Here are lists of top plants for pollinators, bumblebees and others | Home & Garden

Some plants in the garden go beyond just looking great.

Some gardens can be like a smorgasbord for different types of pollinators. By this time of year, when many plants are in bloom, the pollinators have many options, a big buffet of blooms.

Here’s a look at the top plants for different types of pollinators, butterflies and others, according to Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

Top plants for pollinators

Researchers at the bees, bugs and blooms garden based this list on the number of insect types visiting each plant.

1. Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)
2. Clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
3. Thoroughwort (Eupatorium hyssopifolium)
4. Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
5. ”Bartered Bride” Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum “Bartered Bride”)
6. Tall tickseed (Coreopsis tripteris)
7. Woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus)
8. Smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)
9. Spotted Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum)
10. Helen’s flower, or common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)

Top plants for butterflies

Here are the plants butterflies preferred most, along with the number of times researchers observed pollinators visiting the plant over a four-year period.

1. Coastal plain Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium dubium), 906 visits
2. Blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), 695 visits
3. Gateway Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum “Gateway”), 693 visits
4. Little Joe Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium dubium “Little Joe”), 689 visits
5. Hoary mountain mint (Pycnanthemum incanum), 451 visits
6. Hollow Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum), 448 visits
7. Clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), 405 visits
8. Virginia mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginum), 376 visits
9. Bluebird smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve “Bluebird”), 368 visits
10. Smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve), 330 visits

Top plants for total pollinator visits

1. Clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
2. Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)
3. Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
4. Gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)
5. Thoroughwort (Eupatorium hyssopifolium)
6. Dwarf blazing star (Liatris microcephala)
7. Coastal plain Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium dubium)
8. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
9. Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
10. Bluebird smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve “Bluebird”)

Top plant species for bumble bees

• Salvia
• American asters
• Mountain mint
• Goldenrod
• Monarda