Bug Plants

Some insect-friendly plants in Danya Miller's garden:

Bleeding heart: Bugs and slugs live in soil under the plant.

Cleome: Supports bees and other pollinators. Some aphids eat the sap.

Sunflower: Pollen and nectar for beneficial lacewings, big-eyed and assassin bugs, spiders, soldier beetles, and others. Pollinators also like sunflowers.

Butterfly host plants: Baptisia for eastern tailed blue butterfly; milkweed for monarchs; spicebush for spicebush swallowtails; wild violets for great spangled fritillaries.

And a surprise: White snakeroot, considered a weed, atrracts pollinators and also predatory and parasitoid insects that keep pests in check.

More easy-to-find, insect-friendly plants from Jessica Walliser, author of Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: Black- and brown-eyed Susan, coreopsis, cosmos, cup plant, dill, feverfew, goldenrod, New England aster, oregano, shasta daisy, sweet alyssum, yarrow.

- Virginia A. SmithEndText