Annuals for Pollinators

 
Diefenbacher Greenhouses works with the Cincinnati Zoo for Zoo’s Best Annuals

If you are serious about pollinator support it’s essential to deploy annuals as part of your working strategy. This is true whether you are designing a butterfly bench at a garden center, building a bee support garden at a park or institution, or simply doing your part as a pollinator-conscious landscaper.

Annuals bring important capabilities to bear:

• Speed: Annuals grow fast, so they set out pollen and nectar quickly.
• Duration: As a general rule, annuals have very long blooming seasons, providing food over broad windows of time.
• Volume: For many annuals there is no tomorrow—success hinges on generating high volumes of pollen and nectar.
• Diversity: Annuals have adapted their genetics to fit the many types of mouthparts, lifestyles, habits, and needs that exist among the pollinator community. 
• Price: Annuals are reasonable; if you need to create large nectar factories by mass planting for pollinators, you can cover more ground with the same budget.

 
Lantana ‘Landmark Yellow’

We sell two solid yellow Lantanas and they are both popular: ‘Landmark Yellow’ and ‘Landmark Gold’. 

‘Landmark Yellow’ is a buttery yellow that gets paler toward the edges when the flower is young. It’s a lighter and more delicate look. By contrast, ‘Landmark Gold’ is a deeper yellow that trends more toward butterscotch. It starts off a heavy yellow and deepens slightly as the flower ages.

 
Lantana ‘Landmark Gold’

Yellow is a very important color for many reasons, and Lantana is a great way to deliver that yellow in the summer. Lantana is our workhorse for low, shrubby color—it continues to produce during the hot summer months because it loves all the heat and sunshine. Plus it handles a wide range of soils without complaint, including difficult soils frequently found around new construction sites, parking lots, and roadsides. In our view, reliable should be this plant’s middle name.

‘Landmark Yellow’ and ‘Landmark Gold’ are available in the 4.5-inch pot. ‘Landmark Yellow’ comes in the 6-inch pot as well.

 
Golden leaves are mottled with green for a chartreuse effect

Yellow is important in foliage as well as flowers so if you need a yellow for shade, go with Coleus ‘Wizard Golden’. It has a lovely golden leaf that’s mottled with green for a chartreuse effect. We use it to brighten up containers and borders while adding a dash of texture.

A size and color that pairs easily with most other annuals for shade 

Leaves on this Coleus are mid-sized and the plant itself grows around a foot high. Its size and color pairs nicely with Begonias, New Guineas, and other colorful shade selections. Wizard can handle a bit of sun as well, but we get the best results when we use it in the shade.

Coleus ‘Wizard Golden’ is available in the 1203 flat.