Easy Plants That Attract Bees and Butterflies to the Garden 

I love your video and grow nearly the same things. I'm a beekeeper and also raise monarch butterflies. The bees go CRAZY over anise hyssop and my customers swear that it is the best honey they have ever tasted! Also, Monarch's have to have milkweed. I grow common milkweed, which the butterflies lay their eggs on and then once the caterpillars have hatched I put them in a screen cage to protect them from the birds and after that they turn into a chrysalis. After they have hatched into butterflies I release them. I had 50 last year. Going to start my zinnias inside this week! So glad spring has finally arrived!

You’re the best ! Great pollinator info ! 🐝🦋👩‍🌾

Great video. One quibble: you should add butterfly weed, a small, well-behaved milkweed. Bees & butterflies love the nectar-rich flowers, and it's a host for the monarch butterfly. That said, watch out for some goldenrods (depending on the variety), and any member of the mint family, such as mountain mint, lemon balm, bee balm, and anise hyssop. They're aggressive natives, spreading by rhizome, which could take over the garden if you're not diligent. After learning this lesson the hard way in my first herb garden, I've taken to growing aggressive native plants in clay pots.

Parsley,dill,fennel are host plants. Swallowtails

Great tips. Thank you. One year I was lazy and let my chives grow to seed. The blossoms were beautiful and the bees loved them!!!! Now I just keep them as a flowering plant and let them reseed every year. LOL

Thanks for all the great information!

Thankyou I know australia has amazing native insect plants so am on the hunt.

Yarrow is also a medicinal plant.

Fantastic

OMG, your pollinator garden is beautiful. How do you keep weeds from coming in?

Great video! I've made a list of perennials to try and get in the ground this year and annuals to plan on for next year. I see that your pollinator garden is in the ground vs. the raised beds that you use for your kitchen garden. How do you prep the soil and feed these plants? I love how you always emphasize natural (non-chemical) growing practices!!

thank you! this helped me a lot

Loved this video. So much to learn. It feels overwhelming at times.

9:39 Moths aren’t (usually) very pretty, but birds consume a LOT of caterpillars, especially when feeding babies

I'm in southwest coastal Florida (I moved here recently from Colorado) and I have butterflies hanging out all year long. It's a scramble to have the right mix of nectar and host plants. The butterflies lay eggs on all the host plants and the caterpillars strip them bare. Then the caterpillars go into chrysallis stage and when they hatch there aren't many nectar plants left. Slowly but surely I am getting it together that there is the good balance of nectar and host plants for a plethora of butterflies.

Great video with ample practical, usable, content that now has motivated me to grow a butterfly, bee and insect garden. First tho, how to get rid of all the weeds?? : /

Thank you for sharing this info! I wish more people would be mindful of the bees and butterflies. May I ask where you source your plants? I'm also in the Chicagoland area and am having trouble finding a nursery/source for native plants. If you would be willing to share this info, I would be so appreciative!!! Thank you!

Are you mixing any of these plants in with your vegetable gardens? Or just keeping them in a separate bed?

Plants at least 3 of each for better results. But only plant 1 Lemon Balm. They will self seed very aggressively and you will be inundated with plants popping up all over the place. She right plants as many Zinnias as you like.

Milkweed is the hostplant for Monarch Butterflies 🦋 I'm so happy that you emphasized planting *NATIVE* varieties in whatever region you're in because there are parasites that can reside on Non-native varieties(Tropical Milkweed) that can kill or deform Monarch Butterflies and with their population being threatened as it is, that's the LAST thing they need right now ☹️😓

Thank you and God bless. I pray more people will grow flowers and leave wild spaces in there yards. Everyone needs to care for God's creation it was the first thing God gave mankind to do when He created man. Why kill the good stuff with cancer causing chemicals? Pure stupidity. Also do not kill the wild flowers like dandolion, white clover etc. That God gives us and the pollinators. Out of the 10 houses nearest me I count 9 that have unnatural yards. Only one another besides my self allow the wild flowers to grow. I thank the Lord I have a little haven and habit in my yard for the bees and butterflies 🦋. I see so many and my neighbors yards are empty. More birds in my yard Also and we don't feed in a feeder we just have allowed for a natural habitat. I count 5 nest in property and we have no boxes set up. I do plan to put a couple to attract even more.

First time listening to your video. I'd like to know where you are. Your state or planting zone. Also are they native species. Just because you buy from local sellers doesn't mean they are native.

Why no foxgloves.....

Sorry to say but the camera work on this video was bad. Stop moving around and get closer to the plant. Could not finish watching . Take care.