There are numerous flowers to add to a garden that entice useful bugs when you looking for a plant. This approach also lessens issues with awful pests to a minimal level. Most gardener often adds many beneficial plants to their plant palette. For instance, flies looking for nectar are welcomed by the dainty flowers called sweet alyssum. Then, the fly larvae will keep your leaves healthy because they eat mites before you even notice. Phacelia works in the same way to attract various types of advantageous bugs like wasps, hoverflies and honey bees. Cornflowers make nectar that is super sweet, which is immediately found by minimal helpful bugs.
Which flowers attract Beneficial Insects?
The amount of insects varies amid the growing season, along with the plants that entice them. One of the best ways to work with insectary plants is to grow new plants in order to have a steady supply of sap and pollen, particularly when some flowers start to flop. Many studies were done in the US and Europe – researchers found that a steady nourishment supply enables these insects to live a long and healthy life. The best part is that when they are well-nourished, they produce more babies, which implies better protection against pests in your garden.
- Ladybugs
Most gardeners can effectively recognize them when they are fully grown. They lay yellow eggs under leaves. The larvae cannot fly and consume a larger number of bugs than the grown-ups – the small black larvae often have orange markings.
Ladybugs are enticed by plants such as:
- Alpine cinquefoil (Potentilla villosa)
- Basket of Gold (Alyssum saxatilis)
- Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- CA Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)
- Carpet bugleweed (Ajuga reptans)
- Common yarrow ( Achillea millefolium)
- Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)
- Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
- Lacewings (Chrysopa spp.)
Single white eggs can be discovered laid at the end of a one-inch solid thread. These green delightful insects are often small with big wings. Most pests are destroyed by its larvae which resemble little crocodiles. They mainly eat aphids which is why their other name is aphid lions. Additionally, they feed on insects, insect eggs, and parasites. On some nights in summer and spring, lacewings are seen sticking to windows, screens and patio lights.
Lacewings are attracted by plants such as:
- Angelica (Angelica gigas)
- Cosmos white sensation (Cosmos bipinnatus)
- Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
- Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
- Fern-leaf yarrow (Achillea filipendulina)
- Golden marguerite (Anthemis tinctoria)
- Prairie sunflower (Helianthus maximilianii)
- Hoverflies
Otherwise called flower fly, carnivorous aphid fly or syrphid fly. Grown ones resemble small honey bees that fly fast but they do not sting. They produce single or clustered white oval eggs on leaves that hatch and develop into small caterpillar-like maggots. The color does vary from white, green, yellow, to orange. In order to capture and eat pests, they raise their rear legs.
Hoverflies are attracted by plants such as:
- Fern-leaf yarrow (Achillea filipendulina)
- Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
- Carpet bugleweed (Ajuga reptans)
- Lavender globe lily (Allium tanguticum)
- Basket of Gold (Alyssum saxatilis)
- Golden marguerite (Anthemis tinctoria)
- Dwarf high aster (Aster alpinus)
- Masterwort (Astrantia major)
- Four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens)
- Small parasitic wasps
Parasites are assorted insects that do not sting. In order to enable the females to produce eggs inside the host pests, their stingers evolved. The babies kill host by feasting on them from inside out once the eggs hatch. The dead insects are left as empty mummies.
- Trichogramma wasps: They kill moths’ caterpillars and turn it black by producing eggs inside the moths’ eggs.
- Ichneumonid wasps: These wasps keep fly pupae and larvae as well as beetles, moth, butterfly under control.
- Braconid wasps: They eat larvae, beetles, moth, moth eggs and different insects and the pupae. Stay away from dying caterpillars once you see bundles of white cases on its back – those casings are made by braconid.
These wasps are enticed by plants such as:
- Fern-leaf yarrow (Achillea filipendulina)
- Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
- Lavender globe lily (Allium tanguticum)
- Golden marguerite (Anthemis tinctoria)
- Masterwort (Astrantia major)
- Purple poppy mallow (Callirhoe involucrate)
- Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)
- Tachinid Flies
These flies can also be termed as parasites. They feast on the larvae on cutworms, cabbage loopers, armyworms etc. They also eat tree bugs. The adult flies are about 0.3 – 0.5 inch in length. Since they are parasitic, their white eggs are laid on foliage/host body. Larvae get sustenance from the host – by ingesting all fluids till the host dies.
Tachinid flies are enticed by these plants:
- Golden marguerite (Anthemis tinctoria)
- CA — Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)
- Lemon analgesic (Melissa officinalis)
- Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium)
- Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
- Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)
- Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
- Crimson thyme (Thymus serpyllum coccineus)
- Bugs
- Bugs with large eyes (Geocoris spp.)
These grayish-beige bugs are oval and minute in size – around 0.25 inches. They have huge eyes and eat numerous little creatures (such as young and adult lice, leafhoppers, pest eggs). These bugs produce gray eggs with red spots.
8. Ladybugs (Nabis spp.)
They are brownish in color and resemble other bugs. But their heads are typically more long and narrower than that of other bugs. They eat little worms, plant bugs, aphids, and leafhoppers.
9. Small pirate bugs (Orius spp.)
Tiny bugs of about 0.05 inch that feed on practically any little mites or insects. They mostly eat thrifts during summer but they can also eat other pests such as mites, whiteflies, arthropods with soft body and thrips.
Small pirate bugs, huge-eyed bugs and ladybugs are enticed by:
- Cosmos “white sensation” (Cosmos bipinnatus)
- Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)
- Spearmint (Mentha spicata)
- Peter Pan goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea)
- Marigold (Tagetes tenuifolia)
More tips to keep beneficial insects stay in your yard
- Utilize assorted plants that are alluring. Choosing plants that blossom at various times of the year will provide pollen and nectar to the useful insects as they require it.
- The plant varieties should be apart by 4 inches to ensure that they work best at drawing in the insects.
- A basin for water can be placed on the terrace to invite the good bugs and birds which are also insect predator.
- Don’t stress about pest infestation. The helpful insects will get the notice before you do. This will give another source of sustenance to keep them in your yard.
- Refrain from using pesticides because they can harm the valuable bugs as well, which reproduce slower than pests. This will enable them to recover faster into an environment without the helpful bugs.
- If you have constrained space, you should think of planting various beneficial plants in a big tub or planter that you can move.
