You’ve probably seen them before — those little “bee look-alikes” flying in the air and darting around between petals like miniature drones. Gardeners usually confuse them for wasps or just disregard them completely. However, hoverflies help you keep the garden alive.
In different parts of fields and flower gardens, hoverflies do double duty. Their adults transport pollen from one flower to another, and scientists today place them high up on the list of pollinators after bees, visiting strawberries and apples, among others. Many larvae of hoverflies act as predators, eating several hundred aphids and other soft-bodied pests before they grow. However, their number keeps decreasing. There is plenty of long-term research in Europe (Germany and the UK, in particular) about the dramatic decrease in their number in recent decades. It is connected with pesticides use, loss of habitats and flowers that these insects feed on. Information from North America is still limited, but the same factors affect them here, and each garden full of flowers helps.
The good news is — you can make a difference.
Growing native flowers rich in nectar with open centers will give hoverflies an opportunity to feed safely, to get pollen and nectar, which females require to lay eggs, and bloom continuously for many weeks rather than sporadically. If you will plant flowers according to season (fall, early spring, late spring, and summer), there will be no break in food supplies, and hoverflies will stick around rather than move to the next garden.
Here are 12 native flowers of the United States that will help hoverflies stay from spring till frost.
1. Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
The flowers of Wild Geranium are one of the softest harbingers of the spring – pale violet blossoms, which appear above maple-shaped leaves at the moment when the warmth of the woods starts returning. Although these blossoms seem fragile, they radiate a silent brightness, open up fully in the morning hours and attract slow hoverfly visitors. In the shady parts, as well as in woodlands and gardens, Wild Geranium flowers create elegant harmony of nature. If one observes attentively, one can notice hovering flies going from one blossom to another long before the appearance of other pollinators.
This species of plant grows well in the half-shade and moist soil, reappears every year in compact clusters and spreads gradually enough not to cover the entire area. This is one of those plants which connect early-blooming flowers and summer ones – Wild Geranium creates an essential nectar source in the uncertain period of the middle of the spring. The flowers of this species are one of the earliest anchor points for hoverflies.
Why Hoverflies Love It
It opens during the cooler part of spring when hoverflies first emerge, giving them reliable nectar before sun-loving natives start their show.
- Zones: 3–8
- Size: 12–18 in tall × 12–18 in wide
- Light: Partial shade to light sun
- Soil: Moist, rich soil; tolerates woodland conditions
- Bloom Time: Mid-spring to early summer
- Best Planting Time: Fall for seeds (needs cold); spring for transplants
2. Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)
Golden Alexanders are what wake up a spring garden. Amidst the lingering chill and bleak colors of winter, this bright yellow umbel will rise above fresh green leaves and declare the true start of the season. It blooms quietly and confidently in meadows, prairies, and wooded borders, attracting hoverflies to intricate and purposeful paths that guide them from one umbel to another. Just as the garden is only partly awakened, this plant brings life through movement.
It is an unassuming native that will flourish in any garden conditions from fertile beds to clay-filled slopes. After becoming established, it forms neat clumps which will emerge effortlessly every year and connect the short spring ephemerals with the summertime blooming plants. Golden Alexanders offer reliable resources of nectar to hoverflies at the time when such resources are very rare.
Why Hoverflies Love It
It offers one of the earliest consistent nectar supplies of the year, giving hoverflies the energy to build their first generation while most gardens are still waking up.
- Zones: 3–9
- Size: 12–24 in tall × 12–18 in wide
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil: Moist, moderately rich; handles clay
- Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer
- Best Planting Time: Fall for seed (needs winter cold) or early spring for plants
3. Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)
Blue Mistflower makes late summer bloom again. After all the colors have faded in the garden and most perennials start to get ready for their dormancy, Blue Mistflower starts blooming and brings a fresh feeling of spring. With soft and delicate flowers growing along edges, meadows and wooded area borders, Blue Mistflower creates an impression of a cool cloud of lavender blue color which attracts attention from distance. Looking at the flower close up, it is possible to see that many hoverflies fly in circles above flowers and drop on them with precise movements.
It is a hardy plant that can survive in tough conditions like clay soil, different levels of moisture and extreme heat. Blue Mistflower is not aggressive and easily spreads in garden beds, making late summer days colorful for almost 3 months. For hoverflies it is one of the richest sources of food in fall. It is a plant that gives plenty of nectar for hoverfly brood at the right time of year.
Why Hoverflies Love It
It delivers a strong late-season nectar pulse in August and September, fueling the year’s final generations when few other natives are still producing heavily.
- Zones: 5–9
- Size: 18–36 in tall × 12–24 in wide
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil: Moist to medium; tolerates clay
- Bloom Time: Late summer to frost
- Best Planting Time: Fall (for seed stratification) or spring (for transplants)
4. Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea)
Golden Ragwort brightens up the dark parts of the forest in spring, before the forest floor is lush with leaf litter and new growth. Above their low-growing shiny heart-shaped foliage, thin stems hold clusters of daisy-like yellow flowers that light up the moist borders, stream sides, and shaded places under the trees. They have wide-open and shallow flowers so the nectar and pollen are right on top. On sunny days in spring, you will see the hoverflies sitting on the flower heads together with small native bees and beetles, all feasting in the midst of scarcity for shade-loving insects.
It likes growing in moisture-retentive and fertile soils, in partial shade but tolerates sunnier spots provided the soil is always moist. Golden Ragwort is a clump-forming perennial with creeping roots forming a groundcover that crowds out weeds and keeps the slope and wet banks from eroding. It spreads quickly where soils are very moist so give it space to grow or use in place where such fast-growing plant will be beneficial. If you graze your farm with animals, plant it away from pastures and paddocks since like other ragworts it contains toxic alkaloids.
Why Hoverflies Love It
Its small, open daisy flowers keep their nectar and pollen fully exposed. Hoverflies have short mouthparts, and these flowers are exactly the kind they can feed from, at a time of year when shade gardens have few alternatives.
- Best Planting Time: Fall for seed (benefits from cold stratification); spring or fall for transplants
- Zones: 3–8
- Size: 12–24 in tall in bloom × 12–24 in wide (spreading)
- Light: Partial shade to sun (with consistent moisture)
- Soil: Moist to wet, rich soil; tolerates clay
- Bloom Time: Mid to late spring
5. Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya)
Prairie Blazing Star shoots up from the summer grassland like a violet punctuation mark. Tall, straight flower spikes full of hundreds of soft and petite flowers of violet hue start blooming from the top down, making each flower spike a vertical platform for feeding insects. When the Prairie Blazing Star grows among grass, it towers above them. The movement of hoverflies along the spike from one flower to another and their stopovers make this plant look as if it moves constantly. Even one spike growing in a garden becomes a perfect stopover place for pollinating insects.
It is a native plant that is able to survive in dry, sunny conditions and even during long periods of droughts and deliver its unique show in mid-late summer. Over time, it creates impressive clusters of perennial spikes that can be added to your garden for attracting hoverflies. This plant blooms for a long time and its blooming season goes between mid-summer and fall, when nectar demand is at its peak.
Why Hoverflies Love It
The densely packed florets release nectar gradually, letting hoverflies move upward along the spike and feed in a smooth, continuous run instead of hopping between scattered blooms.
- Zones: 3–9
- Size: 3–5 ft tall × 1–2 ft wide
- Light: Full sun
- Soil: Dry to medium; thrives in lean, well-drained soil
- Bloom Time: Mid to late summer
- Best Planting Time: Spring for transplants; fall for seeds (needs cold stratification)
6. Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa)
The Showy Milkweed truly earns its name by all means – a towering plant with bright silvery-green stalks, ending with magnificent clusters of sculptured blush-pink flowers. The delicate and graceful appearance of the flowers is well seen in the bright sunlight in fields and dry prairies, while the pleasant smell of the flowers may travel quite a distance. Standing close to the field, one may observe the constant buzz of hoverflies flitting from one ball of the flowers to another and landing on every star-shaped blossom.
The Showy Milkweed is perfect for poor soils and hot weather conditions because it tolerates drought and dry spells of weather very well and grows quite successfully despite tough environmental conditions. As it grows, it becomes stronger and the flower clusters become bigger. Apart from being a good resource for monarch butterflies, its blooms serve as an important food source for hoverflies during early and middle parts of summer.
Why Hoverflies Love It
Its large, rounded flower clusters offer plenty of exposed nectar on a single head, and flies, including hoverflies, are regular visitors alongside the bees and butterflies the plant is better known for. In dry, sunny sites with few other blooms in early summer, it adds a dependable food source.
- Zones: 3–9
- Size: 2–4 ft tall × 1–3 ft wide
- Light: Full sun
- Soil: Dry to medium; thrives in sandy or well-drained soils
- Bloom Time: Early to mid-summer
- Best Planting Time: Spring for plants; fall for seeds (requires winter cold)
7. Western Yarrow (Achillea millefolium var. occidentalis)
Western Yarrow is an unspectacular flower that does much more than any other in a pollinator garden. Over silky, feathered, fern-like leaves, it develops flat bunches of little white flowers, where each bunch becomes a landing platform full of little flowers. It looks rather modest in dry meadows, roadside areas, and sunny borders. Up close, however, it is hardly ever vacant: hoverflies fly around its flower heads, settle on it, and rise up; sometimes, together with little wasps and lady beetles. Gardeners and farmers used to plant yarrow next to their vegetable plots to attract such insects.
This native plant grows in full sun, poor soils, and droughts. Slowly spreading through rhizomes, it forms a thick carpet and flowers from late spring until the middle of summer, provided that you remove faded flower heads. Try to buy either the native species or seeds from your area. Most yarrows you find in nurseries belong to the European species or to some varieties of it, differently colored.
Why Hoverflies Love It
Its flat clusters of small, shallow flowers put nectar and pollen within easy reach of short-tongued insects. That is why yarrow is one of the most widely recommended plants for drawing hoverflies, and their aphid-eating larvae, into vegetable gardens.
- Zones: 3–9
- Size: 12–36 in tall × 12–24 in wide (spreading)
- Light: Full sun
- Soil: Dry to medium; thrives in lean, well-drained soil
- Bloom Time: Late spring through summer
- Best Planting Time: Spring for transplants or divisions; seed in spring or fall (needs light to germinate, so press it onto the surface without covering)
8. Red Mexican Hat (Ratibida columnifera f. pulcherrima)
Red Mexican Hat resembles a miniature sombrero. The plant features a tall and thimble-like central cone, which is surrounded by a skirt of drooping petals. In its particular appearance, the petals are dark mahogany-red in coloration and often feature a narrow strip of gold near the edges. Along the Great Plains and west coast roadsides, the flowers form loose and delicate drifts that appear to dance in the wind, each blossom nodding gracefully on a slender stalk above delicate ferny foliage. At close range, the blossoms attract a constant stream of visitors. Hoverflies land on the conical center and proceed to feed there, accompanied by small native bees that follow suit.
Native plants, Red Mexican Hats thrive in sunny locations, poor soils and drought, making them great candidates for the most challenging garden spots. The plants are short-lived perennials, but they self-sow easily and therefore tend to last and spread slowly in time. The flowers bloom from early summer all through fall and provide nectar during the midsummer season, which corresponds to large brood development period of hoverflies. Seed sold under the common name of “Mexican hat” may be the yellow variety or mixed variety, so if you need the red one (also known as pulcherrima or “red Mexican hat”), buy it accordingly.
Why Hoverflies Love It
As a member of the daisy family, each cone is packed with tiny, shallow flowers that open in rings from the bottom up. That puts nectar and pollen within easy reach of short-tongued insects for weeks at a time.
- Zones: 3–10
- Size: 12–36 in tall × 12–18 in wide
- Light: Full sun
- Soil: Dry to medium; thrives in lean, sandy or rocky, well-drained soil
- Bloom Time: Early summer to fall
- Best Planting Time: Spring for transplants; seed in fall or early spring (germinates readily, with light cold stratification helping)
9. Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
The Wild Bergamot has its own sort of dramatic effect on a garden, much like the Scarlet Bee Balm, but its beauty is subdued and more refined compared to that of the latter. The flower opens up at the middle of the summer in a cool shade of purple smoke and emerges from the foliage in elegant tuft-like crowns that sway to even the slightest breeze. In an open field, the flowers usually form hazy clouds, and the space above them is never empty, as hoverflies dance around the florets in small circles, resting there briefly before continuing their flight.
The plant is tough as well as pretty and does not need special attention. It will thrive in poor soil, tolerate drought and preserve its color in spite of hot July days. If established properly, the plant will come back next year and form clumps that can help create a wildflower garden. To the hoverfly, Wild Bergamot is a flower that is abundant throughout the summer, with new florets appearing every day.
Why Hoverflies Love It
Its crowns of lavender florets bloom for weeks in midsummer and draw a wide range of insects. Bees and butterflies do most of the nectar feeding from the long tubes, while hoverflies come mainly for the pollen exposed at the tips of the flowers, an important protein source for the females as they produce eggs.
- Zones: 3–9
- Size: 24–48 in tall × 18–36 in wide
- Light: Full sun to light shade
- Soil: Dry to medium, well-drained; drought tolerant
- Bloom Time: Mid–late summer
- Best Planting Time: Spring for transplants; fall for seeds (prefers stratification)
10. Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata)
Blanket flower is among the most cheerful of all natives that you can plant. This beautiful flower never loses its brightness from June through late August and serves as an absolute workhorse of any garden. Indeed, its red and gold petals seem to flare up like little bursts of fire, filling borders, rock gardens, and drought-prone areas with their bright colors. At first glance, blanket flower looks like a bright stripe of burning orange; when you look closer, you will notice that hoverflies are constantly performing playful circles over the blooms and settling inside the flowers’ open centers. This species never fades during hot weather.
Blanket flower is a champion of harsh conditions; it loves poor, dry soil and blazing sun. When summer heat comes, other perennials have stopped blooming, and Blanket Flower continues providing nectar. After planting it, you can get flowers every few days until late autumn. Hoverflies visit Blanket Flowers regularly throughout the season, using them as an excellent source of nectar for mid- and late-season.
Why Hoverflies Love It
Each flower head is a daisy-type bloom with a wide center packed with small, open florets, which puts nectar and pollen within easy reach of short-tongued insects. Because it blooms almost continuously from early summer into fall, hoverflies can count on it for months.
- Zones: 3–9
- Size: 12–18 in tall × 12–24 in wide
- Light: Full sun
- Soil: Dry to well-drained; thrives in sandy or poor soil
- Bloom Time: Early summer to fall
- Best Planting Time: Spring for plants; fall or early spring for seed
11. Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
No other flower is more visible than the Black-Eyed Susan. The combination of its yellow petals and rich chocolate-colored center is impossible to miss, especially in the extreme heat when they create wonderful borders around gardens that look like ribbons made of sunshine. In the meadows and fields, these plants grow in large drifts that hoverflies do not tend to overlook – this is a very noticeable flower that hoverflies visit by quickly and confidently flying over and then perching on their warm central cone.
This wildflower prefers harsh conditions, so it easily grows on dry roadsides, sandy banks, and even poor soils. But once this plant starts blooming, it does not stop doing so throughout the whole period from the beginning of summer till fall. Other flowers fade, but Black-Eyed Susans remain beautiful, making them a perfect choice for hoverflies to get their nectar.
Why Hoverflies Love It
Its central cone is made up of many tiny, open florets that bloom in rings over several weeks, offering an exposed, easy-to-reach supply of pollen and nectar. Its long bloom season and tendency to grow in large drifts make it one of the most reliable summer stops for hoverflies.
- Zones: 3–8
- Size: 18–30 in tall × 12–18 in wide
- Light: Full sun
- Soil: Dry to average; thrives even in poor or sandy soil
- Bloom Time: Summer to early fall
- Best Planting Time: Spring or fall; fall sowing best for cold-region germination
12. New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
The New England Aster is the plant that will save your garden as the season comes to an end.
As other flowers are dying out and the weather begins to get cold, the violet-magenta blooms appear and give your meadows, roadsides, and fall garden one more wave of color. They unfurl their daisy-like flowers in the warm afternoon light and attract a lot of hoverflies which fly close circles around their flower heads, dip in for the nectar and then lift off in their typical weightless flight. In September and October, asters’ colonies seem almost alive from afar.
This plant is resilient, tall and prolific. It grows well in clay soils, poor conditions and direct sunlight, forming huge upright clumps that will be reliably coming back every year. Being one of the few sources of nectar in the latter stages of the season, asters become very important for hoverflies, monarchs, native bees and butterflies, providing them with food until the frost closes down the garden.
Why Hoverflies Love It
It blooms at the exact moment late-season hoverflies need fuel most, offering abundant nectar when nearly every other native has already finished for the year.
- Zones: 3–8
- Size: 3–6 ft tall × 2–3 ft wide
- Light: Full sun
- Soil: Average to moist; tolerates clay
- Bloom Time: Late summer to fall
- Best Planting Time: Spring or fall; fall sowing ideal for seed stratification
