What can I plant for the pollinators? Here is a list and how and where to plant a pollinator garden.

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What plants can I plant for the pollinators?  Here is some ideas for a pollinator garden?  Have a buzzy time. 

Good afternoon….windy again this afternoon but not as windy as it was on Tuesday.  SO much dirt in the air that the sky was brown.  Today’s sun with cumulus clouds and the wind.  Results from a cold front. High today of 73F(22C). Enjoy and Stay safe.
 
Australia family and friends have told me that is has been a lovely fall for them.  Today May 14 will be 67F9(19C)  Enjoy, Stay safe.
 
How to Create a Pollinator Garden: Easy Steps and Best Plants for Beginners Written By:  Lauren Landers
You don’t need experience—or a big yard—to create a pollinator garden. Just a few well-chosen plants, a bit of know-how, and a quick and easy DIY project or two can transform your garden into a pollinator paradise that’s irresistible to bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and more.
Fast Facts
A true pollinator garden is more than flowers; it prioritizes mainly native plants that actually feed local pollinators—a mix of nectar- and pollen-rich blooms. It also provides continuous, season-long food and safe shelter.
Beyond bees and butterflies, many other insects pollinate plants, including beetles, moths, wasps, and ants.
Honeybees live in hives, but they’re actually native to Europe. Most native North American bees are solitary and live in the ground, plant stems, or old leaf litter.
A single bumblebee can pollinate around 6,000 flowers each day!
Close-up of monarch butterfly perched on purple flower.
Monarchs flock to purple flowers rich in nectar, turning an ordinary front garden into a migration stopover. Credit: ZHMURCHAK
What Is a Pollinator Garden?
Pollinator gardens are spaces specifically designed to meet the needs and preferences of pollinators. These spaces can vary in size and design, but they typically include a variety of food and sheltering plants that pollinators love and may also offer other pollinator resources, such as water. Pollinator gardens are also generally kept free of pesticides to ensure that any pollinators that visit stay safe.
While pollinator gardens have been growing in popularity for years, they are becoming increasingly more important for pollinator survival. Today, pollinator populations are declining due to habitat loss, climate change, and other stressors. But by offering food, shelter, and nesting sites, pollinator gardens can help to counteract habitat fragmentation and serve as waystations for migrating monarch butterflies and hummingbirds.
If you’re looking for ways to help pollinators, creating a garden with their needs in mind can do more than you might think. Even a few potted plants on a sunny front porch can help these incredible insects survive.
Pollinator gardens can range in size from extensive flowerbeds planted with a wide variety of flowers to a few porch pots or window boxes filled with plants that pollinators love. The only limit is your imagination and the amount of space you have for plants.
When planting for pollinators, I like to grow at least three of the same types of plants together in proximity. This technique, known as “drift” planting, makes flowers easier for pollinators to spot and feed from, but it also gives gardens and planters a more natural look. I’ll also stack taller plants toward the rear of my beds and shorter flowers closer to the sides to ensure all the plants I grow get enough light.
If you don’t want to grow a fully dedicated pollinator garden, you can also simply slip a few pollinator-friendly plants into your established flowerbeds or veggie garden. This will make these spaces more appealing to pollinators without requiring a full garden overhaul.
How to Create a Pollinator Garden
The amount of prep work you’ll need to do before starting a pollinator garden will vary depending on the status of your current garden space. If you’ve already been growing annuals and perennials in your beds, you may just want to refresh the soil with a layer of compost before planting. However, suppose you’re starting a brand-new bed and your soil is lacking to begin with. In that case, you may want to conduct a soil test, add a layer of compost or other amendments, or potentially even build and fill a few raised beds if you have poorly draining soil or your garden is naturally rocky.
Getting on top of weeds before you start planting is also wise and can make future gardening much easier. You can do this by hand-pulling them or by smothering weeds with cardboard or tarps for a few weeks before you intend to plant.
Pollinator beds can be placed in either sunny or shady areas. However, the amount of light your beds receive will determine the types of plants you’ll be able to grow. Pollinator-friendly rain gardens can even be located in poorly draining spots that stay wet year-round as long as you choose water-tolerant plants to grow in them.
Aside from light access and soil, pollinator gardens should also be positioned away from busy roadways, if possible, and far from areas regularly treated with pesticides. It’s also a good idea to place them in slightly sheltered spots, as windy locations can make it harder for pollinators to fly about and feed.
Every monarch’s journey begins on milkweed—one more reason this native plant is a pollinator-garden essential. Credit: Danita Delimont
Plants That Attract Pollinators
Native plants are, by far, the best picks for pollinators, but many non-native perennials, shrubs, annuals, and flowering herbs are also highly attractive to pollinators. For best results, try including a range of plants with different flowering times to ensure pollinators have a ready source of pollen and nectar no matter when they visit. You may also want to include host plants, like milkweed or dill, which are important food sources for developing monarch and swallowtail caterpillars.
Here are just a few of my favorite must-have pollinator plants, but you can find many more plants that draw in bees, hummingbirds, and other wildlife!
Annuals
Zinnias
Cosmos
Nasturtiums
Sunflowers
Sweet Alyssum
Basil
Dill
Lantana
Perennials
Milkweed
Coneflowers
Joe Pye Weed
Cardinal Flower
Yarrow
Blazing Star
Alliums
Thyme
Asters
Goldenrod
Shrubs
Buttonbush
Serviceberry
Chokeberry
Summer Sweet
Purple Flower Raspberry
Blueberries
Winterberry
New Jersey Tea
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/how-create-pollinator-garden
 Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Beckysgreenhouse.com  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer or Becky’s Greenhouse