Native Plants for your Pollinator Garden and Even your Vegetable Garden

by Doyle Wayman

:​Fall is a great time to start native plants in your Pollinator Garden or your Vegetable Garden. If you add a few native plants to your vegetable garden, you’ll increase the interest that pollinators will have in frequenting it, because those plants produce a higher sugar content in their bloom's nectar than other non-native plants; the result is that those pollinators will pollinate your garden and produce a better crop.

​My recommendation is to select the type of native plants you’d like to see in your landscape or garden.  That is based on: 

• Its ability to survive in our Vegas conditions.
• Its color
• Its ability to self pollinate (you don’t want a plant that is so aggressive that it will take over your landscape or garden and push other plants away)
• Seed availability?  Seeds are hard to come by and collecting them is somewhat even controlled by landowners and other agencies. I and others usually have seeds to share, so let us know what you need.*
• Transplants are scarce, a few nurseries have them but beware that they may not be really native. Once you find a good source spread the word as we need more retailers who know the value of going with native plants.few months and protecting  them from the rabbits until they are mature enough to survive on their own.  Some may go dormant in the winter (they are growing roots in the soil), and most will come back in the spring. 

​Planting Techniques:
These plants sprout best when soil temperatures stay around 90ºF.  I start seeds indoors and set out theseedlings as soon as they are 4 inches tall. I try and get them transplanted by the end of October, watering them for a few months and protecting  them from the rabbits until they are mature enough to survive on their own.  Some may go dormant in the winter (they are growing roots in the soil), and most will come back in the spring. 

Typical plants that work well here in pollinator landscapes or gardens include:

• Globe Mallow (blooms Orange and self pollinates)
• Erosa Milkweed (blooms yellow and attracts the Monarch butterfly)
• Firecracker Penstemon (red)
• Parry’s Penstemon (pink)
• Desert Sunflower (yellow)
• Mojave Astor (purple)
• Blanket Flour (red/yellow/brown, not native but close, Sonoran Desert)
• Yellow bells (yellow not native but close, Sonoran Desert)
• Wild Grape (native to Arizona and even Vegas, great for pollinators)
• Devil Claw (pink/flesh color)
• Anderson Wolfberry (Tiny purple blooms, a true Gogi berry and a hummingbird magnet)

all photos by Doyle Wayman

*editor's note: It is unlawful to collect seeds or plants on public lands without a permit.  If you are interested in obtaining native plant seeds please contact Nancy at socialactivities@redrockaudubon.com and she will pass on your request to Doyle.