Native Wildflowers
Low Maintenance & Pollinator Attraction
I took this photo at a Butterfly Greenhouse we visited last week. It’s of a monarch butterfly on what appears to be an orchid. It’s a gorgeous photo, but on the way home, my teen was asking questions about how to attract butterflies, and the orchid didn’t sit right with me. While Google tells me there are some orchids native to Kentucky, I doubt this is one of them (though I’d be happy to learn I was wrong).
I spend a lot of time planting and maintaining “pollinator” beds on our land because if we don’t have pollinators, the veggie and fruit plants won’t produce. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds rely on flowers for their own food / nectar and pollen. If I attract them and feed them, they pollinate my food—it’s a reciprocal relationship.
I’m nothing if not honest—I have a lot of flowers that aren’t native to Kentucky, but I’ve learned that native ones are better—both for the land and for me; they are lower maintenance. Native flowers have evolved to thrive in my specific climate, so they require less water and fewer pesticides to grow and spread. So each year, I’ve strived to add more native wildflowers and less big box store plants (that get bought just because they are pretty for a moment). Cultivating native wildflowers becomes a powerful way to nurture both the land and my spirit.
Here are some of the native wildflowers I have currently, those that I have planted with intention:
Butterfly Weed: A bright orange milkweed that is a vital food source for monarch butterflies.
Wild Bergamot/Bee Balm: A fragrant member of the mint family with lavender or pink flowers. (Mine is pink.)
Asters: Various aster species bloom in shades of purple, blue, and white, extending the wildflower season into fall. (I have white so far.)
Black-Eyed Susan: A cheerful, sunny flower that adds a pop of color to any garden.
Purple Coneflower: A pollinator favorite with medicinal properties known to boost immunity. (I harvest some and leave some for the pollinators.)
Along the creek, these grow wild:
Goldenrod: A diverse genus with many species, offering yellow blooms in late summer and fall. This state flower of Kentucky sets my allergies off something fierce, so I just leave it where it is.
Ironweed: Tall, striking plants with deep purple flowers that attract butterflies. I’ve tried several times to transplant this, and it does not do well, so now I just leave it where it is.
These I hope to add:
Cardinal Flower: boasts brilliant red blooms that attract hummingbirds.
Virginia Bluebells: each spring pops with delicate blue flowers.
Wild Petunia: this sports delicate, trumpet-shaped flowers in shades of purple and pink.
At home, here, we have a lot of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. We grow a lot of food. Our gardens nourish our bodies and our souls. I’m hoping one day that I have even less “yard” and more wildflowers so that the pollinators see our place as a sanctuary. I know that’s corny, but that’s the goal. A beautiful garden should be crafted with love, intention, and a deep respect for the land itself.