Since it's the start of fall, homeowners use this time to make their outdoor space more colorful and appealing. With the winter flowers finally blooming and hardy trees that turn from burnt orange to a strikingly bold red, this is one of the best seasons to create a lush and exuberant landscape that sparks unadulterated joy.
One of life's simplest pleasures is welcoming bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators to your outdoor sanctuary. A study at Cornell University reveals that insect pollinators contribute about $29 billion yearly to the US farm income. So why shouldn't you create an environment that allows tiny pollinators to come rushing to your garden?
From Japanese maples to cardinal climbers, here are the best colors for attracting pollinators to your garden.
Appealing to the Bees
Bees are easily enticed by bright colors like shades of white, yellow, and blue, especially if the plants emanate a mild and pleasant smell. Bees have amazing eyesight—they can spot color much faster than humans. This happens because they have large compound eyes that allow them to see colors in the UV spectrum.
For bees, we recommend planting sunflower family members like asters, coneflowers, and goldenrod. Other shrubs like hydrangeas are also a wonderful addition to any garden and will provide a lot of food and nectar to bees.
Trees like the American pillar arborvitae and oak will also attract bees and look absolutely compelling when paired with your flowering shrubs.
How to Attract Butterflies
Butterflies perceive more colors than humans since their eyes are composed of around 12000 lenses. Our eyes have three photoreceptors, whereas butterflies have more than 6! You can add a mix of shades of blues, greens, and reds, and the butterflies will love it.
Opt for shrubs like weigela, lantanas, catmint, and veronica. These beautiful flowers are full of lively colors, and the butterflies love them. Dahlias are also an excellent way to add personality to your garden.
If you're considering adding trees, the Japanese Stewartia, crab apple trees, and native conifers are a perfect choice.
Calling the Humming Birds
Hummingbirds have specialized photoreceptors that allow them to see a combination of colors that is not visible to humans. Most scientists believe that red flowers specifically evolved to attract hummingbirds since they're most attracted to red and pink flowers.
For this, we recommend planting the Trumpet honeysuckle, bleeding hearts, salvia, and zinnias. For trees, consider getting English Hawthorns, crab apples, or thuja green giants to increase biodiversity in your garden and make it more inviting for pollinators.
Now that you're ready to make your outdoor space more welcoming with a variety of plants get in touch with us at Thuja Gardens.
Our trees and plants are meticulously grown and looked after by qualified experts and we ensure that they have healthy root systems growing in nutrient-rich soil.
Buy green giant arborvitae and full speed a hedge american pillar arborvitae at Thuja Gardens by reaching out to us today.