Garden Wisdom Blog — pollinators

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) This perennial member of the mint family is native from eastern Europe eastward to China. It is a bushy, branching herb that grows to 50–100cm (20–39″) tall. Like many mints, its stems are square in cross section, and its leaves have a soft texture, being covered by minute hairs. Its white to pale-pink flowers are highly attractive to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Catnip is hardy to Zone 4, and works well in containers. Catnip has been celebrated for centuries as a medicinal herb, and it has come to be known by many names: Catmint, catnep, catrup,...

Dill (Anethum graveolens) This well-known herb has been cultivated since at least 3000 BC by the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians, and is mentioned more than once in the Bible. Dill was thought by medieval writers to provide protection from evil and enhance aphrodisiac potions. It has been cultivated in England since 1570, and used to be much more popular than it is today. Originally, it grew wild from southern Russia down through the Middle East and Mediterranean area. The word “dill” comes from the Old Norse dilla, meaning “soothing,” via the Old English word dylle. As with celery, the Latin...

On this page we list the ingredients in our Butterfly Blend Wildflower Seeds mix. This blend was selected based on flowers that are particularly rich in nectar, and ones that naturally occur in North America, along butterfly migration routes. The benefit of planting wildflower mixes is that they greatly increase biodiversity wherever they are planted, and they have been shown to have a measurable positive impact on pollinator populations. Butterfly Blend Ingredients: Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata) Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) Candytuft (Iberis umbellata)China Aster (Callistephus chinensis)Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)Dwarf Godetia (Clarkia amoena)Dwarf Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)...