Pollinator garden kit

The Pollinator Patch.

The bees asked for it by name.

Six plants that bloom in relay, so something is always open for business from late spring to frost. Planted in drifts of three, because pollinators shop in bulk.

15 plants · 6 kinds4 × 10 ft bedFull sun
$329.85
Same price as buying them one by one. The plan's on us.
The Pollinator Patch
What's in the box

15 plants, 6 jobs.

$21.99
In this kit: Late-season blue
Salvia azurea

Azure Sage

Sky blue, late, and a little floppy.

True blue in late summer. A native prairie sage with tall, wiry stems and spikes of clear sky-blue flowers from late summer into fall. Few plants bloom this color this late in the year. Bees and butterflies are all over it.

Size3–5 ft tall, 2–3 ft wideShowLate summer into fall LightfullZones5–9 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWaterlow
$21.99 each
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In this kit: Late-season blue
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

Aromatic Aster

Saves its best for last.

Sky blue in late fall. A selection of a native aster that forms a neat, bushy mound and covers itself in sky-blue daisies in mid to late fall. The leaves smell faintly sweet when you brush them, and it's often the last thing in the garden still feeding bees.

Size1.5–2 ft tall, 1.5–2 ft wideShowMid to late fall LightfullZones3–8 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWaterlow
$21.99 each
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$65.97
In this kit: The anchor
Echinacea purpurea

Purple Coneflower

Blooms all summer. Asks for nothing.

The prairie original. Before it was a supplement, it was a meadow plant from the middle of the country, tough enough to shrug off heat, drought and neglect. It still is.

Size2–4 ft tallShowSummer into fall Lightfull, partZones3–9 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWaterlow
$21.99 each
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$65.97
In this kit: Late-summer color
Rudbeckia triloba

Brown-eyed Susan

Hundreds of small daisies. Not an exaggeration.

A cloud of little gold daisies. A selection of a native brown-eyed Susan that branches into an airy, see-through plant covered in small gold flowers with dark centers. It weaves between its neighbors instead of crowding them. The show runs from late summer well into fall.

Size3–4 ft tall, 18–24 in. wideShowLate summer into late fall Lightfull, partZones3–8 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWatermoderate
$21.99 each
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In this kit: Late-summer color
Heliopsis helianthoides

False Sunflower

Sunflower color on burgundy stems.

Gold flowers, dark stems. A selection of a native prairie plant, bred for dark burgundy stems and leaves flushed with red. Golden daisies with an orange-brown center sit on top from midsummer into fall. Butterflies work it all day, and the finches come for the seed.

Size3–5 ft tall, 2 ft wideShowMidsummer into early fall LightfullZones4–9 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWaterlow
$21.99 each
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$65.97
In this kit: Fall haze, winter structure
Eragrostis spectabilis

Purple Love Grass

A purple haze at ankle height.

Pink fog on a budget. A low native grass that grows in sandy fields and roadsides across the eastern half of the country. In late summer it throws out wide, airy flower clouds in reddish purple that almost hide the plant. Backlit at sunset, it looks like the ground is glowing.

Size1–2 ft tall, 1–2 ft wideShowLate summer into fall LightfullZones5–9 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWaterlow
$21.99 each
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In this kit: Fall haze, winter structure
Deschampsia cespitosa

Tufted Hair Grass

A cloud of gold over a tidy tuft.

Fine grass, finer haze. A compact selection of a native grass: a low, dark green tuft that sends up airy flower heads in early summer. They open greenish and ripen to gold, hanging over the clump like a haze through fall. It takes shade and damp soil, which most ornamental grasses won't.

Size1–2 ft tall (flowers to 2–3 ft), 2 ft wideShowEarly summer flowers that age to gold and hold into fall Lightfull, partZones4–9 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWatermoderate
$21.99 each
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$43.98
In this kit: Silver and lavender
Salvia yangii

Russian Sage

Russian sage that stays in its lane.

Russian sage, scaled down. All the silver stems and violet-blue haze of regular Russian sage at about two feet tall, with stems that stand up instead of sprawling. It fits a small bed, the front of a border or the strip by the mailbox.

Size1.5–2 ft tall, 1.5–2 ft wideShowMidsummer into fall LightfullZones5–9 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWaterlow
$21.99 each
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In this kit: Silver and lavender
Dalea purpurea

Purple Prairie Clover

Blooms in rings, bottom to top.

A prairie plant with deep roots. Fine, ferny leaves and upright stems topped with thimble-shaped heads that bloom in a rose-purple ring, starting at the bottom and working up. It's a native legume with a deep taproot, so it shrugs off drought once it settles in.

Size1–3 ft tall, 12–18 in. wideShowSummer LightfullZones3–8 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWaterlow
$13.99 each
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$65.97
In this kit: Bees all summer
Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta

Lesser Calamint

A cloud of flowers with a buzz.

Small flowers, big crowds. Tiny white to pale lavender flowers in a loose, airy mound from midsummer into fall, over small leaves that smell of mint when you brush them. On a sunny day it hums with bees.

Size1–2 ft tall, 12–18 in. wideShowMidsummer into early fall LightfullZones5–9 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWaterlow
$21.99 each
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In this kit: Bees all summer
Pycnanthemum virginianum

Virginia Mountain Mint

Narrow leaves, white buttons, a lot of bees.

The tidy mountain mint. Fine, narrow leaves on stiff stems and flat-topped clusters of small white flowers from midsummer on. Native from the Northeast through the Midwest, it's the most upright and compact of the mountain mints. Pollinators line up for it all the same.

Size2–3 ft tall, 12–18 in. wideShowMidsummer into early fall LightfullZones3–7 PetsNot pet-safe; keep out of reachWatermoderate
$21.99 each
Full plant page →
The whole kit: 15 plants + the planting planShips from the growers, timed for your zone. Arrives alive, or we replace it.
The planting plan

Dig here. Then here.

BackFront · path side122233344455666
1 · Azure sage2 · Coneflower3 · Susans4 · Love grass5 · Russian sage6 · Calamint
How to plant it

Tall at the back (azure sage, coneflower), mid-height in the middle (Susans, Russian sage), love grass and calamint soft and low at the front. Space 18 in apart. Water weekly the first month, then mostly leave it alone.

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