critters who hang out in my garden.

Why plant herbs for pollinators? Because so many varieties are useful for the larvae of butterflies and moths. (Look for an article about all the great larval plants for pollinators in the March/April 2016 issue of Northern Gardener® magazine—it’s an adaptation of a chapter from Rhonda Fleming Hayes’ book, Pollinator-Friendly Gardening.)

Among the plants butterfly larvae (caterpillars) like are dill, fennel and, of course, parsley. Dill and parsley are extremely easy to grow. Fennel, while delicious, is a bit trickier.

A bee heads for a chive flower.
A bee heads for a chive flower.

Not only are herbs great plants for butterfly larvae, they are a favorite of bees and other pollinators as well. Some of the best ones for bees are chives, which are an absolute bee magnet at my garden, borage, lavender, mint, thyme, basil and one of my favorite herbs, lemon balm.  For cooks and gardeners, many of these herbs are grown for the leaves, but the bees are interested in the flowers. So, to help the bees, allow at least some of your plants to go to flower.

Herbs are so easy to grow in containers, in the vegetable garden or along the edge of ornamental beds and so available as plants or seeds in the spring that you really cannot plant too many herbs. And, if you are interested in attracting pollinators, you should plant as many as you have room for!

Another herb that you may want to let flower is the dandelion. While not a favorite of lawn aficianados, dandelions are one of the first plants to flower in the spring and an early source of nectar.

Chives have pretty blooms as well as tasty stems.
Chives have pretty blooms as well as tasty stems.

Mary Lahr Schier is a longtime Minnesota garden writer.

9 Comments

  1. That is a swallowtail caterpillar – monarchs only utilize asclepias as host plants.

    1. You are right! We changed the caption after it was published. Thanks for letting us know, Andy.

  2. I never realized that a dandelions was an herb! Great Information.

  3. I’ve been watching robins and cardinals eat all of the monarch caterpillars off of my milkweed. 😞

    1. Oh no! Circle of life, but ugh….

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