Lucido & Associates

Celebrate National Pollinator Week with these 5 pollinator-friendly plants that help create healthier habitats right here in our community – four of them can be found at Memorial Park right in Downtown Stuart!

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana): All around great pollinator attractor, and the leaves can be used for mosquito repellant. Edible berries. Can tolerate anywhere from full sun to full shade. This plant can also handle the cold that occasionally comes during our winter with ease.

Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens): There is a very specific ecotype that is native to our area of Florida, and many of the ‘native’ versions are not in fact the native ecotype for our area. These plants make an exceptional buffer plant, but can also be kept relatively small, or even trimmed into a standard form.

Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens): About as behaved as a vine could be, this native climber’s flowers attract hummingbirds and the nectar (although a small amount) is also edible; watch out for ants in the flowers too!

Blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella): Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds alike love blanket flower and for a small plant it packs a punch of color! Although this plant was recently found not to be native to Florida, lanceleaf blanket flower (Gaillardia aestivalis) *is* a native relative.

Simpson’s Stopper (Myrcianthes fragrans): The leaves have a nice citrusy scent, and the ripe fruits are also edible. Bees love these flowers among other insects. Can handle infrequent freshwater inundation, so it’s great for edges of retention areas.

Honorable Mentions:
Native Wild Coffee (Psychotria nervosa): small white flowers are highly attractive to native bees also produces berries for birds
Walter’s Viburnum (Viburnum obovatum): one of best native shrubs for spring pollinators
Spanish Needle (Bidens alba): native wildflower, nearly year round blooming, often considered a w**d but pollinators consider it a buffet
Tickseed (Coreopsis): Florida's state wildflower, excellent pollen source
Button Bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis): an amazing native pollinator attractant that loves wet feet, and the flowers smell good to us too