Plants in the Pollinator Pathway

The plants on the Pollinator Pathway are carefully selected to appeal to native pollinators. We’ve also chosen plants that abide by City guidelines, and are relatively easy to maintain (life in city planting strips can occasionally be tough going for a plant). Here are some of the plants you’ll find if you walk the project. The Pollinator Pathway uses a high percentage of native plants (70-90%), since they are best suited to native pollinators, and no invasive species. All plants are on the project because of their appeal to pollinators, with exception of ferns, which are wind-pollinated, but used by other species for nesting material. We’ve also listed, where found, the pollinators that like them.

Native Plants for a Full Sun Garden

Harvest Brodiaea

Brodiaea coronaria

Attracts: butterflies

Idaho Fescue

Festuca idahoensis

Attracts: birds, butterflies; is a host plant for Western Branded Skipper, Clouded Sulphur, and possibly the Sonora Skipper

Nodding Onion

Allium cernuum

Attracts: Hummingbirds, butterflies

Nootka Lupine

Lupinus nootkatensis

One of several kinds of native NW lupine. They attract birds, bees and butterflies– such as larva of Silvery Blue and Persius Duskywing butterflie

Thrift

Armeria maritima

Hands down, the cutest plant on the Pollinator Pathway. Attracts hummingbirds, bees, moths and butterflies

Tiger Lily

Lilium columbianum

Attracts: birds (including the Rufous hummingbird), bees, butterflies (specifically, the Pale Swallowtail butterfly)

Woolly Sunflower

Eriophyllum lanatum

Attracts: butterflies

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Attracts: Birds, bees and butterflies (is a known host plant for the Painted Lady butterfly)

Deltoid Balsamroot

Balsamorhiza deltoidea

This plant is a little more sensitive than most plants we’ve listed, but a beauty once established. Attracts: bees, butterflies

Davidson’s Penstemon

Penstemon davidsonii

Attracts: birds (specifically hummingbirds), butterflies (red admiral, common wood nymph) & bees.

Common Camas

Camas leichtlinii

Attracts: Butterflies & bees, including the Yellow Faced Bumblebee (Bombus vosnesenskii).

Columbia Lewisia

Lewisia columbiana

Attracts: Butterflies & bees.

Coastal Strawberry

Fragaria chiloensis

Attracts: Butterflies (including Sara Orangetips), birds

Broadleaf Stonecrop

Sedum Spathifolium

Attracts: birds, bees and butterflies. Is a larval plant for the Brown Elfin butterfly.

Blue–eyed Grass

Sisyrinchium idahoense

Songbirds eat the seeds.

Native Plants for a Mixed Sun/Shade Garden

Red Columbine

Aquilegia formosa

Attracts: Attracts bees, hummingbirds and Swallowtail butterflies (such as Anise, Western Tiger and Pale Swallowtails)

Kinnikinnick

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Attracts birds (hummingbirds to nectar, other birds to berries), bees, and butterflies (is a larval host to Brown Elfin and Hoary Elfin butterflies)