The Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year program annually recognizes four top performing landscape plants that support pollinators and grow beautifully in a garden. Plants will be recognized and promoted from the following categories: Spring Bloomer, Summer Bloomer, Fall Bloomer and Georgia Native. Seasonal selections may or may not be native.
Nominations are solicited from gardeners throughout Georgia and are then determined by a selection committee based on each plant’s horticultural value, ease of propagation and ecological significance.
We recognize the need for collaboration across all steps of production and marketing, from grower to consumer, in order to improve the availability of appropriate pollinator-supporting plants statewide. This program represents the combined efforts of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, growers, entomologists, landscape professionals and conservationists across the state. The program is funded in part by the Vaughn-Jordan Foundation.
Our Goals
- Create a network of horticultural professionals through which plant materials and propagation techniques can be shared.
- Increase statewide availability and diversity of pollinator-supporting plants for consumers.
- Teach the importance of plant selection for supporting pollinators in human landscapes.
Previous GPPY winners
Get Involved
Plant lovers
Nominate your favorite pollinator plants. Anyone can participate in the nomination process. We want to know which plants Georgians think perform well in their gardens and support high pollinator diversity.
Growers
Help us grow more of the winning plants. The State Botanical Garden of Georgia will serve as a seed source for difficult to find plant selections. Limited quantities available.
Retailers
Let us know if you carry any of the winning plants in your store. We want to celebrate growers and retailers who are increasing the availability of pollinator plants.
Gardeners
Plant winning plants in your garden. Click here for a list of participating retailers.
Spring Bloomer – Robin’s Fleabane
Erigeron pulchellus ‘Lynnhaven Carpet’
About: Robin’s Fleabane is a perennial with 6-12-inch flowering stems that provide an evergreen, carpet-like ground cover. The textured foliage bursts into bloom in the spring with small white to light purple daisy-like flowers.
Propagation: Spreads readily via rhizomes and is easily propagated through division.
Growing Conditions: Prefers full to part sun and can grow in diverse soil conditions.
Conservation Value: Supports many native pollinators, including bees, butterflies and songbirds.
Consumer Appeal: Minimal maintenance, drought-tolerant ground cover that has a pop of color in the spring and provides weed suppression year-round.
Summer Bloomer – Spotted Horsemint
Monarda punctata
About: Spotted Horsemint is a biennial, up to 3 feet tall, in the mint family that blooms into beautifully complex, yellow-spotted flowers with pink bracts during the summer months.
Propagation: Easy to propagate from seed.
Growing Conditions: Full to part sun in average soil conditions.
Conservation Value: Provides resources for various pollinators, including bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds. Notably, it serves as a host plant for the Gray Marvel Moth and the Snout Moth and supports several specialized bees. The stems are also used as nesting material for overwintering insects.
Consumer Appeal: Minimal maintenance perennial with aromatic foliage and intriguing flowers. Blooms on and off for several weeks from early to mid-summer.
Fall Bloomer – White Wood Aster
Eurybia divaricata
About: White Wood Aster is a perennial in the aster family that typically grows up to 3 feet tall. It has attractive heart-shaped leaves and showy white flowers in late summer through fall. The center of the flowers turns from yellow to red after being pollinated, providing more color and intrigue in the garden.
Propagation: Easy to propagate by seed and division.
Growing Conditions: Grows in part sun to deep shade and in various soil types.
Conservation Value: Supports pollinators like bees and butterflies. Notably, it is a larval host for the Pearl Crescent butterfly. Birds and small mammals eat the seeds.
Consumer Appeal: Has the rare trifecta of being tolerant of shade, deer and drought. Its blooms are showy and abundant, creating a beautiful garden display in the fall.
Georgia Native – American Witchhazel
Hamamelis virginiana
About: American Witchhazel is a shrub or small tree that averages 15 feet tall but can get up to 35 feet. It explodes into a display of bright yellow, firework-like flowers in mid-fall to early winter.
Propagation: Propagation is relatively easy via seed and cuttings.
Growing Conditions: Grows in full sun to part shade in moist to medium soil.
Conservation Value: Can flower in late autumn and early winter, which helps insects in a time of otherwise low resource availability. The flowers attract noctuid moths and other beneficial insects, and birds and mammals enjoy the fruits.
Consumer Appeal: Its flowers provide a pop of bright yellow during the winter when other plants are dormant.
