Finding plants that feed friendly insects

bouquet of yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, and white flowers — The prospect of growing cut flowers is so very appealing during February in upstate NY!

I don’t know about you, but this time of year I start daydreaming of all the plants I can’t wait to grow in my garden once it gets warm. The virtual and hard copy seed catalogs that fill my mailbox and my inbox are full of so many beautiful pictures and inviting suggestions. How to choose?

Well, if one of your goals for your 2022 garden is to provide good habitat for beneficial insects that eat pest insects (natural enemies of pests), here’s some advice…

Look for pollen and nectar producers

Flowers that provide plenty of pollen and nectar make great habitat for natural enemies. This is because some natural enemies also eat pollen or nectar (or both). For example, this adult hover fly feeds on the pollen and nectar produced by this bachelor’s button.

Black and yellow hover fly visiting a purple flower made up of a cluster of small petals — An appreciation for bachelor’s button flowers is something I share with this hover fly

Flowers that produce pollen and nectar also attract other insects that natural enemies feed on (including lots of neutral insects, so the net effect is positive). This ambush bug is hanging out on a zinnia waiting for other insects to wander by and become lunch.

Dark brown and yellow insect on a zinnia with cream-colored petals flecked with pink — This ambush bug doesn’t seem too well camouflaged to me, but hopefully its prey didn’t notice it

How do you know if a plant will produce flowers rich in pollen and nectar? Well, plants marketed as being good for pollinators are often a good bet, since bees, butterflies, and other pollinators also feed on pollen and nectar. Be aware that sometimes – but not always – “fancy” cultivars (with double blossoms or exotic colors) do not provide the same pollen and nectar resources as the “plain” cultivars or simply native species. You can read a bit more about this in a previous post on my blog Biocontrol Bytes.

Flower shape matters

While some bees have long tongues that help them reach into deep, tube-shaped flowers, lots of natural enemies (like flies, small wasps, and beetles) prefer small, shallow, and open flowers. The pollen and nectar are easier to access, and these flower shapes also give them a nice spot to land or sit.

Two pictures; on the left a bee is feeding on one of many small, tubular purple flowers; on the right an orange and black beetle is feeding on tiny white flowers. — The bee on the left has no problem reaching into these tubular flowers. The soldier beetle on the right is happy on the small boneset flowers.

Plan for season-long blooms

Natural enemies need food (whether it’s pollen and nectar or other insects) from early in the spring until late in the fall. If you only have blooms in July and August, the natural enemies will be very hungry, and will find another spot to hang out. Of course, continuous blooms have aesthetic value, too.

While annuals tend to bloom for a longer period of time during the growing season (especially if you pick off dead blooms), it can be hard to find annuals that bloom early (at least in NY).

Including some early-blooming perennials will feed your natural enemies before your annuals take off. This site lets you search for plants by a variety of characteristics, including when they bloom.

Plant with a large cluster of small yellow flowers — Golden alexanders is an early-blooming perennial. I took this picture in the middle of May.

Put away those pesticides!

Or at least pause and assess whether you really need them and what impact they might have on natural enemies and other non-pests before you use them. Of course, you must always read and follow the label on any pesticide you are using, wherever you are using it. The label is the law!

Plants that don’t bloom are still useful

For example, bunching grasses not only provide some visual contrast to blooming plants, but they make great shelter for predatory beetles, spiders, and other insects.

Shows a grass that grows in clumps, specifically little bluestem — Grass that grows in clumps like this little bluestem provides shelter for ground-dwelling natural enemies

If you love spreadsheets like I do…

While looking for pollinator-friendly plants is an easy way to choose plants that will likely support natural enemies, sometimes I am asked “yes, but if I want to attract this specific natural enemy, what should I plant?” So I reviewed university research and extension resources from around the United States to see which plants have been documented to support specific natural enemies. Here’s the link to that spreadsheet. If you want the “cliffs notes”, here are the plant families that had the largest number of species documented as supporting natural enemies:

Yellow flower with a brown center (blackeyed susan) being visited by a lady beetle — Lots of members of the aster (daisy, composite) family produce plenty of easily-accessible pollen to feed natural enemies like this lady beetle

Aster (same as the daisy or composite family)
Carrot (same as the parsley family)
Mint

Got a pest and you’re wondering which natural enemies will eat it? There’s a chart for that, too!

So, what will you be growing in 2022? I already placed my first seed order (hint: it included a few different kinds of both zinnias and sunflowers), but I can’t promise I won’t place a second one.

Amara Dunn is a Biocontrol Specialist with the NYSIPM program. All images are hers.