Annual Flowers at MSU Horticulture Farm (IMAGE)

Entomological Society of America

Annual Flowers at MSU Horticulture Farm

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While wildflowers and perennials are a must for supporting pollinators, there's no denying the popularity of many annual flowers for their colorful, visual appeal. A new study suggests choosing the right varieties can give annual flowers a role in nourishing bees and other pollinating insects in home gardens. In the two-year study, researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) observed pollinators visiting 25 different varieties, or cultivars, of the six most popular annual flower species in the United States, finding significant variation in apparent pollinator attractiveness between cultivars, even within the same flower species. Here, mixed groups of the flowers grow at the MSU Horticulture Farm in June 2017.

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Michigan State University

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