When landscape designer John Magee was tasked with building a pollinator garden in this zone 7 property in Aldie, Virginia, he certainly had his work cut out for him. (See John’s garden here). Dominated by turfgrass and a few non-native shrubs and trees, this space overlooked a nearby golf course and the backyards of close neighbors, so creating privacy was a must. At the same time, the lawn-heavy neighborhood lent itself to enormous stormwater runoff. John decided to create a bermed border of planting beds in the backyard of this property which he bookended with rain gardens that would capture roof runoff in a more efficient way. To maximize benefit to pollinators, all of the plants John installed were natives or native cultivars, although he kept a few non-native favorites that his client could not live without, such as ‘Limelight’ panicle hydrangea. Using a muted color palette consisting of whites, purples, blues, and greens, John used matrix installations and drifts of plants to create a more upscale and refined design than one would traditionally think of when picturing a pollinator garden. Despite the lack of red and yellow wildflowers, bees and butterflies still flock to this functional space that is full of both nectar and host plants for them to enjoy.
Below are just some of the plants that make up this dynamic design:
- White fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus, Zones 3-9)
- Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium, Zones 3–8)
- ‘Standing Ovation’ little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Standing Ovation’, Zones 4-9)
- American black elderberry (Sambucuscanadensis, Zones 3-9)
- ‘Limelight’ panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’, Zones 3–9)
- Blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum, Zones 5-9)
- Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum, Zones 4-8)
- Threadleaf bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii, Zones 5–9)
- Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis, Zones 5-11)
- Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum, Zones 3-8)
- ‘Heavy Metal’ switch grass (Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’, Zones 5-9)
- Blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum, Zones 5-9)
Diana Koehm is the content editor.
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