In the past, we’ve participated in The Great Sunflower Project, which addresses a very important question: What is the size of the wild bee population (as opposed to managed honey bees).
How would we know if someone didn’t count them? That’s a perfect job for community scientists!
Initially, a cultivar of the native annual sunflower (Helianthus annuus ‘Lemon Queen’) was specified. Although the project provides sources for seeds, the first years I found it easier to purchase the required cultivar locally, and then later, when I needed organic, I just bought the seeds on Amazon.
After the first few years, the protocol was changed so that we could observe plants other than just the sunflowers.