Year-Round Pollinator Support Palette

A planting guide to attract and sustain native pollinators year-round, while adding colour and structure to Australian landscapes.

This planting palette is designed for Australian specifiers and landscapers seeking to create landscapes that not only look good but also support biodiversity by providing continuous forage and habitat for pollinators. It combines flowering and host plants to deliver seasonal blooms, evergreen structure, and ecological value.

Below we explain the role of each plant in the palette, and where appropriate, suggest alternatives performing similar functions.

Ozbreed’s year-round pollinator support palette.

Why Support Pollinators Year-Round?

Pollinators, including native bees, butterflies, beetles, mammals, and birds, play a crucial role in ecosystem health and resilience. In urban and managed landscapes, floral resources are often concentrated throughout the warmer months, leaving gaps the rest of the year. By selecting a complementary suite of plants that flower at different times, it’s possible to provide year-round nectar, pollen, and shelter, supporting pollinator populations and improving plant reproduction across the site.

Recommended Pollinator Support Palette

Nafray® Cenchrus purpurascens ‘PA300’

• Function: Clumping ornamental grass that adds movement and structure, producing soft flower spikes that can shelter insects and contribute pollen. Its foliage is a host resource for native butterfly and moth larvae. Flowers in summer and autumn followed by grains.
• When to Use: In sunny, open positions, often at the foreground or mid-slope. Ideal in periodic wet and dry.
• Substitution Tips: Cream Lea® Cenchrus purpurascens is a larger variety with creamy white flower plumes that will provide similar functions. Alternatively, indigenous clumping grasses can be used.

Aussie Rambler™ Carpobrotus glaucescens ‘CAR10’ PBR

• Function: Spreading succulent groundcover with brilliant pink flowers that attract bees and other generalist pollinators. Flowers from spring to autumn.
• When to Use: On slopes, verges, and coastal plantings where low maintenance and high visual impact are required.
• Substitution Tips: Groundswell™ Hibbertia scandens‘HBS01′ PBR is an alternative groundcover with yellow flowers and similar toughness.

Crimson Villea™ Grevillea rosmarinifolia ‘H16’ PBR

• Function: Dense, mid-height shrub with vivid red flowers prized by nectar-feeding birds and insects. Also a host plant for butterfly and moth larvae. Flowers prolifically through winter to early spring.
• When to Use: As a low feature or informal hedge; provides both forage and shelter.
• Substitution Tips: For a groundcovering alternative, opt for Gold Cluster™Grevillea juniperina‘H22’.

Tropic Cascade™ Lomandra hystrix ‘LHWP’ PBR

• Function: Hardy, strappy plant with yellow flower spikes and fibrous roots that stabilise soil while offering pollen and seeds. Also a host plant. Flowers in spring and summer.
• When to Use: In periodic wet and dry sites, particularly around water features or swales.
• Substitution Tips: Katie Belles™ Lomandra hystrix ‘LHBYF’ PBR provides similar benefits but with foliage that doesn’t weep as much.

Coastal Pink™ Correa alba ‘COR10’ PBR [Sydney & South]

• Function: Compact shrub with soft pink flowers, highly attractive to native bees and birds. Also a host plant. Flowers in autumn and winter.
• When to Use: Along pathways or borders, or in hedging and screening, especially in cooler climates.
• Substitution Tips: For a low-growing sprawling shrub form, opt for Cherry Cluster™ Grevillea rhyolitica x juniperina‘TWD01’

Pink Fusion™ Scaevola humilis ‘PFS200’ PBR

• Function: Prolific groundcover with soft pink fan-shaped flowers that attract bees and butterflies. Also a host plant. Flowers almost all year round.
• When to Use: Foreground planting or to soften edges of hardscape elements. Allow it to ramble between taller plants as a living mulch.
• Substitution Tips: Purple Fusion™ Scaevola humulis ‘PFS100’ PBR offers a similar habit in a purple hue.

Macarthur™ Callistemon viminalis ‘LC01’ PBR

• Function: Small tree with abundant red bottlebrush flowers that support nectar-feeding birds and insects. Flowering strongest in spring.
• When to Use: As a focal point or upper layer in the planting scheme. Suitable for hedges and screening.
• Substitution Tips: Slim™ Callistemon viminalis ‘CV01’ PBR provides similar flowers in a narrower form for tighter spaces.

Baby Breeze™ Dianella ‘DCNC3’ PBR

• Function: Compact strappy plant producing small flowers and berries that add visual and ecological diversity. Also a host plant. Flowers for buzz pollinators in spring and summer.
• When to Use: Beneath taller shrubs or as mass planting for texture and low maintenance. Excellent low-mow lawn alternative.
• Substitution Tips: Lucia™ Dianella caerulea ‘DC101’ PBR can work well when a taller form is desired.

Best Practice Tips

• Combine plants that flower in complementary seasons to cover the full calendar year.
• Consider different mouth part shapes, and provide different flower shapes such as tubular and open.
• Include multiple layers (ground, shrub, tree) for habitat complexity and resilience.
• Use mass plantings of key species to ensure sufficient forage density.
• Consider site-specific conditions (e.g. exposure, soil type, maintenance) when choosing substitutions.
• Leave some leaf litter or coarse mulch to support ground-dwelling pollinators as well.

Conclusion

Supporting pollinators is not merely an aesthetic choice — it is a fundamental aspect of resilient and pest-resistant landscape design. This Year-Round Pollinator Support Palette provides ongoing resources for pollinators while meeting the aesthetic and functional needs of contemporary Australian landscapes.

By understanding each plant’s role — and knowing how to substitute them to suit site conditions — specifiers and landscapers can deliver designs that are ecologically valuable, visually appealing, and robust through the seasons.

For further guidance, consult the Ozbreed catalogue your supplier and site-specific recommendations to ensure the best fit for your project.