Planning a garden that supports pollinators does not mean you have to choose only native plants.
A new study from the Chicago Botanic Garden and Northwestern University found some flowers grown for their brilliant colors and great smells did as well as native wildflowers in attracting bees, butterflies and other insects.
In the journal Ecosphere, researchers found pollinators liked varieties of black-eyed Susan called Goldstrum and Viette’s Little Suzy, aromatic asters called October Skies and Raydon’s Favorite and foxglove beardtongue called Pocahontas and Husker Red as much as they liked the wildflower versions.
One of the researchers stressed cultivars are widely available at garden centers and while some did not perform as well as native flowers, they still brought more pollinators to the yard than basic lawn grass.
