This year’s Annual Border is reaching its midsummer peak in an eye-catching swirl of vibrant colors and textures.

A border of flowers of many different heights and colors.
The Annual Border in July.

The border was curated by BBG gardener Wayken Shaw, who oversees Lily Pool Terrace, Magnolia Plaza, and the Annual and Perennial Borders. Designed as part of our Natural Attractions: A Plant-Pollinator Love Story exhibition and program series, it highlights some of the fascinating forms plants have evolved to attract different insect pollinators.

Guided by interpretive signage, visitors can explore many different shapes and sizes of blooms, which are factors that help determine which pollinators will visit, along with scent, color, and nectar guides. For example, bees often visit shallow flower shapes with a landing pad, while moths can often reach into longer trumpet-shaped blossoms, and beetles tend to go for large, bowl-like shapes.

Bear in mind that many of the plants featured in the Annual Border are nonnative cultivars that have been bred for showy blooms. If you want to support pollinators in your own growing space, it’s typically recommended that you prioritize “straight” (meaning they occur in the wild) native species that coevolved with native pollinators. 

Check out some of the standouts from the Annual Border below, and see if you can guess which pollinator might go for each!

Many small purple flowers with white centers.
Bees are often attracted to blue and purple flowers. (Seen here: Browallia americana ‘Blue Morn’.)
Three pink and white flowers with many petals and yellow centers.
Butterflies love the wide landing pad provided by zinnias (Zinnia marylandica DOUBLE ZAHARA RASPBERRY RIPPLE = ‘Pas1246684’).
Groups of purple, red, and white flowers.
This grouping of impatiens, sweet alyssum, and zinnia cultivars reflects a variety of floral shapes, sizes, and colors.
Three delicate yellow flowers with five petals against a background of green leaves and stems and other purple flowers.
Bidens species belong to the Asteraceae family, whose members are often visited by bee and butterfly pollinators. (Bidens ferulifolia ‘Golden Eye’)
Several bright pink flowers with many layers of petals and yellowish centers against a background of green stems.
Butterflies are attracted to bright pinks, as seen on these dahlia blooms, as well as oranges, reds, yellows, and purples. (Dahlia ‘Karma Corona’)
Multiple plants with red tubular blooms.
Salvia species are beloved by many different insect pollinators, as well as hummingbirds. (Salvia splendens RED AND WHITE = ‘Pas3287’)
A small bee rests on a large umbel-shaped white flower surrounded by other similar flowers.
Tiny flowers arranged in an umbel shape offer an easy landing spot for this small bee. (Visgnaga daucoides ‘Green Mist’)
A star-shaped yellow-peach flower with a yellow center and many petals covered in dew drops surrounded by greenery and other yellow flowers.
This dahlia cultivar (Dahlia ‘Mystic Illusion’) has an open, shallow bloom.
Several tubular red flowers.
The tubular shape of this bloom might appeal to visitors with a long tongue (or beak). (Petunia EASY WAVE RED = ‘Pas1360461’)

Enjoy the blooms!