Butterfly garden

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Butterfly garden plants  attract butterflies

Butterfly gardens are very popular because they attract an assortment of butterflies. The key to attracting butterflies is to provide them with plants where they can lay their eggs and feed on the nectar.  They are attracted to the nectar by smell as well as to the color of the flower. Flowers that are red, yellow, orange, pink and purple tend to be their favorite.  Butterflies also prefer flat topped, small clusters of flowers like lantana and flowers with short tubes (Azalea) for easy feeding.

If you would like to attract these elusive visitors to your garden here is a list of plants you can grow.

monarch butterfly

  • Plants for nectar:
    Anise Hyssop (Agastache)
    Aster spp.
    Azalea(Rhododendron spp.)
    Bee Balm (Monarda)
    Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) *
    Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)*
    Cardinal Flower (Lobelia)
    Cosmos
    Dianthus, pinks, sweet william
    Egyptian star flower (Pentas)
    Fernleaf yarrow (Achillea filipendulina)
    Foxglove (Digitalis)
    Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata)
    Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens)
    Honeysuckle vine (Lonicera)
    Hybrid delphinium (Delphinium spp.)
    Lantana (Lantana camara)
    Lavender (Lavendula)
    Marigold
    Orange, lemon,lime (Citrus spp.)
    Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
    Queen Ann”s Lace (Daucus carota)
    Rudbeckia , gloriosa daisy
    Sedum (Hylotelephium spectabile)
    Snapdragon (Antirrhinum)
    Spike gayfeather (Liatris spicata)
    Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)
    Tickseed (Coreoposis lanceolata)
    Verbena
    Yarrow
    Zinnia
  • Plants for Larval Food
    Black Cherry
    Carrot
    Clover
    Dill
    Elm
    Fennel
    Flowering crabapple
    Hollyhock mallow (Malva alcea)
    Milkweed (Asclepias)
    Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
    Passion flower (Passiflora spp.)
    Rose
    Salvia
    Spice bush (Lindera benzoin)
    Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipfera)
    Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii)
    Violet, Pansy
    Willow (Salix spp.)
    Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)