Poppies - Easy color for early summer

Most of the flowers that are attractive to pollinators that I've written about are easy to find. Today, though, I wanted to start including some native wildflowers. These flowers are becoming more common in the commercial trade.

Finding native wildflowers is the most fun part of my professional job. Many species are being developed for gardeners and I would encourage all readers to visit local nurseries and ask about their natives. Not every plant will survive in the varying soils we have. Some prefer soils that haven’t been overly amended with compost or fertilized. Pay attention to what the tag and nursery person says about where to plant.

The first plant I want to suggest to attract pollinators is the poppy (Papaver sp.). There are many possibilities, both annuals which have to be reseeded every spring, or perennials, like the deep orange Oriental poppy, which come up faithfully every year.

There is also the bright orange California poppy which is a different species. I will write about that in another post.

Both types bloom in early summer. In my garden, they always have bees working them. The bees get deep in the flower and get covered with pollen. This pollen fertilizes the next blossom they visit, so poppies produce A LOT of seed. If you don’t dead head the seed pods, you will find lots of poppies in your garden the next spring.

Annual poppies that reseeded in my young garden. They made the garden look more established than it really was. This poppy is commonly available in seed packets of mixed colors and goes by the name of Shirley poppy, corn poppy or poppy of Flanders. I love this flower more than the bees do.

They produce numerous flowers per plant, so even the annuals will bloom for several weeks.

Shirley poppies

Shirley poppy seed in a mix of colors can be found in every seed packet display in spring. If the plants are allowed to reseed, red becomes the dominant color.

The deep orange perennial is usually available in packets. It will produce a ‘hairy’ little rosette of leaves in its first year and will bloom for you in year two. 

You can see the flowers and buds in the photo of the Shirley poppies. The ‘hairy’ ovals are the new buds. The stems straighten up as the bud gets closer to blooming

Poppy seeds are really small, so make sure you don’t sow them too close together. You can spread the seed in fall before it snows or as early as March. Put the seed on bare ground and just sweep your hand across the area you planted. Poppies do better if they are not buried, but you do want them to be in contact with the soil.

The seedling is also very tiny, like two thin green line, so you have to keep a close eye out for them.

The perennials are not always successful as transplants, so take extra care with the root ball if you buy a potted perennial, or if you dig them up and move them around your garden.

This is another annual, quite different in appearance than the red poppy. I got the seed from a friend over 20 years ago and collect it again every year.

Poppies adapt well to selective breeding, so there are many colors and varieties available. Check out your favorite seed catalogue and see what is offered.

Perennial Oriental poppies. Through breeding selection, many colors beyond the traditional orange are available. You can see both the ‘hairy’ oval bud and the bare immature seed pod in the upper right.

You should also look for poppies around your neighborhood. If you find one you like, ask if you can have some seed when it ripens. Poppies are so prolific and easy to grow from seed, every garden should have some.

Government influence for pollinators

In 2014, a Presidential Memo came out of the White House directing all federal agencies to improve pollinator habitat. This was a huge boost to the national awareness of the problems that are facing insects, butterflies, moths, and various pollinator animals.

Although this was directed at all federal agencies, I think the land management agencies are the ones that have the greatest responsibility to help improve the problem. The US Forest Service (FS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and National Park system oversee huge amounts of land, most especially in the west. These lands are set aside for public use and it is the responsibility of the FS and BLM to walk the fine line to keep these lands healthy, while allowing recreation (hiking, camping, fishing, and off-road vehicle use), forest harvesting, energy and mineral development, livestock grazing and hunting. The National Parks have a different mandate and allow only specified recreation, so they can more simply preserve their lands closer to their original conditions.




In response to this Memo, there is an increase in the research of collecting wildflower seed, growing these seeds in commercial production gardens and then replanting native wildflower seed. In the past, it was mostly grass varieties that were seeded during revegetation projects for improving wildlife habitat or reseeding after a fire. Grasses are easy to grow commercially and easy to harvest, because they grow like wheat and can be harvested by machine.

Native lupine

Native wildflowers on the other hand, might bloom over a period of a month and the seed will ripen over weeks. Some species spread their seed using “umbrellas” like dandelions. Others like lupines, pop open their seed pods to shoot their seeds away from the parent plant.

All this variety makes commercial seed collection turn into hand labor, rather than mechanical harvesting. Hand labor makes seed expensive. This isn’t like a pack of radishes, where you get 50 seeds and that’s all you need. These agencies are reseeding vast amounts of land and need actual tons of seeds. Think of the huge areas burned by wildfire. Anyway, this is all just to explain why an order from The Top to improve wild lands habitat to help pollinators has been such a great thing. More native wildflower seed is being produced by seed growers, and is being used in reseeding mixes, even though it is more expensive than native grass seed.

Native Gaillardia in seed

This is a win for pollinators, for ecosystem diversity on public lands, for the seed production industry, and for me.


Part of my job is to analyze which local wildflowers species might be successful in commercial production, and then to collect a portion of the seed in various wild populations and send it off to a seed trial garden. Best.Job.In.The.World!

Lavender - an herb for pollinators

Late fall - lavender in a high water environment,
near a lawn. But it is planted on a slope,
so the water drains away.

• Annual or perennial varieties 
• Prefers sun 
• Blooms in summer 
• Blooms in shades of purple, gray-green fragrant foliage, even in winter
• Attracts many pollinators
• Ht 1’-3’ Lots of herbs are great plants for pollinator’s use. 

There are many herbs which thrive in the dry heat of the arid west, including those species that come from the Mediterranean area, like lavender, thyme, and rosemary. Herbs give us a bonus by being culinary or medicinally useful – think peppermint tea for digestion.

Lavender is a much loved herb. There are many varieties available to choose from since so many have been bred and developed. There are two major groups - French lavender (Lavandula dentata) and English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia).

French lavender should be treated as an annual in our cold winter area. So if you grow this one, put it in a pot and bring it inside before the first killing frost. English lavender grows into a small woody shrub and there are several varieties that can be successful as winter hardy perennials in the average garden.

Since cold hardiness is partly a function of genetics, don’t give up on lavender if your first attempts to grow it aren’t successful. Lavenders all prefer well drained soil. If they are in wet soils over winter, that decreases their survival. Even during the summer, water with care if your soil is not well draining. Soggy roots are very hard on lavender. They love full sun and can take your hot exposures if they are eased into the sun when you transplant them.

When you look for English Lavender, try the variety Hidcoat, or Munstead. These are the ones that many people find the most successful. New breeding has produced new varieties, so if they are available, give them a try, although I have found that lavenders can be mislabeled. Talk with your nursery people to help fine-tune your choices.

Some lavenders smell better than others to me, so take the time to run your hand lightly over the plant and take a sniff. If they are in the back if the garden, aroma is less important, but if you will plant lavender close to a path, take the sniff test.

They bloom in various shades of purple during the summer. They are well-used by all sorts of pollinators, including butterflies and a variety of bees. Here is a word of caution- if you have bee-sensitive folks in your life, lavenders might be better placed away from walkways in spite of its wonderful smell.

More spring blooming plants for pollinators

Beyond shrubs, there are a variety of other early season blooming plants that you can use to attract pollinators before the more extensive blooms of summer emerge.

One such early blooming perennial is called sea pink or thrift. It is low growing, and sends up several to many early stems with a small, round pinkish cluster of flowers. The plant leaves you with a tidy mat of leaves for the rest of the summer. Mine doesn’t rebloom, but I may not give it enough water for that.

Creeping phlox comes in white, purples,
and pinks. [1]

Another gorgeous early bloomer is creeping phlox. It's also low growing and spectacular in the spring, especially if planted with tulips. It doesn’t leave a plant as attractive as thrift, so it is better suited behind a plant that doesn’t come up until later in the summer. It does need good sun though, so don’t let the other plant cast shade on it for the entire day.