Plant List for Pollinator Gardens

Western Columbine

California poppy

Oregon Iris

Over the past year, I have have given many presentations that highlighted the high bee activity at ‘site 51’; a garden that is fairly small (0.1 acre) and in a heavily developed area of East Portland. Despite its size and location, ‘site 51’ had the second highest number of bees from our 2017 collections. I suspect bee diversity will also be high at site 51.

This garden is managed by someone who is an avid Xerces Society member. He gardens specifically for pollinators, and it shows! His garden is a true testament to the idea that ‘if you plant it, they will come’.

So what plants are in this garden? Our preliminary plant list (from a brief 2017 survey) can be found below. I will add Latin names, when I have a moment. For now, I hope that the common name list might introduce you to a new plant or two that might work well in your own garden.

Several of the plants in this garden are native to the Willamette Valley, and are included in Aaron Anderson’s study of native plants. The photos in this post are from Aaron’s field research.

• Iris
• Nodding onion
• Yarrow
• Fescue
• Milkweed
• Woodland strawberry
• Goldenrod
• Phacelia
• Borage
• Douglas Aster
• Lupine
• Daisy
• Mallow
• Dogwood
• California poppy
• Columbine
• Meadow foam
• Yellow eyed grass
• Cinquefoil
• Blue eyed grass
• Currant
• Crabapple
• Blue elderberry
• Anise hyssop
• Coreopsis
• Spirea
• Mock orange
• Serviceberry
• Trillium
• Coneflower
• Snowberry
• Oregon grape
• Shore pine
• Maple
• Pearly everlasting
• Globe thistle