POLLINATOR-FRIENDLY PERENNIALS FOR CHALLENGING SITUATIONS

About ATC

ATC was formed in 2001, as the first multi-state, transmission-only utility in the United States. Unlike most other utilities, we have a single focus: transmission.

Our high-voltage transmission lines enable utilities to move power from a variety of different sources and locations to substations and lower-voltage lines that serve communities.

While we are required to keep trees and brush out of transmission rights-of-way, we do understand they are an important part of the landscape. Since 2013, we’ve donated over $425,000 to support community planting projects and establish quality pollinator habitat within transmission rights of way. 

Visit atcllc.com to learn more.

KEYS TO SUCCESS RIGHT PLANT FOR THE GROWING CONDITIONS PROPER SOIL PREPARATION POST PLANTING CARE

SUNNY, HOT & DRY LOCATIONS AMEND THE SOIL

• Water thoroughly, when needed, to establish a drought tolerant root system • Some also tolerate moist conditions, making them suitable for rain gardens • Mulch - cover the soil with leaves, evergreen needles or other organic matter to conserve soil moisture

MINIMUM SPACING DISTANCE LISTED WITH EACH PLANT HEIGHT MAY VARY WITH GROWING CONDITIONS

BLUE FALSE INDIGO - Baptisia australis • 3-4’ tall • Space 3’ • Blooms May - June • Moist, well-drained soils • Butterflies • Deer and rabbit resistant • Tap root helps it adapt, but challenging to move

established plants • Zones 3 to 9

AMSONIA Amsonia tabernaemontana, A. hubrichtii

• 2-3’ tall • Space 3’ • Blooms May - June • Moist, well-drained soils • Hummingbirds, butterflies, pollinators • Deer and rabbit resistant • Steel blue flowers • Golden yellow fall color • Zones 3 to 9

SALVIA - Salvia nemerosa • 1-2’ tall • Space 1 to 2’ • Full sun to part shade • Blooms June - September (if deadheaded) • Organic soils, occasionally dry • Bats, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, pollinators,

songbirds • Zones 4 to 8

CATMINT - Nepeta x faassenii • 18-30” tall • Space 18 to 24” • Blooms June - August • Moist, well-drained soils • Fragrant foliage • Hummingbirds, butterflies, pollinators • Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 3 to 8

About Grow Smart®

ATC’s Grow Smart® program encourages planting low-growing, native perennials within the transmission rights-of-way. This flowering vegetation can thrive within the rights-of-way, making utility corridors ideal for pollinators who benefit from the contiguous flight path.

Once established, the native vegetation beautifies the right-of-way and provides exceptional habitat for other species, while also maintaining the safety and reliability of the electric grid.

ATC is uniquely positioned to help establish habitat for pollinators because of the 9,921 miles of transmission line right-of-way we manage. Approximately 40% of our rights-of-way have been identified as having suitable pollinator habitat.

Visit atc-GrowSmart.com for low-growing, native plant suggestions.

THREADLEAF COREOPSIS - Coreopsis verticillata • 2-3’ tall • Space 12 to 24” • Blooms June - September • Well-drained to dry soils • Butterflies • Deer resistant • Divide every few years to improve non-stop

flowering without deadheading • Zones 3 to 9

HOARY VERVAIN - Verbena stricta • 2-4’ tall • Space 1’

Not aggressive • Blooms July - September

4 to 6 weeks • Loam and sandy soil

Drought tolerant • Hummingbirds, butterflies, pollinators, host

plant • Deer resistant • Zones 3 to 8

OXEYE SUNFLOWER - Heliopsis helianthoides • 3-6’ tall • Space 1’ • Blooms July - September • Clay, loam, sandy soil

Tolerates fertile soil • Birds, butterflies, pollinators, host plant • Deer resistant • Zones 3 to 8

PURPLE CONEFLOWER - Echinacea purpurea • 3-4’ tall • Space 1’ • Blooms July - September • Well-drained to dry soils • Birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, pollinators • Deer resistant • Zones 3 to 8

BEE BALM - Monarda didyma • 2-4’ tall • Space 2’ • Blooms July - August • Moist, well-drained soils • Fragrant foliage • Hummingbirds, butterflies, pollinators • Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 4 to 9

RATTLESNAKE MASTER Eryngium yuccifolium

• 3-5’ tall • Space 1’ • Clay, loam, sand soils

Tolerates dry soil • Blooms June - August • Butterflies, pollinators • Deer resistant • Zones 4 to 9

About Melinda

Nationally known gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers has over 30 years of horticulture experience and has written over 20 gardening books, including Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening, the Midwest Gardener's Handbook, and Jackson and Perkins’ Beautiful Roses Made Easy. She hosts the nationally-syndicated “Melinda’s Garden Moment” program airing on over 115 TV and radio stations throughout the U.S. Melinda also hosts the internationally distributed Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series, including the latest Food Gardening for Everyone DVD set. She is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine, writes the twice monthly “Gardeners’ Questions” newspaper column and a nationally-distributed gardening column. She appears regularly as a guest expert on national and local television and radio shows.

Visit Melinda’s website, melindamyers.com

BLACK-EYED SUSAN - Rudbeckia • 2-3’ tall • Space 2 to 3’ • Blooms summer thru fall • Well-drained to dry soils • Birds, butterflies, pollinators, host plant • Deer resistant • Look for leaf spot resistance

Little Goldstar American Goldrush

• Zones 3 to 9

BUTTERFLY WEED - Asclepias tuberosa • 2-3’ tall • Space 12 to18” • Blooms June - August • Well-drained to dry soils • Hummingbirds, butterflies, pollinators • Monarch host plant • Deer resistant • Slow to emerge in spring, so mark the location

to avoid accidentally digging up the plants • Zones 3 to 9

SUMMER BEAUTY ALLIUM Allium ‘Summer Beauty’

• 12-20” tall • Space 12 to 18” • Blooms July - August • Well-drained to dry soils • Butterflies, pollinators • Sterile seeds • Deer and rabbit resistant

Millenium - another summer bloomer • Zones 4 to 8

LAVENDER - Lavandula angustifolia • 12-24” tall • Space 12 to 18” • Blooms June - August • Well-drained to dry soils • Fragrant flowers and foliage • Butterflies, pollinators • Deer and rabbit resistant • Munstead, Hidcote - good hardiness • Good drainage key to survival • Zones 5 to 9

THYME - Thymus spp. • 3-12” tall • Space 12 to 18” • Well-drained, loam and sandy soil • Blooms summer • Bees, butterflies • Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 4 to 9

CALAMINT - Calamintha nepeta nepeta • 12-18” • Space 12 to 24” • Blooms June - September • Moist, well-drained soils • Fragrant foliage • Butterflies, pollinators • Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 4 to 9

Sign up for myFREENewsletter!

Get the chance to win a seasonal prize!

S I G N U P N O W

COMPASS PLANT - Silphium laciniatum • 5-10’ tall • Space 2’ • Full sun • Blooms July - September • Well-drained to dry soil • Birds, butterflies, pollinators • Zones 4 to 9

LAVENDER HYSSOP - Agastache foeniculum • 2-4’ • Space 1’

Reseeds readily • Loam and sand soils • Full sun to part shade • Blooms July - September • Hummingbirds, birds, butterflies, pollinators • Deer resistant • Zones 2 to 6

RUSSIAN SAGE - Perovskia atriplicifolia • 3-5’ tall • Space 30 to 36” • Blooms July - September • Well-drained to dry soils • Fragrant foliage • Butterflies, pollinators • Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 4 to 9

SEDUM - Sedum • 2-24” tall • Spacing varies with species • Blooms June - September • Well-drained to dry soils • Butterflies, pollinators • Zones 3 to 9

GOLDENROD - Solidago • 12-36” tall • Space 15 to 20” • Blooms July - September • Moist, well-drained soils • Birds, butterflies, pollinators • Deer resistant • Zones 3 to 8

ASTER - Symphyotrichum spp. • 2-6’ tall • Space 2’ • Clay, loam and sand soils

Varies with species • More drought tolerant varieties include:

Big leaf Blue wood Calico Heath Smooth blue Sky blue White

• Full sun to part sun • Blooms August - October • Birds, butterflies, pollinators, host plant • Deer resistant • Zones 3 to 7

UPCOMING APPEARANCES &

WEBINARS Check often as more appearances and

webinars continue to be added.

September 25th In-Person Green Bay Botanical Garden

Ask the Plant Doctor Q&A

September 30th Webinar Shade Gardening for Beauty

and Pollinator Appeal

October 9th In-Person Sanger House Gardens

Everything You Need to Know About Hydrangeas

October 20th Webinar Kid & Pet Friendly Houseplants

October 27th Webinar Pruning Tips for Shrubs

BLUE FESCUE - Festuca glauca • 6-10” tall • Space 1’ • Blooms June - July • Well-drained to dry soils • Salt tolerant • Deer resistant • Zones 4 to 9

FEATHER REED GRASS - Calamagrostis • 4-5’ tall • Space 2’ • Blooms June - July • Moist, well-drained soils, adaptable • Salt tolerant • Zones 5 to 9

INDIAN GRASS - Sorghastrum nutans • 3-5’+ tall • Space 1 to 2’ • Blooms August - September • Clay, loam, sandy soil

Drought tolerant • Birds • Deer resistant • Blue-green leaves turn gold in fall • Zones 3 to 9

SIDE OATS GRAMA - Bouteloua curtipendula • 2-3’ tall • Space 1’ • Blooms August - September • Loam and sandy soil • Birds, host plant • Deer resistant • Zones 3 to 9

PRAIRIE DROPSEED - Sporobolus heterolepsis • 2-3’ tall • Space 2’ • Blooms August - September

Fragrant flowers Seeds coated with ice look like gems in the garden

• Moist, well-drained soils • Birds, pollinators • Foliage turns gold in fall • Zones 3 to 9

LITTLE BLUESTEM - Schizachyrium scoparium • 2-3’ tall • Space 1’ • Blooms August - October • Well-drained to dry soils • Birds, butterflies • Great foliage

Blue-green, turning reddish-bronze with tufted seeds

• Zones 3 to 9

SWITCHGRASS - Panicum virgatum • 3-8’ tall • Space 30 to 36” • Blooms July - September • Moist, well-drained soils • Birds, host plant • Zones 4 to 9

MOISTURE LOVING / TOLERANT PLANTS • Check Soil Drainage Before Planting • Improve drainage

Soil amendment Raised beds French drains

• Create a rain garden Divert roof runoff to plantings instead of storm sewers

SKUNK CABBAGE Symplocarpus foetidus

• 2-3’ tall • Space 2’ • Blooms March - April • Part shade • Bog garden, naturalizing • Deer resistant • Zones 4 to 7

MARSH MARIGOLD Caltha palustris

• 12-18” tall • Space 12-18” • Blooms April - June • Full sun to part shade • Deer resistant • Zones 4 to 9

BLUE FLAG IRIS - Iris versicolor • 2-3’ tall • Space 1’ • Blooms June - July • Full sun to part shade • Hummingbirds, butterfies,

pollinators

• Water gardens, naturalizing • Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 2 to 7

SIBERIAN IRIS - Iris sibirica • 2-4’ tall • Space 1’ • Blooms June • Full sun to part shade • Butterfies, pollinators • Deer and rabbit resistant • Fall color • Zones 3 to 9

ROGER’S FLOWER Rodgersia

• 3-5’ tall • Space 3-4’ • Blooms June - August • Part shade • Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 5 to 9

SWAMP MILKWEED / RED MILKWEED Asclepias incarnata

• 3-5’ tall • Space 12-18”

• Blooms June - July Fragrant

• Full sun • Hummingbirds, birds,

butterflies, pollinators • Monarch host plant • Zones 3 to 9

LIGULARIA - Ligularia • 3-6’ tall • Space 2-4’ • Blooms June - September • Butterflies, pollinators • Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 4 to 8

QUEEN OF THE PRAIRIE Filipendula rubra

• 4-8’ tall • Space 2’ • Blooms June - July • Full sun to part shade • Butterflies, pollinators • Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 3 to 9

WILD BERGAMOT Monarda fistulosa

• 2-5’ tall • Space 2’ • Blooms July - September • Full sun to part shade • Birds, hummingbirds,

butterflies, pollinators, host plant

• Deer and rabbit resistant • Zones 3 to 9

CARDINAL FLOWER Lobelia cardinalis

• 2-4’ tall • Space 6-12” • Blooms July - September • Full sun to part shade • Hummingbirds, butterflies,

pollinators, host plant • Short lived, but self-seeds • Zones 3 to 9

SWAMP ROSE MALLOW Hibiscus moscheutos

• 4-6’ tall • Space 2-3’ • Blooms July - September • Full sun to part shade • Hummingbirds, pollinators • Zones 4 to 9

GREAT BLUE LOBELIA Lobelia siphilitica

• 1-4’ tall • Space 1’

Forms colonies if properly sited Not overly aggressive

• Blooms July - September • Easier than Cardinal Flower

• Hummingbirds, butterflies, pollinators, host plant

• Deer resistant • Zones 3 to 9

TURTLEHEAD - Chelone • 2-4’ tall • Space 18-24” • Blooms August -

September • Full sun to part shade • Butterflies, pollinators, host

plant • Deer resistant • Zones 3 to 8

IRONWEED - Vernonia • 4-8’ • Space 2-4’ • Blooms July - August • Full sun to part shade • Butterflies, pollinators, host

plant • Deer resistant • Zones 4 to 9

JOE PYE WEED - Eupatorium • 3-7’ tall • Space 18-36” • Blooms July - September • Full sun to part shade • Butterflies, pollinators, host

plant • Deer resistant • Zones 3 to 9

SEDGES - Carex • 6-48” tall • Space 1’ • Blooms April - September

(varies with species) • Full sun to shade • Host plant • Deer resistant • Zones 2 to 9

Melinda’s Webinars are Available On Demand!WATCH NOW

MISS A WEBINAR?Join me September 30th at 6:30pm for

Shade Gardening for Beauty and

Pollinator Appeal

Can’t make it?

Watch the recording On Demand

beginning October 1st.

Thank You to American Transmission Co. for Sponsoring this Webinar

Visit atc-growsmart.com

MELINDAMYERS.COM ✦ Audio tips✦ Video tips✦ Frequently asked questions✦ Monthly gardening checklists & more✦ Be sure to sign up for my E-newsletter to get timely gardening tips and a chance to win

Melinda’s Garden Moment nationally syndicated TV and Radio segments

Birds & Blooms magazine

Books• Midwest Gardener’s Handbook• Small Space Gardening• Midwest Lawn Guides• Minnesota & Wisconsin Getting Started Garden Guide

The Great Courses’ How to Grow Anything DVD Series• Food Gardening for Everyone• Make Your Trees and Shrubs Thrive

• Month-by-Month Gardening in Minnesota & Wisconsin• Michigan Getting Started Garden Guide• Month-by-Month Gardening in Michigan• Month-by-Month Gardening in Iowa

• Your Best Garden and Landscape• Container Gardening Tips and Techniques

CONNECT WITH ME