Suggestions for Annual Flowers that are Pollinator Magnets

[wmct276]

I’m want to plant some “annual” flowers, in Northern Illinois, that are pollinator magnets; looking for suggestions.

I already have Illinois native plants growing in my yard, but city ordinances limit the amount of native perennials i can plant…

I also have annual French Marigolds that bloom from June-October. I’m really happy with them, they attract a lot of pollinators, don’t grow very tall, and have a long bloom period.

I’m trying to avoid a monoculture and since marigolds are annuals, I’d like to do some rotation from year to year.

[m_whitson]

Zinnias are showy, come in lots of varieties, and are loved by the butterflies.

[egordon88]

Sunflowers

[asteroidowl]

I second zinnias. I was stunned at how many pollinators they attracted - all sorts of bees, including a species I’d never seen, butterflies and skippers, and hummingbirds. Also, goldfinches love the seeds.

[spiphany]

@wmct276

city ordinances limit the amount of native perennials i can plant

This seems a bit counterintuitive to me. What exactly is forbidden in the city ordinances? I assume it is not a general proscription on planting large numbers of native perennials.

I cannot make suggestions for North America, but marigolds, zinnias, and sunflowers are all Asteroideae. Since a lot of insect pollinators tend to specialize on a particular family, you might look for flowers in other families to provide a balance that would support a wider spectrum of insects.

This website looks useful:
https://illinoispollinators.org/

[cthawley]

Not sure how ambitious you are, but I believe @egordon88 has some experience battling local ordinances restricting native planting…

[egordon88]

Overzealous code enforcement, yes

[wmct276]

@egordon88 @spiphany @cthawley

Here’s some more info on that.

According to Illinois state legislation HB4839, a unit of local government cannot prohibit or unreasonably restrict an owner from planting Illinois native species. The city ordinances state that grass and weeds need to be kept below 8", this restriction does not apply to flowers, gardens, and crops. Unfortunately It’s not that cut and dry.

My neighbor had a lot of mice in their shed this year. They want me to get rid of my wildflowers, and they want the other neighbor to get rid of his bird feeders. etc. I went online to review the city’s guidelines for wildflowers but that page had been removed; so I called the city. The city informed me that the old guidelines that were listed on their website allowing unlimited turf to flowers was posted in error. The “current” city ordinance restricts wildflower plantings to roughly a 3’x50’ area on residential lots, the city considers that reasonable. They said if i want to plant a larger area they can come out and look at it.. They also said i can plant an unlimited amount of annuals. I didn’t ask what’s the difference, but I wish I would’ve.

I currently have what the city would consider 6x the legal limit. Most of it is planted in a terrace that’s landscaped for flowers, not exactly turf to grass. I’m afraid that if they came out they might say I need fewer wildflowers, not more. I’m also afraid that if my neighbor complains about mice, the city will take his side. Under those circumstances. The city would give me less than 5 days to fix the problem, or they will come out, cut the flowers and send me a bill.

1. I’d like to legally be able to grow what I consider to be a reasonable amount of wildflowers.

2. If I can’t grow wildflowers there, I’m looking for annuals that are pollinator magnets.

3. I’m trying to have what I need while avoiding conflict with my neighbor and the city.

In regards to the mice problem, I think it might be weather related. The beginning of summer was really hot and dry, I rarely saw squirrels. The end of summer there were squirrels all over the place. I read that they have two broods a year. I suspect that the first brood had a low survival rate due to the drought, and that caused the second brood to be larger. If that is true, it might also apply to mice, resulting in a population explosion.

[spiphany]

A lot of wildflowers are annuals or biannuals, so I don’t understand the distinction they are making.

It sounds like the restrictions mostly apply to taller plants. Can you use groundcover? You may be able to find creeping mints or sedums that spread out horizontally rather than vertically and don’t require mowing (they are often drought-tolerant, too). Lamiaceae seem to be universally popular with insects.

[larry216]

That garden looks awesome! Good luck with your ordinance disputes.

[donna165]

I would be suggesting to the neighbour that he cleans out his shed, does some repair work on the entry points and/or keeps a cat in there.

His shed is obviously attractive to mice and it is his responsibility to make it less attractive to them.

[wmct276]

I agree. The flowers aren’t the problem; the shed is the problem. There used to be stray cats in the neighborhood, and we didn’t have a mouse problem when the cats where here. He trapped the cats and dumped them off somewhere. Now he has mice in his shed, I am not surprised.

[wmct276]

I think you’re right. The city doesn’t want tall weedy looking flowers. I suspect annuals stay green until frost, or discarded, while some of perennials turn brown after they bloom; which makes them look weedy. The city also doesn’t want them to attract pests.

I’m considering getting rid of some of the taller plants, and growing shorter wildflowers in their place. I’m also thinking about planting an area with annuals to see how it goes.

[roadside_rambler]

For one thing I wonder if the city employee you spoke to was lying and/or mistaken. A city ordinance should be publicly available in writing, so you can see for yourself exactly what it says, not have to go by one person’s vague paraphrasing.

I’d be very surprised if it actually specifies “annuals” because there are so many domestic perennials used in even the most formal landscaping. If you had evenly spaced clumps of matching hostas in tidy beds with dyed wood chips around them, I don’t think they would demand you rip them out for not being annual.

More likely, it might say something about “maintained beds” vs. “naturalized” or similar language. I think your first move should be to find out exactly what this new ordinance actually says.

It might be you can get away with having all natives by making it look more “maintained” such as by cutting things back as they turn brown (which I know isn’t ideal, but still better to cut them after blooming than not have them at all) and staking tall plants that want to flop over.

By the way, the summer photos of your garden are beautiful! It’s hard to imagine anyone having complaints about that.

[asteroidowl]

@wmct276

I suspect annuals stay green until frost, or discarded, while some of perennials turn brown after they bloom; which makes them look weedy. The city also doesn’t want them to attract pests.

So, the problem with some annuals is that, depending on what they are, they can create weed problems over time via seeding.

also as someone who has a tad too much experience dealing with mice - my personal experience is that vegetation alone is rarely the problem. Vegetation plus accessible shelter plus a food source (sometimes that can be the vegetation but not always) is the problem. Vegetation kept away from structures is important as it creates a gap that is riskier for the mice to cross without getting eaten by something.

I think you should check what the ordinance actually says, like someone else noted here.

[donna165]

Is this the ordinance for your city?

[wildwestnature]

Have long appreciated this site: https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/

[danly]

It looks like you already have a nice pollinator garden with all your perennials!
As far as annuals, I whole-heartedly agree with the already mentioned Zinnias. They are readily available, easy to grow, and stay short and tidy looking, so they shouldn’t draw complaints.
Also lots of herbs attract pollinators, if you allow them to flower. My basil is really for the bees, as is the thyme, oregano, etc. And they are generally low-growing, so they also won’t get weedy-looking and call attention to your yard. You can tuck them in around other plants in your raised beds, and they shouldn’t compete with them.
The same goes for many vegetables. I seldom remember to pick my broccoli in time, but the pollinators really enjoy it when it goes to flower.

[wmct276]

Yes that is what the city has posted on their website; thank you for looking that up. According to that i am legal because the 8” rule doesn’t apply to cultivated flowers and gardens. I am also not obstructing a public right away. The only grounds they might have is, are my flowers presenting a danger or nuisance?

That ordinance makes no mentioning of restrictions on wildflowers and ironically includes annuals as a weed. The city used to have an attachment with guidelines for converting turf to wildflowers. They removed that from their website and informed me that it had been posted in error; but they haven’t posted an update.

There is, or was, an ordinance on sheds that states they must be at least 10’ from the property line, his shed is only 3’ from the property line. It sounds like I am legal but his shed is not.

[wmct276]

Thanks for sharing, I like how they tallied the insect species that are visiting each plant