Sunny Pollinator Garden — Expanded (15 Plants)

Design anchor · Pollinator-forward · Four-season interest

Available May 9–May 16 · Pickup at Montclair Farmers Market

This five-plant sunny planting delivers genuine four-season presence, extended bloom, and rich pollinator support. It's layered and intentional from day one. Anchored by Eastern Bluestar's calm structure, threaded with Little Bluestem's movement, and brightened by blooms that run from late spring through late summer, this planting feels layered and intentional from day one.

Like all Hope Grows gardens, this planting was designed for Northern New Jersey landscapes, giving you a clear, confident starting point for sunny borders and open beds.

What's included

• 15 native plants
  • 3 × Eastern Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana)
  • 3 × Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
  • 3 × Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
  • 3 × Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
  • 3 × Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• A professionally designed planting layout showing spacing and placement
• A rendered garden image to help you visualize the finished planting
• Individual plant cards with growing conditions and ecological notes

Optional add-on:
A life-size 15-plant roll-out planting template showing exactly where each plant goes — ideal if you want step-by-step guidance at planting time.

What this garden needs

• Sun: Full sun to part sun
• Soil: Average, well-drained (adaptable)
• Care: Regular watering during the first growing season to help roots establish

Why we love this garden

• Anchored by Eastern Bluestar with its shrub-like structure, blue star-shaped flowers, and spectacular golden-yellow fall foliage
• Foxglove Beardtongue opens the season early with tall white flower spikes, filling the late-spring gap before summer bloomers take over
• Purple Coneflower brings bold summer color and long bloom — then transitions into persistent seed heads that goldfinches pick apart well into winter
• Butterfly Milkweed blazes in vivid orange in midsummer—one of the most striking colors in native gardening, and a critical Monarch host plant
• Little Bluestem moves through blue-green in summer to fiery red-orange in fall and warm brown through winter, holding the planting together across every season

Why wildlife loves this garden

• Continuous nectar from late spring through late summer
• Butterfly Milkweed is a critical Monarch host plant; Little Bluestem hosts 27 species of Lepidoptera including the Cobweb and Leonard's Skipper, both documented in northern New Jersey
• Hollow Coneflower stems and Little Bluestem's dense base provide nesting sites for native bees and overwintering habitat for queen bumblebees
• Goldfinches on Coneflower seed heads and sparrows on Little Bluestem's grain-like seeds extend the garden's wildlife value well beyond bloom