The Plain Purple Aster That Outperformed Every Showy Garden Flower for Bees
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📰 The quick summary: A three-summer Oregon State University study found that a plain native purple aster outperformed all 23 tested native plants in attracting bee diversity, giving gardeners a simple, science-backed way to support pollinators.
📈 One key stat: Out of 23 native plants tested over three summers, just one, the Douglas aster, drew the highest bee diversity of the entire trial, showing how a single plant choice can make a measurable difference for pollinators.
💬 One key quote: “The plainest plant in the yard may be the most alive, and the one bees need most.“
1️⃣ The big picture: Pollinators like bees are in steep decline across much of the US, and the plants that fill most garden centers are often bred for looks rather than wildlife value. Researchers at Oregon State University set out to find which native plants actually perform best for bees in a home garden setting. Over three summers, they tracked bee visits across 23 native plant species, logging thousands of individual observations. Their results challenged a widespread assumption: showy cultivars, despite their bold colors and tidy shapes, consistently attracted fewer bees than their plain native counterparts. At the top of the rankings sat the Douglas aster, a loose, spreading wildflower with small purple blooms that feeds bees late in the season when most other flowers have already faded.
2️⃣ Why is this good news: Native plants are often just as affordable as cultivars at the nursery, meaning you can make a meaningful difference for pollinators without spending more. The Douglas aster blooms from late summer into fall, filling a critical food gap that most gardens leave wide open, giving bees a reliable late-season lifeline. Because the plant spreads underground over time, a single purchase can grow into a whole colony of blooms that feeds bumblebees, sweat bees, and dozens of other native species year after year. Stringing together pollinator-friendly gardens across a neighborhood creates a living corridor that supports not just bees but also the birds and other wildlife that depend on them. This research gives everyday gardeners clear, science-backed guidance, meaning your next plant purchase has the potential to ripple outward and help rebuild pollinator populations at a local level.
3️⃣ What’s next: The Oregon State University Garden Ecology Lab continues testing native plants to identify which ones help pollinators most, so more practical guidance for home gardeners is on the way. Gardeners across the Pacific Northwest can already find Douglas aster at many native plant nurseries and add it to their yards this season. Researchers and advocates are watching whether similar results hold in other regions, which could expand the reach of these findings well beyond Oregon.
Read the full story here: Ecoportal – Over three summers a lab compared 23 native plants in an Oregon garden, and one plain purple aster that gardeners walk right past drew more bees than every showy cultivar beside it
