Planning

In the doldrums of winter we did what gardeners do best, we looked through seed catalogs and gardening books. We use gardening books on Native Minnesota Plants, materials from the Xeres Society, materials from Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources, and worked through the catalogs for several prairie gardening companies. We tried to prioritize plants identified as high priority for the Rusty Patch Bumblebee.

In addition to the seeds we already owned or collected from our own plants, we ordered a selection of seeds for full sun native perennials from Prairie Moon Nursery. Some of these we had seen or grown before, but others were new to us.

Considerations we had were: 

1. Aggressiveness: is this an aggressive plant that will take over not only this pollinator garden but spread far and wide. We rejected aggressive plants that work better for larger native areas because we have such a small area to plant. We allowed for some aggressive plants that spread through seed, but whose seedlings are easy to pull.
2. Color: We wanted a somewhat consistent color palette and decided to focus on purples/pinks and yellows with some white for contrast and glow. 
3. Timing: we thought about covering the range of bloom times, an important consideration for pollinator gardens so that there is never a gap in available blooming plants. We especially tried to find early blossoms for the native bees.
4. Winter food: we tried to ensure there were persistent seed heads throughout the winter to provide food for birds. Bonus for us, seed heads covered in snow are really beautiful in the dead of winter.
5. Height: we tried to make sure we had something planned for low ground cover, 1-2 foot front of bed plants, and then medium and tall perennials. 
6. Design: we wanted a focal point in the middle and thought a small tree/large shrub would be a good idea to host some birds. The garden area is bordered by sidewalks and we decided for ease of snow removal we should have low growing plants that die to the ground in winter along the edges.

Plant Selection

We put tall perennials toward the back of the yard to act as screen as the homeowner requested. This would also be a boundary between the native garden and the mix of native and non-native plants the homeowner would grown in her side and back yards. The serviceberry bush pruned into a tree from is the focal point in the garden.