We don't have design layouts, but you can explore resources like Howard County's pollinator garden sample designs linked on our Pollinator Gardens web page. Another option is to consider hiring (either as a designer, installer, and/or maintenance help) someone with a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional credential, as that program trains people in the horticulture industry in sustainable landscaping techniques (which includes the use of native plants).

Although we don't maintain a list of suppliers or make specific supplier recommendations, we do recommend supporting local nursery/garden center businesses when feasible, but there are also some web-based nurseries that specialize in growing natives and shipping plants. Look for sources that have a known, local provenance when possible, which means the genetics of the plant (where they collected seed originally) were acquired from habitats fairly local to you (mid-Atlantic piedmont or coastal plain in this case) so the plants are as well-matched to our growing conditions as possible. Not all growers know the provenance of their plants, but some do, and you could always ask them if they don't list one. Plants from well outside our provenance (say, a nursery that focuses on prairie native plants, some of which also grow in our area) may grow just fine, but if their genetics mingles with local wild populations of those same species, it might introduce traits not helpful to their survival.

When choosing plants for the installation, start with those that mature the largest, which will likely be any evergreen trees or shrubs you want to include, and then work your way down to the perennials. That way, you can account for the space that the shrubs/trees will need as they mature, so they aren't too crowded. Deciduous shrubs/trees are more forgiving of crowding than evergreens.

For perennials, planting trials with native plants have found that denser planting at the start of the installation (as opposed to the traditional approach of leaving plenty of space for them to fill in over time) can help to fill a space faster with respect to out-competing weeds so there is less maintenance overall. Some perennials are vigorous/aggressive spreaders while others remain as a compact clump, so take into consideration which pattern they follow so you can mix aggressive species with each other and more subdued species with each other so they don't get overwhelmed by the aggressive growers. For example, Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is not very aggressive, while Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is. Any native milkweed (Asclepias) will support Monarch butterflies as a caterpillar food source, and lots of pollinators overall as a nectar/pollen source, so use whichever species you like in terms of aesthetics which also suit the site conditions. (Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, prefers damp soil while Butterfly Weed does better with drier sites.)

Additionally, look for a range of species to include in the garden that have a variety of bloom times, so they support a wider range of pollinators and wildlife. Spring blooms can help recently-emerged and hungry queen bumble bees, for instance, in addition to ruby-throated hummingbirds arriving on their northbound migration. Many plants popular with butterflies and bees are in the mint and aster families, like those you listed, though milkweeds and plenty of other perennials and shrubs have flowers that benefit several species. If a quarter-acre is too daunting in terms of setup cost or maintenance (weeding will always be a task, especially as a new garden establishes for its first few years), you can always start with a smaller area, see what works (in terms of both how plants fare and how you like the look), and expand the garden over time.

Miri