Pollinator-friendly garden can include both sun and shade perennials
If your gardening aspirations include starting or expanding a pollinator-friendly garden, read below for popular sun and shade perennial plants to begin your project.
These robust perennials will attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your backyard habitat. Plants will be sold individually to add into an existing garden and in bundles to create a new pollinator space. Arrive early to get the best selection of perennials for your home landscape!
Perennials that take full sun will be available for purchase. Collectively, these perennials are hardy in USDA Zones 3-9, which includes Butler County.
Asclepias Incarnata is a native swamp milkweed that produces pink flowers and reaches a height of 60 inches. Asclepias Tuberosa, a native butterfly weed with orange flowers, grows to a height of 24 inches. Aster “Purple Dome” blooms with purple daisies in the fall and has an 18-inch height.
New for 2022 is Echinacea “Butterfly Postman,” a coneflower with red petals that reaches 18 inches in height.
Also new in 2022 is Echinacea “Sunseekers White Perfection” whose coneflower grows white petals and green cone to a height of 20 inches.
Slightly taller at 24 inches is Echinacea “Sweet Sandia,” a coneflower with pink and green petals and dark brown cone.
A new Monarda for 2022 is Monarda “Bee-You Bee-Lieve.” This bee balm produces pink and white petals and reaches a height of 18 inches.
Also for sale will be Rudbeckia “Cherry Brandy,” which sports maroon red flowers with a chocolate center; this variety reaches a height 24 inches. Sedum “Stonecrop Angelina” is a variety with golden leaves that grows low to the ground at 4 inches in height.
Our shade perennial selection includes a number of plants that can be grown together or placed into existing beds.
Eupatorium “Little Joe” is a dwarf Joe Pye Weed with mauve to lavender colored flowers. This variety can tolerate some sun and can grow to 48 inches.
Heuchera “Carnival Rose Granita” coral bells grow jewel tone leaves and dark purple flowers at a height of 12 inches.
A taller variety of coral bells, at 24 inches, is Heuchera “Magma,” whose large red leaves are touched with a hint of pink.
Polemonium “Touch of Class” Jacob’s Ladder has white variegated leaves and silvery blue flowers; plant in clumps or in front of the garden bed, as their height is only 4 inches.
The heart-shaped leaves of Tiarella “Angel Wings” frame its fluffy pink flowers. This variety reaches a height of 12 inches.
Penn State Extension has additional information about new perennials for 2022 at https://extension.psu.edu/new-perennials-for-pennsylvania-in-2022 and native plants at https://extension.psu.edu/pennsylvania-native-plants-for-the-perennial-garden.
If you have questions about growing native plants or perennials, call the Butler County Master Gardener Garden Hotline at 724-287-4761, ext. 7, or email the Master Gardeners at butlermg@psu.edu.
Polly Burkhard is a Penn State Extension Butler County Master Gardener.
