Rattlesnake Master as a Nectar Plant

I hadn’t thought much about Rattlesnake Master being a plant for pollinators until I saw the insects on the plants! They were mostly skippers and scolia wasps. The plants look too prickly, but that doesn’t seem to deter the insects!

These are plants that were new last spring. The first bloom stalks tended to fall over because there were no other tall plants around to help support them. Now the stalks are in a clump and seem to stay upright. Next year there will be more stalks and it’s good to know that they will provide nectar for insects in the hottest part of the summer.

Rattlesnake Master is a prairie plant, and it is often planted for prairie restorations. It has certainly thrived during the first year of my native plant garden.