Attracting Pollinators 

to Your Garden Using 

Native Plants

Rufous Hummingbird 

feeding on Orange Honeysuckle 

(Lonicera ciliosa)
2

Why Should We Care?

Keystone Species

	 When a bumble bee feeds on the nectar and pollen of

huckleberry flowers, it pollinates the flowers, which will

produce fruit eaten by songbirds, grizzly bears, and

dozens of other animals, including humans. We call

the bumble bee and other pollinators keystone species

because they are species upon which others depend.

	 Pollinators are vital to maintaining healthy

ecosystems. They are essential for plant reproduction,

and produce genetic diversity in the plants they pollinate. 

The more diverse plants are, the better they can weather

changes in the environment.

	 Best of all, pollinators such as hummingbirds, bees,

and butterflies are beautiful and fascinating.

Pollinators need our help. 

	 Biologists fear several butterfly and bumble bee

species have disappeared from parts of their range,

including the once common western bumble bee.

Why are pollinators in trouble? It appears

that habitat loss and pesticide

poisoning account for much of

the population declines.

We can do our part to

support pollinators by

creating pollinatorfriendly gardens and

protecting wildlife

habitat.

	 Many of us enjoy the beauty of flowers in our

backyard and community gardens. Growing native

plants adds beauty and important habitats for

wildlife, especially for pollinators. Even a small

backyard garden can make a big difference. Gardening

connects us to nature and helps us better understand

how nature works. This guide will help you create a

pollinator-friendly garden.

What is pollination? 

	 Pollination is the process of moving pollen from one

flower to another of the same species, which produces

fertile seeds. Almost all flowering plants need to be

pollinated. Some plants are pollinated by wind or water,

and some are even self-pollinating. However, most

flowering plants depend on bees,

butterflies, and other animals

for pollination. 

Why use native plants in your garden? 

	 Pollinators have evolved with native

plants, which are best adapted to the local

growing season, climate, and soils. Most

pollinators feed on specific plant species —

hummingbirds sip nectar from long,

tubular honeysuckle flowers, while green

sweat bees prefer more open-faced sunflowers.

Non-native plants may not provide pollinators with

enough nectar or pollen, or may be inedible to

butterfly or moth caterpillars.

1

Native Plant and Pollinator 

Gardening Guide

What do 

hummingbirds, 

butterflies and 

bees have in 

common? 

They all pollinate 

flowering plants.

Insects and other 

animals pollinate 

one-third of the 

food we eat – all 

kinds of fruits, 

vegetables, grains, 

nuts, and beans. 

Even coffee and 

chocolate! The 

economic value of 

insect pollination 

worldwide has 

been estimated at 

$217 billion. 

Western Bumble Bee on 

Maximilian Sunflower 

(Helianthus maximiliani)

Half-black Bumble Bee 

and penstemon flower
4

Bumble Bee (Bombus)

	 There are forty-seven species of bumble bees in

North America. Bumble bees are the B-1 bombers of bees. 

Because of their chunky size, they can fly in cooler

temperatures and at lower light levels than many other

bees including the honeybee. Thus, queen bumble bees

are the earliest to emerge in spring in search of the first

flowers of the season. 

Lifestyle: An individual queen starts a colony in the spring

after she wakes from hibernation. She produces wax from

glands in her body to make pot-like cells in which to lay

her eggs and to store nectar and pollen for her brood.

The young emerge in a few weeks as female worker bees.

As fall arrives, most bees die and only newly-mated queens

overwinter to establish new colonies. 

3

	 Bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, beetles,

wasps and even flies pollinate flowers, but bee species

pollinate flowers more often than any other group,

including birds and butterflies. 

Busy as a Bee

	 Bees are by far the most effective pollinators because

they feed only on flowers. Flowers attract and reward bees

for their pollination service. Bees gather two kinds of foods

from flowers: sugar-rich nectar to fuel their flight and

protein-rich pollen, or bee bread, to feed their young brood. 

Bees use their tongues to lap or lick up nectar from flowers. 

	 Bees are a diverse group of insects that include four

thousand species native to North America. They can be

organized into two groups based on their nesting lifestyle:

solitary or social. About three-quarters of native bees in

North America are solitary nest builders.

Tongue lengths 

vary in bee 

species. Long 

tongues fit long, 

tubular flowers 

like penstemons 

and short tongues 

fit short-tubed 

flowers like 

sunflowers. 

Bumble bees groom 

pollen from their 

body hairs into 

“pollen baskets,” 

or corbicula, for 

transport to the 

nest.

Half-black Bumble Bee 

(Bombus vagans) on 

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant 

(Cleome serrulata)

The European 

Honeybee 

(Apis mellifera)

is a social bee.

Bees prefer blue, purple, and yellow 

flowers, and sweet fragrances. They see ultraviolet 

colors – found on the flowers such as buttercups and 

black-eyed Susans.

Who Are Our Pollinators? Social Bees

Pollen 

basket

Solitary leaf-cutter 

bee (Megachile) nest

Social nesting 

bumble bee (Bombus)

Nesting Lifestyles

GARDENING

Golden currant, serviceberry, and 

chokecherry flower early in March and attract bumble 

bees and mason bees. 

GARDENING

Tomatoes, 

peppers, and 

cranberries require 

a special bumble 

bee behavior 

called “buzz 

pollination”, in 

which the bumble 

bee grabs the 

flower in her jaws 

and vibrates her 

wings to dislodge 

pollen trapped 

in the flower’s 

anthers.
5

Solitary Bees

Green Sweat Bee

(Agapostemon)

	 These small,

brilliantly

colored, metallic

green bees are hard

to miss in a garden.

They’re commonly

called sweat bees because they land on

people to lick up salty human sweat.

Lifestyle: Some sweat bees nest socially,

but most are solitary ground-nesters.

Much of what we know about the social

behavior among insects has been learned from sweat bees

because they show different degrees of sociality. In some

species, females build and nest alone; in others, females

nest communally and share a common nest entrance but

construct individual nest cells (like apartment buildings.)

Leaf-cutter Bee (Megachile) 

	 These pugnacious bees carry pollen on

their tummies. Leaf-cutter bees and other

solitary bees seldom sting.

Lifestyle: They construct their nests

in tunnels in the ground, under

stones, or in existing holes

in dead wood. A female

bee cuts circular leaf pieces

to line her nest chambers,

which are shaped like

thimbles end to end. In each,

she lays an egg and provisions it with

pollen and nectar for her eggs. 

6

Solitary Bees

Orchard Mason Bee (Osmia lignaria) 

	 These robust, metallic blue bees most commonly

appear early in spring when trees and shrubs flower.

Females carry pollen on the undersides of their abdomens.

Lifestyle: Orchard Mason bees build nest cells in

pre-existing narrow tunnels such as beetle burrows in

trees, crevices between stones, hollow centers of plant

stems and abandoned wasp or bee nests. In the nest

tunnel, the female builds a series of horizontal chambers

provisioning each with pollen,

nectar, and an egg and then

seals the chamber with mud.

By the end of summer, the

bee will transform into an

adult in its cocoon and

overwinter in the chamber

until it emerges in spring.

A female 

Leaf-cutter Bee 

will cut circular 

leaf pieces to line 

her nesting 

chambers.

Orchard Mason Bee 

(Osmia lignaria) 

If you see a bee 

carrying pollen on 

its belly or hind 

legs, it’s a female 

bee. 

Green sweat bees and leaf-cutter bees 

like composites – Erigeron, Gaillardia, sunflowers, and asters.

Green Sweat Bee 

(Agapostemon) 

Leaf-cutter Bee 

(Megachile)

GARDENING

Mason bee houses 

like this are used 

to attract these 

important pollinators. (need 

caption)

Orchard Mason Bees (Osmia lignaria)

on Wilcox’s Penstemon (Penstemon Wilcoxii)

Leaf-cutter Bee 

(Megachile) on 

Hairy Golden 

Aster (Chrysopsis 

villosa)

Green Sweat Bee 

(Agapostemon) 

on Gaillardia 

(Gaillardia aristata) 

Important pollinators of 

fruit trees, just 250 mason 

bees can pollinate an acre 

of apple trees. It would take 

10,000-250,000 honeybees 

to do the same work. 

Mason bees like Penstemon, 

Astragalus, and native 

flowering trees such as 

chokecherry, hawthorn, 

and serviceberry.

GARDENING
7 8

Planning your garden – 

 think like a pollinator.

Bee Homey. Make 

small piles of branches 

to attach chrysalis or cocoons. 

Provide hollow twigs, rotten logs 

with wood-boring beetle holes and 

bunchgrasses and leave stumps, old 

rodent burrows, and fallen plant 

material for nesting bees. Leave dead 

or dying trees for woodpeckers.

Go Native. Pollinators are 

“best” adapted to local, native 

plants, which often need less 

water than ornamentals. 

Bee Patient. It takes time for native 

plants to grow and for pollinators to find 

your garden, especially if you live far from 

wild lands.

Bee Chemical Free. 

Pesticides and herbicides kill 

pollinators.

Bee a little messy. Most 

of our native bee species 

(70%) nest underground so 

avoid using weed cloth or 

heavy mulch.

Bee Aware. Observe 

pollinators when you walk 

outside in nature. Notice 

which flowers attract 

bumble bees or solitary 

bees, and which attract 

butterflies. 

Bee Friendly. 

Create pollinatorfriendly gardens 

both at home, at 

schools and in public 

parks. Help people 

learn more about 

pollinators and 

native plants. 

Bee Gentle. Most bees will avoid 

stinging and use that behavior only in 

self-defense. Male bees do not sting.

Bee Showy. Flowers should bloom in your 

garden throughout the growing season. 

Plant willow, currant, and Oregon grape 

for spring and aster, rabbit 

brush and goldenrod 

for fall flowers.

Bee Bountiful. Plant big 

patches of each plant species 

(better foraging efficiency.) 

Bee Diverse. Plant a diversity of flowering species with 

abundant pollen and nectar and specific plants for feeding 

butterfly and moth caterpillars.

Bee Sunny.

Provide areas with 

sunny, bare soil that’s 

dry and well-drained, 

preferably with 

south-facing slopes.
9

Butterflies

	By growing a bounty of native

flowering plants in your garden,

you can attract a variety ofthe

more than 220 butterfly

species found in Montana.

Two-tailed Tiger Swallowtail 

(Papilio multicaudata)

	 This large butterfly (up

to 6” wingspan) can be

found from May

through August.

Males can often be

seen patrolling for

females along streams,

	 canyons and narrow roadways.

Lifestyle: A good pollinator garden

contains food not just for adult

butterflies, but for their caterpillars too.

Female butterflies select specific plants on which to lay

their eggs; this ensures that when their eggs hatch, the

caterpillars will be able to eat the plant’s leaves while

growing into adult butterflies. Two-tailed Tiger

Swallowtails lay their eggs on ash and

chokecherry leaves.

10

Butterflies

When disturbed, a swallowtail caterpillar rears 

up and extends two red horns (osmeteria) from 

its head to frighten off potential predators.

Blue butterflies feed 

on nectar from 

red-osier dogwood, 

chokecherry and other flowers. 

The larvae feed on lupine.

Butterflies favor platform-shaped 

sunflowers and asters, but will feed on a diversity of 

nectar-rich flowers from violets to serviceberry shrubs. 

They prefer red, purple, or yellow flowers with sweet scents. 

Butterflies love warm, sunny, and windless weather. 

GARDENING

GARDENING

Two-tailed Tiger 

Swallowtail 

(Papilio 

multicaudata)

on Western 

Serviceberry 

(Amelanchier 

alnifolia), its 

larval plant.

Ants tend and 

protect Silvery 

Blue caterpillars, 

which reward 

them with 

honeydew. 

Silvery Blue 

(Glaucopsyche 

lygdamus) 

Butterflies and 

larva feeding on 

Silvery Lupine 

(Lupinus 

argenteus)

Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) Butterfly

	 Adult Silvery Blue butterflies appear from the end of

April to September. Male butterflies can often be seen

puddling, which is sipping up soil salts and minerals in

mud puddles.

Lifestyle: Female blue butterflies

lay eggs only on lupine and once

they hatch, the caterpillars eat

the leaves, flowers, and seedpods.

They produce a sugary secretion,

or honeydew, which is eaten

by ants.
11

Moths

	 Montana may have as many as 1,800 species of

moths. The exact number is unknown because these

night-flying pollinators often evade detection.

White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata) 

	 Although many moth species pollinate flowers, the

sphinx or hawk moth is probably the one most familiar

because it’s active by day. 

Lifestyle: They’re great flyers and some have tongues

longer than their bodies. These large moths fly upwind,

tracking the airborne fragrance trail to a cluster of flowers.

Their caterpillars, called

tobacco and tomato

hornworms, are well

known to gardeners.

12

Hummingbirds

Because hummingbirds specialize on nectar feeding,

they play an important role in pollination. These

colorful, migratory birds serve as a link between

plant populations by visiting flowers and

moving pollen over great distances.

Rufous, Calliope, 

and Black-chinned 

hummingbirds 

breed in Montana. 

White-lined 

Sphinx Moth 

and larvae 

(Hyles lineata)

feeding on 

Yellow Evening 

Primrose 

(Oenothera flava)

Sphinx moths, also called 

“Hummingbird” moths, prefer pale or white flowers that 

open in the evening and that have a strong, sweet smell. 

They pick up pollen on their legs and wings. Adults nectar 

on columbine and honeysuckle. Caterpillars feed on 

evening primrose.

GARDENING

To attract hummingbirds 

to your garden, provide them with nectar 

starting in early spring. It’s thought that 

hummingbirds prefer red-colored flowers; 

however, they will feed on any flower 

that produces abundant nectar. 

GARDENING

A butterfly 

antenna (top)is 

a single filament 

with a club at the 

tip, while a moth 

antenna (bottom)

can be broad 

and feathery or 

tapered to a point.

Can you tell a 

butterfly from 

a moth? 

Butterflies are 

brightly colored 

and moths are more 

often colored in 

muted grays and 

browns. 

Rufous 

Hummingbird

	 A tiny jewel of

a bird, the Rufous

Hummingbird fiercely

defends its feeding areas

and will attack much

larger birds including

Great Horned

Owls.

Lifestyle:

Rufous

Hummingbirds nest

in willow-dominated

areas within forested habitats. 

Sap wells created by Red-naped Sapsuckers 

supply many animals with a quick energy boost. 

Hummingbirds need lots of insects (protein) in 

their diet, and will nab insects stuck in sap wells. 

Male Rufous 

Hummingbird on

Honeysuckle 

(Lonicera ciliosa) 
13

Beetles, Flies and Wasps

Flower Beetle (Typocerus) 

	 Beetles present the greatest diversity of insects and

pollinators. Regular flower visitors include soldier beetles

and flower beetles. They feed on pollen and even chew on

flowers, but in this mess and soil pollination process they

pick up pollen and carry it to other flowers.

14

Here’sa sample ofthe garden-hardy native plants in our

region that attract pollinators.

Flower or 

Hover Fly 

(Syrphid) 

Pollen Wasp 

(Pseudomasaris)

These beetles are commonly 

seen on yarrow and sunflowers.

Flower or Hover Fly (Syrphid) 

	 Because they’re so abundant, flies are important

pollinators even though they transport less pollen than

bees. Hover flies mimic bees and wasps in coloration

and behavior to avoid predators.

Hover flies feed on the same flowers 

preferred by bees, such as golden currant, rabbitbrush, 

and sunflowers.

Pollen Wasp (Pseudomasaris)

	 Don’t be frightened if you see this wasp, it doesn’t

eat insects or bite humans, but seeks out flowers for

pollen.A yellow-jacket look-a-like, pollen wasps can be

identified from other wasps by their clubbed antennae.

They’re solitary nesters and you might find their hard

mud nests attached to rocks or twigs.

Common Name ScientificName

Common Chokecherry......... Prunus virginiana

Golden Currant .................. Ribes aureum

Red Osier Dogwood ............ Cornus stolonifera

Blue Elderberry .................. Sambucus cerulea

Lewis’ Mock Orange ........... Philadelphus lewisii

Rubber Rabbitbrush............Chrysothamnus nauseosus

Western Serviceberry.......... Amelanchier alnifolia

Oregon Grape..................... Mahonia repens

Orange Honeysuckle........... Lonicera ciliosa

Beebalm ............................ Monarda fistulosa

Bluebunch Wheatgrass....... Pseudoroegneria spicata

Blanket Flower................... Gaillardia aristata

Yellow Buckwheat............... Erigonum flavum

Clarkia .............................. Clarkia pulchella

Blue Columbine.................. Aquilegia coerulea

Coneflower......................... Echinacea angustifolia

Showy Fleabane ................. Erigeron speciosus

Missouri Goldenrod ............ Solidago missouriensis

Scarlet Globemallow........... Sphaeralcea coccinea

Hairy False Goldenaster...... Chrysopsis villosa

Dotted Blazing Star ............Liatris punctata

Threadleaf Phacelia ............ Phacelia linearis

Scarlet Gilia....................... Gilia aggregata

Maximilian Sunflower........Helianthus maximiliani

Wilcox’s Penstemon............ Penstemon wilcoxii

Common Yarrow ................ Achillea millefolium

Pollen wasps pollinate 

penstemons and phacelias. GARDENING GARDENING GARDENING

Attract Pollinators with these 

Native Plants

Flower Beetle 

(Typocerus) 
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Text: Susan Reel • Design and Illustrations: Nancy Seiler

Lolo National Forest

Building 24, Fort Missoula

Missoula, MT 59804

Printed on recycled paper. R1-10 -5

How do butterflies survive the winter? 

Mourning Cloak, Milbert’s Tortoiseshell, and 

Anglewing spend the winter as adults, but 

most butterflies overwinter as eggs, caterpillars 

or pupae. In your garden, tree cavities, leaf 

litter and branch piles shelter over-wintering 

butterflies from predators and cold weather.

Mourning Cloak

(Nymphalis antiopa)