Garden Designs

Use these native perennial garden designs as a guide to help create a pollinator garden that is right for your space. Plant availability can vary each week at our recommended local suppliers (Midwest Natives Nurseries in Lincoln, Nebraska and Bumbling Bees Native Wildflowers in Omaha, Nebraska), so try to check ahead for posted available plant lists.

These designs are specifically for the midwest region. Each garden contains blooming flowers for spring, summer, and fall (food sources), milkweed (monarch host plant), and grasses/sedges (for shelter and nesting).

Click on the image below to get more details on each garden design.

Rainbow Sandy/Loam Soil (3 ft Max)

A plant arrangement diagram of a garden with labeled plant types arranged in circles of different sizes, showing back and front garden layout, with height and width measurements.

Rainbow Clay Soil (3 ft Max)

A gardening chart displaying Nebraska Monarchs with colored circles representing different plant types, arranged on a 10-foot by 6-foot grid labeled with plant names.

Rainbow (5 ft Max)

A garden planting diagram showing various plants, trees, and shrubs with labels and colored circles indicating their spacing and placement for a 6-foot tall garden.

Cool Colors (5 ft Max)

Garden planting zone map showing different types of plants and their suitable zones, with measurements in feet for front and back of the garden.

Rain/Wet Feet (5 ft Max)

Diagram of two garden designs, Rain Garden and Wet Feet. Each shows plant placements, size circles, and labels for plants like Ohio Spiderwort, River Oats, Prairie Blazing Star, and others. The Rain Garden is for larger, well-drained areas, and the Wet Feet is for lower, wetter spots.

Shade (5 ft Max)

Guide to planting Nebraska Monarchs garden with labeled zones for Swamp Milkweed, Shorts Aster, Anise Hyssop, Elm-Leaf Goldenrod, Plains Oval Sedge, and Wild Columbine.