Have you ever wanted to attract more lacewings, bees, or dragonflies to your garden? Well, the good news is you can easily do that by adding plants that naturally attract beneficial insects like pollinators.
By including some of the plants listed below in your yard, you’ll help invite helpful insects over for a visit.
Plants for Beneficial Insects
Some of the best plants for attracting these insects are:
Herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and lavender. Their fragrant blossoms can draw in pollinators and predatory insects. Planting a few of these aromatic herbs together helps create an environment that helpful insects like to be in.
Native flowering plants are also ideal. These include coneflower, sunflower, aster, goldenrod, and milkweed. Their familiar blooms attract many local beneficial insects.
Therefore, plant a diverse selection of native plants. They will provide essential habitat and food sources for insects at different stages of their life cycle.
Moreover, the umbrella plant has dense foliage and tiny white, pink, or red flowers. It gives beneficial insects shelter and sustenance [1]. Its wide, umbrella-shaped leaves also make a perfect landing pad.
Don’t forget vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, and broccoli, which need pollination to produce. Their blossoms also attract useful insects to your garden.
Plants for Lacewings
Lacewings feed on common garden pests like aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, and thrips.
To attract lacewings to your garden, plant species that produce small flowers clustered together. These include yarrow, fennel, Queen Anne’s Lace, dill, and sunflowers.
Plants for Ladybugs
Ladybugs are also known as lady beetles or ladybird beetles. They are beneficial garden insects that also feed on common plant pests like aphids, spider mites, and scale.
To attract ladybugs to your garden, plant flowers that they find appealing.
Some of the best plants for attracting ladybugs include Buckwheat, Fennel, and common yarrow. They are also fond of marigold, cosmos, and coriander.
Plants for Dragonflies
If you want to attract dragonflies to your garden, plant some of their favorite flowers.
They are attracted to pretty plants, such as bearded iris, water lily, and coneflower. They will also flock to Joe-Pye weed, yarrow, and swamp milkweed.
Plant several of these flowers together in your surroundings. This will help create an inviting habitat for dragonflies.
Plants for Bees and Butterflies
Plants that produce bright flowers or fragrant blooms will attract bees and butterflies to your garden.
Some of the best options include helenium, yarrow, and perennial asters. Coreopsis, black-eyed Susan, and cardinal flowers are also great options.
Provide a variety of plants that bloom from spring through fall. This will give beneficial insects a continuous food source around your yard.
Cardinal flowers will also attract hummingbirds.
Plants for Wasps
Wasps are often thought of as pests, but many species are actually beneficial insects that prey on common garden pests. Plants that attract wasps will welcome these natural predators into your garden.
Some of the best plants for attracting wasps include Queen Anne’s lace, sunflowers, sedum, goldenrod, and fennel.
Plants for Praying Mantis
Praying mantises are also useful insects to have in your garden since they prey on grasshoppers, moths, and other insect pests.
Some of the best plants for attracting praying mantises include dill, rose bushes, fennel, angelica, and alfalfa plants.
There are also other clever ways to attract these helpful predators. You can also plant flowers and herbs that will bring in their favorite foods—other insects!
Plants for Soldier Beetles
Soldier beetles are also known as leatherwings. They are helpful in the garden as they will feed on pests like aphids, mites, and caterpillars.
To attract these helpful allies to your garden, plant flowers that they find appealing. Some of those plants include poppies, hydrangea, marigolds, coreopsis, and wild lettuce.
Plants for Hoverflies
Hoverflies are also excellent pollinators to have in your garden. Moreover, their larvae feed on aphids and other plant pests.
To attract hoverflies, plant flowers that they favor. These include wild carrot, wild mustard, fennel, ivy, asters, and calendula.
In addition to planting hoverfly-friendly flowers, avoid using pesticides in your garden. If not used with caution, pesticides can kill the larvae and adult hoverflies along with the pests.
You can also provide a water source, such as a bird bath with stones in it for the hoverflies to land on. This will make your garden more inviting to these helpful pollinators.
Takeaway
So there you have it: a few plants you can add to your garden or yard to bring in the good bugs.
Yes, provide habitat and food sources for insects like ladybugs, lacewings, and hoverflies. By doing so, you can have natural pest control working for you when necessary.
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