Concerns over declining biodiversity in suburban areas have prompted some homeowners to incorporate more native plants into their landscapes. However, it is unknown whether the native plants that are commercially available, typically cultivated varieties (cultivars) of a single genotype, are the ecological equivalents of the local, wild-type plants. We compared the hemipteran communities supported by cultivars and wild-type plants for four species of native ornamental plants. Insect community composition, but not overall diversity, differed between cultivars and wild-type plants for each of the plant species. Other parameters, such as total insect abundance and insect biomass, also differed between cultivars and wild-type plants, but the direction of the difference changed over time and was not consistent among plant species. These data suggest that the source of plant material can affect organisms that depend on the plants for food, but overall, cultivars fulfill similar ecological roles as wild-type plants.