Cuckoo Bee. Photo: Ed Spevak
Natives for Pollinators
Citizens in the lower Midwest and beyond are concerned about the dramatic drop in pollinator populations. Caterpillars need native plants for food (host plants). Adult pollinators, including butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, and beetles need pollen and/or nectar sources throughout their lives. The information below will help you attract and sustain pollinators on your farm, at your home, and in your community.
Start with the Grow Native! Top-10 Lists for Pollinators or our new Pollinator Garden Menu Card
- Grow Native! Top Ten Native Plants to Support Bees in Spring (NEW!)
- Grow Native! Top Ten Native Plants to Support Bees in Summer (NEW!)
- Grow Native! Top Ten Native Plants to Support Bees in Fall (NEW!)
- Grow Native! Top Ten Native Plants for Winter Pollinators
- Grow Native! Top Ten List of Native Nectar Plants for Butterflies
- Grow Native! Top Ten List of Best Plants for Butterflies and Moths
- NEW: Grow Native! Pollinator Garden Menu Card
Buy Native Plants
- Looking for a native plant seller? Check out our Resource Guide
- Look for Grow Native! Plant Tags – more below
Start Your School Pollinator Garden with Grow Native!
Grow Native! and Greenscape Gardens team up to bring you a fun guide through the basics of butterfly gardening! Learn about host plants, nectar and pollen sources, and how to have bug friends all season long. Watch the video here.
Learn About Host plants
Learn About Bumble Bees
Graphic courtesy of Heather Holm
Learn more about native plant benefits to pollinators
These Missouri Prairie Journal articles get in-depth on how native plants sustain vibrant habitats for native bees, butterflies, moths and other insects:
Prairie Paparazzi: Documenting the Regal Fritillary, Vol. 38, No. 2, 2017
Grow Native!: Gardening for Bumble Bees, Vol. 37, No. 3 & 4, 2016
Prairie Moths, Vol. 37, No. 2, 2016
Missouri Gets Moving for Monarchs, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2015
Native Bee-Plant Relationships on Missouri Prairies, Vol. 36, No. 1, 2015
MPF Prairie Bee Survey, Vol. 36, No. 1, 2015
How Good are Plant Pollinator Hosts?, Vol. 30, No. 2, 2009
Prairie Odonates: Dragonflies and Damselflies of our Grasslands, Vol. 35, No. 2, 2014
Prairie Planthoppers: An Interview with Dr. Stephen W. Wilson, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2013
Saving Endangered Beetle Species, Vol. 33, No. 2, 2012
Cantrell: The Milkweed Connection Part One – Establishing an Outdoor Learning Station, Vol. 33, No. 1, 2012
Cantrell: The Milkweed Connection Part Two – Using an Outdoor Learning Station, Vol 33, No. 2, 2012
Cantrell: The Milkweed Connection Part Three – Advancing the Conservation Efforts of a Species with an Outdoor Learning Station, Vol 33, No. 3, 2012
Beyond the Bees: Entomologist’s Insect Collection of Prairie Visitors, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2011
More Than Bees, If You Please! A Primer to Prairie Wildflower Visitor Ecology, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2011
Cantrell: Fishing for Pink Katydids, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2011
Missouri Biologist Discovers Two Prairie Bees New to Science, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2011
Special Package Delivery: Milkweed Pollination, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2010
Meet the Bees: Native Bee Pollination and Prairie Ecosystem Health, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2010
What is a Prairie Without Native Bees?, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2010
Plant-Pollinator Interactions on Prairies and Glades: Implications for Endemism, Vol. 30, No. 3 & 4, 2009
Missouri’s Rare Prairie Butterflies, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2007
Macroinvertebrate Communities in Missouri Prairie Streams, Vol. 38, No. 3 & 4, 2017
Grasshoppers, Glades, and Ecological Gradients, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2018
Native Landscaping for Skippers, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2018
Fantastic Moths and their Woody Host Plants, Vol. 39, No. 3-4, 2018
Thankful for Flies in the Garden, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2018
Study: Report on bees found at Golden and Stilwell Prairies, 2014
Grow native! Plant Tags
Monarch Café and Pollinator Buffet are a series of specialty Grow Native! plant tags to help market the ecological services of natives that are especially important to monarch butterflies and many insect pollinators.
Download PDFs of our Pollinator Buffet and Monarch Café cards!
Eleven featured native plant species and associated native pollinators to help native gardening/landscaping enthusiasts get started helping pollinators.
Learn more about each species through our Native Plant Database:
- Baptisia australis – blue wild indigo
- Hydrangea arborescens – wild hydrangea
- Liatris scariosa – blazing star
- Monarda fistulosa – bee balm
- Packera obovata – golden groundsel
- Penstemon digitalis – foxglove beardtongue
- Pycnanthemum tenuifolium – slender mountain mint
- Solidago speciosa – showy goldenrod
- Symphyotrichum oblongifolium – aromatic aster
- Vernonia arkansana – curlytop ironweed
- Zizia aptera – heartleaf golden Alexander
Eight featured milkweed species and associated pollinators native to the Lower Midwest
The foliage of these milkweed species native to the lower Midwest provide food for monarch caterpillars.
Learn more about each species through our Native Plant Database:
- Asclepias incarnata – marsh milkweed
- Asclepias purpurascens – purple milkweed
- Asclepias sullivantii – Sullivant’s milkweed
- Asclepias syriaca – common milkweed
- Asclepias tuberosa – butterfly milkweed
- Asclepias verticillata – whorled milkweed
- Asclepias viridiflora – green milkweed
- Asclepias viridis – spider milkweed