A three-year garden experiment conducted by Oregon State University found that wild native plants tend to draw more pollinator visits than their cultivated counterparts. Specifically, pollinators preferred wild native plants about 37 % of the time, whereas cultivars were preferred only about 8 % of the time.

The study emphasises that differences in visitation depend on both the specific plant and pollinator groups. Some cultivars performed equally well, especially minimally modified ones, but overall the wild forms held a clear advantage.

For agronomists and land managers this suggests: in designing landscapes for pollinators, prioritising wild native plant varieties can improve outcomes. Cultivars are not inherently bad, but their ecological performance needs verification in the target setting.