Viewing post #1192619 by whereami

An interesting question...I have tried to grow mostly native plants for the pollinators...odd thing is (and this is anecdotal...just 1 person's observations), this year the big, showy pollinators, i.e., the bees and butterflies seem to be in greatest numbers on the violets, dandelions and thistle!! I have VA bluebells, columbine, beardtongue etc. all the deer resistant plants I can think of and that are easily grown from seed yet the only pollinators I see consistently on these are, tiny wasps, assorted other small beetles and flies, and ants. So, grow the natives but if you really want to support the greatest number of species, keep your dandelions, the odd thistles (not Canada thistle!), common milkweed and mountain mint. In the fall, make sure you have some Solidago-goldenrods and asters! And...don't forget about the tiny pollinators