2024 New Year’s Pollinator Challenge – Add More Native Plants to Your Garden

If you’ve taken part in the annual Pollinator Census sponsored by the University of Georgia, you’ll want to know that they are already gearing up for the count this summer and they have a job for you right now.

The 2024 New Year’s Pollinator Challenge for participants is to add at least two new native pollinator plants to your garden this year.

Native plants are underappreciated but typically hardier than non-native cultivars and they generally require less soil amending. They typically do well in native soil types and can be magnets for our native pollinators.

Amy Dabbs is the coordinator with the South Carolina Pollinator Census project which also joins the Georgia UGA project in the count.

Dabbs said one good native plant to put in your garden that attracts pollinators is red or coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) because of the long bloom time.

The perennial favorite attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds and was named one of the University of Georgia’s 2002 Pollinator Plants of the Year.

The fifth annual Pollinator Census takes place in August and is open to residents of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Coordinated by the University of Georgia Extension Service it’s designed to
provide data for researchers who work on pollinator populations and over time helps them spot trends in pollinator populations.