Yeah the rare versions for sure mitigate it a bit as an option. Again, dm intervention is required to get there. It's not quite as severe as my first impression but it's still awfully limited by things that are RAW and you can assume access to. Animal friendship and awaken seem like the only things that fit the bill without that intervention. Again, seems like not much is there for the investment required.Each conjure spell has a rare version that doesn't require concentration--which probably exists for exactly this reason. Of course, your Narrator will have to decide if you can get the rare version. But honestly, if you're spending your ASIs on these feats, I know I would.
There's also a rare version of animal friendship which is semi-permanent which should help provide you with animal allies--and that's not even considering that as a druid, you probably have befriended some animals, plants, and maybe even fey anyway.
Thanks for the thoughts! Glad we found a couple things more than just "see if you can convince that squirrel to be useful"