Butterfly Retreat Mix

Host a party for butterflies at your place! Select a sunny area – these native annuals and perennials will do the rest. By next spring, your Butterfly Retreat will be inviting your guests to feast on nectar and color throughout the season. Butterflies bring you dances of life that continue for years to come. Contains a beautiful mix of species that will host butterflies in each phase of their life cycle.

Planting for Pollinators

Sometimes we tend to forget about the smaller things in life that really do make the world go 'round. Just as all types of wildlife have suffered from the increased fragmentation of land through urbanization, so have the bees, beetles, & butterflies. In earlier times, beekeepers would ask farmers if it would be alright to set a beehive out next to their crops in exchange for some honey. Nowadays, farmers are paying beekeepers to bring in hives – sometimes from miles away – to help pollinate their crops. About a third of the U.S. food supply depends on pollinators. That doesn't include all the backyard gardens and orchards that we plant for our own private use.

Why the decline in pollinators? Could it be the increased use of pesticides by farmers, and urbanites with bug fetishes who install systems that douse their yards every night? Whatever the reason, even the government has gotten involved in some places by offering incentives for people to plant pollinator habitats. Which brings up the question of what do pollinators like? The answer to that question would be any plant that produces nectar; of course some are better than others. Your local NRCS office will have all the details for your area.

Another thing to consider is that pollinators need nectar throughout most of the year not just in spring. Our Butterfly Retreat Mix provides a selection of the best nectar-producing native plants, as well as a long continuous bloom time. Bloom time starts in February with Winecup and ends in December with Gayfeather, with an additional 25 different wildflowers species blooming in between. Fall is the time to plant wildflowers for a spring, summer, and fall pollinator buffet.