Spring bulbs to plant to attract pollinators
Our summer gardens are beginning to fade, making us aware of the long, gray days ahead. Already anticipating spring, many gardeners select and plant spring-blooming bulbs that will extend our time in the garden during fall. But these bulbs will provide color and scent to the garden in the early spring.
When making selections of spring bulbs for your garden, consider choices that will also benefit pollinators.
Many plants offered in the specialty bulb catalogs have been bred for their large blooms and bright colors. Offerings include hundreds of tulip hybrids and daffodils as options for your garden. However, hybridization for visual impact can result in flowers with reduced nectar or scent that are not as attractive to pollinators as they may be to us.
Some native plants grow from bulbs or corms and provide early color, as well as nectar for pollinators.
Springbeauty (Claytonia virginica) emerges from a specialized tuber called a corm to reach 3 to 6 inches in height on delicate stems with thin, grass-like leaves. Lightly scented, pink-striped flowers appear in late March to mid-May. Because it can grow as a low carpet of masses of plants, Springbeauty can be planted as a ground cover.
One needs to keep in mind that it is considered a spring ephemeral, and the entire plant dies back by mid-summer, so over-planting with later blooming species is a good plan. Springbeauties prefer moist, rich soils but will tolerate a variety of soils. Plant the corms 3 inches deep and 3 inches apart in the fall. Claytonia will readily spread by reseeding. Springbeauty flowers are pollinated by a native specialist bee, the springbeauty mining bee (Andrena erigeniae), which visits only springbeauty flowers.
The wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides), also known as Atlantic camas, is another native bulb. In May and June, the wild hyacinth produces a basal rosette of leaves with a tall stalk of sweet-scented, pale, blue-violet flowers. Many insects, butterflies, and bees are attracted to the nectar and pollen of wild hyacinths. Also, a spring ephemeral, the plant will die back to the ground by summer. Wild hyacinth reproduces from seed and offsets of the original bulb. It tolerates clay soils if moist, especially when flowering. Plant the bulbs 3 inches deep and 8 inches apart in full sun or part shade.
Other bulbs, including non-native bulbs, provide nectar and pollen for pollinators. Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) and common snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) are excellent choices.
These are two of the earliest blooming plants, often flowering just after the snow melts in early spring. Winter aconite is a non-native plant in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) that blooms just before snowdrops. The two are good companion plants for a border or rock garden.
The small yellow cup-shaped winter aconite flowers are surrounded by lobed, dark green, modified leaves (bracts). Winter aconite grows as a clump reaching a height of three to 6 inches and prefers rich, well-drained soil. It is slow to establish large clumps. However, if conditions are right, it will may spread aggressively.
Common snowdrops grow 4 to 6 inches tall and bloom in full sun or part shade. They spread easily to create a carpet of white, nodding blossoms. In March and April, snowdrops and winter aconite flowers are nectar and pollen sources for early foraging pollinators, especially bees.
So, if you are considering planting bulbs in your garden this fall, consider planting a few early varieties that are especially helpful for early foraging pollinators. If you have questions about planting bulbs for pollinators, contact the Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Butler County’s Garden Hotline at 724-287 4761, extension 7, or email the Master Gardeners at butlermg@psu.edu.
Mary Alice Koeneke and Diane Walczak are Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Butler County.
