Plants Pollinators Love

If you're trying to make your garden more pollinator friendly, knowing which plants to grow is key.

- SAM HOADLEY

Sam Hoadley, manager of horticultural research at Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware, leads a team of researchers who conduct plant trials on native plant species and their cultivars and hybrids. Each 3- to 5-year trial evaluates the performance and ornamental value of a plant and measures its attractiveness to pollinators. Based on these tests, he has shared some of the best plants you can grow to help birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects.

START WITH THE SPECIES

It's true that native plants often attract lots of pollinators. But two cultivars, 'Jeana' garden phlox and 'Jacob Cline' bee balm, were head and shoulders above the other plants in their respective trials. Sam explains that these are wild selections, which means they were found to have occurred naturally without typical human intervention, so the blooms are very similar to the species.

Even if we can't immediately tell the difference between different species and varieties, the insects often can. For example, Mt. Cuba's coreopsis study had 25 different species and cultivars in a field full of mostly yellow flowers, and different bee species had definite favorites.

Bumble bees were often found visiting 'Flower Tower' or 'Redshift'; dark sweat bees preferred C. delphiniifolia or Moonbeam', and honey bees really liked 'Golden Gain' and 'Route 66.