Native plant gardening has been ranked as one of the top three landscape and garden trends over the past few years, in part because of the benefits that they offer to pollinators. However, native plants are not widely planted by home gardeners, and only limited selections can be found at many retail nurseries. This talk will share research conducted by the OSU Garden Ecology Lab for the past four years, and will address questions such as:
Which Willamette Valley native plants are most attractive to pollinators?
Why aren't native plants more broadly available for purchase?
What native plants are most attractive (according to Oregon gardeners), and which native plant traits gave gardeners concern?
Are native cultivars a good approach to some of the problems associated with the production and sale of native plants?
Do pollinators visit native cultivars as much as they do native plants?
Finally, we will end with our recommendations for native plants that western Oregon gardeners should plant, if they want to support Oregon's pollinators.
About the presenter:
Gail Langellotto, Ph.D. is a Professor of Horticulture and the statewide coordinator of Oregon's Extension Master Gardener program. Together with her lab group, the Garden Ecology Lab, she studies the plants, insects, animals, people, decisions, and management practices that either improve or degrade a garden's ability to promote environmental and human health.