I am a big fan of aster, bee balm and Joe pye weed. I am looking at getting some butterfly weed this year. All attract pollinators. I also picked up a wild flower mix as it contains some of the recommended pollinator attractants. I also live in PA.

I agree with weirdtrev, the flowers I named are native to PA/MD, and are excellent at attracting pollinators.

It also helps to know exactly which crops actually need pollinators and which are self-fertile, self-pollinating. For example the squash in your list needs them but most all of the others are self-pollinating That way you know where best to place the attracting plants. Borage is one of my personal favorites and I like blooming herbs rather than decorative flowers as they have a dual purpose.

Dave

Karen, I'm assuming (as are other posters so far) that because you refer to landscaping, that you are considering perennials. Those will attract both bees & other beneficial insects... but they may need a year or two to establish before their numbers are high enough to draw pollinators. To attract bees, consider that they need consistent food sources over time; as blooming for one plant stops, others take their place in sequence. There are many charts online that provide relative bloom times, such as this one... but with Spring approaching, it might be helpful to just take note of what is blooming in your area, and note them on a calendar for reference. You might just need to observe what your next door neighbors are growing, and find plants that fill gaps in the sequence.

Don't overlook flowering trees or shrubs either (such as those found in Wierdtrev's link) since those are often some of the earliest large pollen sources. I've seen bees swarming on pussy willow and flowering birch in early Spring (sadly, my birch died a few years ago). In my yard, ground-dwelling bees swarm over a male box elder when it is in bloom; they seem to time their emergence on that event, then go on to pollinate my apples shortly thereafter.

For annuals, zinnia, cosmos, cornflower, and flowering mallows (such as "Zebrina") bloom quickly, and will provide pollen over a long period. Sunflowers are good too, but be sure to grow one that is a good pollen source, as some varieties provide little other than ornamentation. For annual herbs, basil in bloom is a good bee plant. For all of these, trimming off old blooms will sustain flowering over a longer period.

For vegetables, lima beans are very good nectar sources, and scarlet runner beans will attract hummingbirds. Squashes bloom over a long period, and because they produce large amounts of pollen, they are generally pretty good at attracting any bees which might be nearby. If you don't see bees on squash blossoms, there may not be many in your neighborhood, and you might have your work cut out for you attracting them.

One last note, regarding "weeds". Some of those can be very good nectar & pollen sources, especially in certain time slots. Dandelions are an early, heavy pollen source. Clovers are good nectar sources, that flower over a long period. Neither has a place in today's heavily-manicured lawns, but you might
want to reconsider their elimination if you want a healthy bee population (a
point of friendly debate I have with my grass gardening neighbors). ;-) Catnip & mint can be horribly invasive, but given a spot of their own in a neglected corner, are very good bee plants.

Well, since this is a new place, to get things going quickly, I would try a few annuals near the squash, Borage like digdirt said or perhaps some annual alyssum. These can attract bees while you spend time observing the place to figure out how you wish to work perennials in.

The bees around here love lavender, echinacea, gaillardia, liatris, borage, sunflowers, allium flowers, and basil and mint flowers. They appreciate the larger flowered penstemons as well (kinda funny to watch the flowers vibrate when the bumble bees crawl all the way up inside them). Butterflies are quite a bit less common, but share a preference for lavender, echinacea, and gaillardia.

Chamomile is horrifically weedy, but hover flies go nuts over it, and I THINK their larvae are predatory, so that's an added benefit.

Humming birds are unlikely to pollinate any of your vegetables, but are fun to have around anyways. Monarda and Agastache rupestris are their favorite at my house, the second one would probably be a poor choice for Pennsylvania, being a native of the southwest, but you could always just grow it as an annual.

Squash flowers will attract squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa, yes there is a bee specifically designed for pollinating squash, how neat is that?) if they are around, and if other people in your area are growing squash, they probably are.

The only thing I have noticed, however, is that many of the ornamental flowers are far more attractive to insects than vegetable flowers (likely due to the fact many vegetables do not REQUIRE insect help) and the bugs will forsake your tomato plants for the more nectar rich ornamentals that are blooming in your yard. I have tons of bees, and the only vegetables they seem to really be drawn to are squash, C. pubescens peppers (but will not touch the annuums or chinenses), and oddly enough, they seem to go absolutely crazy for corn tassles. This also seems to be pretty species specific, with the pruinosa bees going for sqaush, halictid bees going for the peppers and long horned bees hanging out in the corn tassles.

the important thing about supporting local pollinators is that you always have something blooming. start with fruit trees, continue with clover and dandelion, summer vegetables, various daisy-type flowers. end the season with goldenrod or mums.

Glib good advice, fruit trees are first to bloom and usually do so before honey bees are around so to make sure I have pollinators for my apple trees I will make mason bee homes close by them, and provide a mud source too. Mason bees come out earlier than any pollinators and they don't mind cool damp cloudy conditions of early spring.

Oh my goodness, you guys are wonderful! Thank you! I especially like the idea about dual-purpose herbs, and I'll certainly be sure to check out local plants.

Yes, herbs are dual purpose, but it's important to allow herbs to flower which is often what you are trying to avoid, to keep harvesting the herbs. We grow cilantro and basil. The cilantro is very attractive to pollinators but we want to use the foliage before it flowers, so I succession plant to be able to do both. Basil I deadhead all season to keep it branching out and producing foliage. I also have chervil and oreganos and chives, which I allow to flower and they are also covered with bees when in flower. I've grown borage and it was huge in my garden last year. My problem with borage is that it flops over somewhat but I'm going to try it again.

Alyssum around the edges is a great pollinator plant, easy to grow from seed, inexpensive, will often reseed for you the next season and it's fragrant.

I second (or third or whatever) the suggestion for letting some of each herb and allium go to flowering stage. They each flower at slightly different times so you have pretty continuous supply. And you're still getting use of the plant. Just keep the invasive stuff like mint family in containers and out of the ground. My green onion and chives make really nice flowers that the bees go crazy over. Lavender makes a good landscaping choice for dryer soils and seems to attract bees well.

I know that in some areas yarrow is not thought highly of but here it is very resilient and also draws a lot of insects. I always scatter a few borage seeds at the edges of the compost heap and that makes a good pollinator draw. I've noticed that anise hyssop is one annual that will attract both insects and hummingbirds; it grows fast and doesn't take much water but definitely put it on the outside because it gets taller faster than your veggie plants.

Native plants are always a good choice because they generally require less fussing with.

I was in a similar boat - recently moved to a place with a yard and last year was my first year experimenting with a garden. I don't have a ton of insight, but one thing that was great this years is that when I ordered seeds from Burpee.com, a free pollinator mix was included. I blogged about it here: https://thedistrictsprouts.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/surprise-from-burpee/

I can't say if it will do it's job of attracting bees because I just planted it, but I've already got a few tiny sprouts! Good luck!

Yellow flowers attract a wide variety of insects including pollinators. Red flowers attract hummingbirds. Hummingbirds prefer a tubular type flower. There is a Hummingbird Forum on Gardenweb.

Plant and they will come. Even your veggies' flowers will attract pollinators.

As others have said, plan for the next few years by growing perrenials or bushes in your landscape. In the meantime, for each year, you can also plant annuals, which will grow fast and provide some things that are needed.

You can also consider mason bees if they are around in your region. Making homes for them is a good DIY project.

Just to add a few more options, there are some perennials that insects go mad for, but need careful control because their roots become invasive. ```I have some large containers of yarrow, tansy, apple mint, and Russian sage placed around the garden. A friend of mine has some of these same plants in a wheelbarrow and he wheels it over to whatever bed needs some insect assistance.

I wouldn't recommend a big box store type of wildflower mix. I've tried this a couple of times and both times ended up with at least one weedy plant that I spent years trying to eradicate from the garden.

If you want a wildflower mix, find one created for your general area by a reputable vendor.

I am not sure how much room you have but you could plant areas of certain cover crops that are good for bees such as Buckwheat, field peas, hairy vetch, etc. They are inexpensive compared to flower seeds ($20 for 50lb bag of buckwheat) and also will improve your soil (nitrogen, compaction, biomatter). Some are natives as well - you would have to check which ones. Most have small flowers.

I'll second anyone who mentioned catmint or Agastache foeniculum. Both attract an insane amounts of pollinators. Added bonus of this Agastache is that it can be used for cooking as well. Has an anise flavor to it. Hence it's other name, Anise Hyssop.