Plant This, Not That: Ohio Native Pollinator Plants

Cathy Tiffany
May 27
3 min read

If you’re trying to make your yard more pollinator-friendly, one of the easiest places to start is with simple plant swaps.

This doesn’t mean every non-native flower in your yard is “bad.” Some are beautiful, nostalgic, and perfectly fine to enjoy. But when we’re talking about supporting bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and the larger food web, native plants usually do more ecological heavy lifting.

So instead of thinking, “rip everything out,” think: keep what you love, and add what supports the food web.

Here are a few Ohio-friendly native pollinator plants to consider adding to your garden.

Plant This: Four-leaved Milkweed

Not That: Tropical Milkweed

Four-leaved milkweed is a delicate native milkweed that can support pollinators while fitting beautifully into more natural garden spaces. Milkweeds are the exclusive host plants for monarch butterflies, so kind of a big deal!

Tropical milkweed is often sold because it is colorful and attractive, but it's not the best choice for Ohio gardens. Native milkweeds are better suited to our local ecosystem and seasonal rhythms.

Better swap: Choose native milkweeds whenever possible.

Plant This: Fire Pink

Not That: Red Geraniums

If you love bright red flowers, Fire Pink is a native alternative with serious woodland charm.

Red geraniums are classic porch and patio plants, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying them for color. But Fire Pink offers something extra: native plant value for hummingbirds and other pollinators.

Better swap: Add Fire Pink for bold color with more wildlife benefit.

Plant This: Wild Lupine

Not That: Russell Hybrid Lupine

Wild Lupine is a beautiful native plant with soft blue-purple blooms and an important role in local ecosystems.

Many garden lupines sold in nurseries are hybrids or non-native types. They may look similar, but they do not provide the same ecological value as true native Wild Lupine.

WARNING: Wild lupine is the exclusive host plant for the caterpillars of several highly specialized and endangered butterflies, such as the Karner Blue and the frosted elfin. Large-leaf lupine (often sold in nurseries as garden or Russell lupine) can fool these butterflies into laying their eggs on them. Because the caterpillars can only digest wild lupines, they quickly starve or are poisoned, leading to population declines. Even worse, if planted near native wild lupines, large-leaf lupine will readily cross-pollinate and hybridize with the native species. This corrupts the genetic integrity of local wild populations and renders them useless to native pollinators that rely on the pure native species. Yikes!

Better swap: Look for native Wild Lupine when adding lupines to your pollinator garden.

Plant This: Showy Skullcap

Not That: Vinca / Periwinkle

Showy Skullcap is a lovely native plant with blue-purple flowers that can support native bees and add soft color to a garden.

Vinca, also called periwinkle, is often used as a groundcover, but it can spread aggressively and does not offer the same pollinator value as a native flowering plant.

Better swap: Choose Showy Skullcap for a native woodland-style bloom with wildlife benefits.

A Gentler Way to Think About “Not That”

The point of “Plant This, Not That” isn’t to shame anyone’s flowers.

It’s simply a way to ask: Can this garden do more?

Some plants are mostly ornamental. They look pretty, fill a pot, or add quick color. Native plants can do those things too, while also feeding pollinators, supporting insects, and strengthening the local food web. You don’t have to create a perfect native garden overnight. Start with one swap. Add one native plant. Replace one patch of “just pretty” with something that is pretty and purposeful.

Little by little, your yard becomes more than a yard.

It becomes habitat...and that's where the real fun begins!

Thanks to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for their "Plant This" pics!