Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year The benefits of creating a diverse garden, rich with native wildflowers are well documented. Increasingly, home gardeners are urged to participate in a revolutionary shift in the way that we landscape. The responsibility to protect and conserve valuable pollinators no longer falls exclusively on the shoulders of ecologists, entomologists and restoration professionals. Our choices in landscape plants can reflect and promote the outstanding plant and insect biodiversity found in Georgia. This responsibility may be daunting for some. Where do I start? What do I plant? And where do I source them? A new program, Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year, aims to provide the answers. This program annually recognizes four top-performing landscape plants in four categories: Spring Bloomer, Summer Bloomer, Fall Bloomer and Georgia Native. Selections are nominated by gardeners across the state and are voted on by a committee of entomologists, horticulturists, green industry professionals and plant conservationists in order to promote species that look stunning in the garden and provide high ecological value.
Spring Bloomer
Fall Bloomer
Summer Bloomer
Georgia Native
False Rosemary (Conradina canescens)
Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
Downy Goldenrod (Solidago petiolaris)
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
False Rosemary is a dwarf evergreen shrub in the mint
Sweet Pepperbush is a small to medium
This drought-tolerant wildflower is one of the
This attractive native wildflower needs no introduction
family. This is an outstanding plant for xeric gardens
sized deciduous shrub excellent for shade or
smaller goldenrods standing at 1-3’ tall. In late
and is well-loved for its ability to host caterpillars of
and requires well-drained soil. Fragrant evergreen
rain gardens. This shrub bursts to life in the
summer to fall, this plant puts on a dramatic
the Monarch Butterfly, Queen Butterfly, and Milkweed
leaves give rise to swathes of delicate purple flowers
heat of summer when attractive spikelets of
show of color as spikes of sunny yellow flower
Tussock Moth. Gardeners delight in long-lasting bright
in the springtime providing an excellent source of
white flowers emerge from glossy dark-green
clusters reach toward the sky. Look no further
orange blooms that attract numerous insect pollinators.
nectar and pollen to early emerging native bees.
foliage. The fragrant blooms are attractive to
for a high-impact pollinator plant. Downy
This is an excellent drought-tolerant plant to include in
Allow its branches to drape down the side of a stone
many pollinators, especially bumble bees, and
Goldenrod supports at least 112 species of
your perennial border, wildflower meadow, or potted
wall or pot for a dramatic and lush effect.
even the occasional hummingbird
butterflies and moths and attracts a delightful
display.
array of other native pollinators.