Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium reptans)
Jacob’s Ladder provides not only much-needed floral beauty in the springtime but also essential nourishment for some of our earliest pollinators. The flowers offer an important source of pollen and nectar for native bees when many other things are not yet blooming. The supply keeps coming because new flowers open every day. These flowers also attract butterflies, skippers, and moths, and are the host plant of the specialist Mining bee Andrena polemonii (Holm, 2017). Like many spring-blooming natives, the bloom time on Jacob's Ladder is short but sweet with an abundance of flowers. This is a great springtime, shade-loving plant to feed those native bees! Jacob’s Ladder is considered threatened in Michigan (mnfi.anr.msu.edu).
Jacob’s Ladder provides not only much-needed floral beauty in the springtime but also essential nourishment for some of our earliest pollinators. The flowers offer an important source of pollen and nectar for native bees when many other things are not yet blooming. The supply keeps coming because new flowers open every day. These flowers also attract butterflies, skippers, and moths, and are the host plant of the specialist Mining bee Andrena polemonii (Holm, 2017). Like many spring-blooming natives, the bloom time on Jacob's Ladder is short but sweet with an abundance of flowers. This is a great springtime, shade-loving plant to feed those native bees! Jacob’s Ladder is considered threatened in Michigan (mnfi.anr.msu.edu).
Jacob’s Ladder provides not only much-needed floral beauty in the springtime but also essential nourishment for some of our earliest pollinators. The flowers offer an important source of pollen and nectar for native bees when many other things are not yet blooming. The supply keeps coming because new flowers open every day. These flowers also attract butterflies, skippers, and moths, and are the host plant of the specialist Mining bee Andrena polemonii (Holm, 2017). Like many spring-blooming natives, the bloom time on Jacob's Ladder is short but sweet with an abundance of flowers. This is a great springtime, shade-loving plant to feed those native bees! Jacob’s Ladder is considered threatened in Michigan (mnfi.anr.msu.edu).
Life Cycle: Perennial
Sun Exposure: Full, Partial shade, Shade (It prefers mostly shade)
Soil Moisture: Medium-wet, Medium, Medium-dry
Height: 12 inches
Plant Spacing: 6-12 inches
Bloom Time: April - June
Bloom Color: Purple
Advantages: Pollinator Favorite, Deer Resistant, Great landscaping plant
Host plant: 1 species of butterfly and moth in our area (nwf.org)
Species of Concern: State Status: Threatened (legally protected). State Rank: Imperiled (mnfi.anr.msu.edu)
Specialist Bee: Mining bee Andrena polemonii (Holm, 2017)
Complementary Plants: Wild Geranium, Native Ferns, White Baneberry
Resource: Holm, Heather. Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide. Pollination Press LLC, 2017
