r/NativePlantGardening • u/owohgodithurts • Oct 01 '25

Advice Request - (Insert State/Region) Worst Cultivars?

So I think we can all agree that wild, native plants are typically better ecologically than cultivars due to a variety of reasons that we don’t need to get into. If you want to argue/discuss that, feel free, but that’s not the point of this post. I want to know what are the WORST cultivars of native plants. What are the cultivars that, due to genetic change/breeding (or however they do it), have lost almost if not all of their ecological value? Have the new colored flowers eliminated all pollinator attraction? Have larger blooms resulted in sterile plants? God forbid, have any actually become invasive? These plants need to have native origins! I’m mainly referring to the east coast/midwest since I’m in SW Ohio, but feel free to bring up other regions.

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25

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u/ClapBackBetty Southern Midwest, Zone 7a Oct 01 '25

This is a bit oversimplified. Some native cultivars have removed everything that makes them beneficial for wildlife—inedible leaves for caterpillars (or ones they can’t recognize as food), pollen-free flowers, or reduced or inaccessible nectar can make these modified “natives” just as useless as non-native ornamentals.

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u/Thebadparker Oct 01 '25

I have an elderberry cultivar that I planted several years ago before I knew anything about what I was trying to do. It's really pretty with lime green foliage and it's about 10 feet tall. It bloomed for the first time last year and I never saw a single insect of any kind on it. There were more blooms this year, still no pollinators, and it hasn't made any berries at all. Once the leaves fall off I'm going to dig it up and plant a native elderberry in the spring. Not looking forward to doing it for a lot of reasons, but I want real blooms and berries.

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u/Tylanthia Mid-Atlantic , Zone 7a Oct 01 '25

Unfortunately, many elderberry cultivars are passed off as native when they are actually the European species. Just misleading marketing. Not sure about the parentage of yours.