Plants that Attract Butterflies

Butterfly Bush
(Buddleia sp.)

Planting gardens with plants that butterflies love is the first step to attracting these most graceful insects. Other important considerations must be providing shelter (which many plants provide adequately on their own) and sacrificing the thought of any kind of pesticide application.

Butterflies rely upon the heat of the sun to maintain their own body temperature and are inactive until temperatures near 85F. Warm temperatures and pleasant days with low winds are a must for maximum activity. Butterfly boxes, the easiest way to provide wind shelter, are more readily available to provide shelter. They are meant, not so much as boxes for hibernation since many species fly to warmer climates for the winter, but more for shelter during summer days when temperatures are colder than optimum and weather is foul. They should be positioned at waist height levels (flower head level) in a sheltered spots in the landscape – away from potential preditors.

Pesticides should never be applied in a landscape where attracting butterflies is the goal – most pesticides are non-selective in their elimination and can eradicate the favored butterfly and mothpopulations, both larvae and adult populations, as well as the pests you are attempting to eliminate. ‘Organic’ methods of pest elimination have been found to be just as harmful.

Plants are used by both butterfly larvae (caterpillars) as a food source and by adult butterflies for flower nectar. It is important to provide both food and nectar for both of these life stages to attract the most butterflies. It would greatly benefit the gardener to provide shallow birdbaths and puddles in the butterfly garden – they are just as helpful to the butterfly as the bird. Incorporate small salt blocks (sodium is an important mineral used by male butterflies during mating season) at waist level - they will be used often.

When planning for butterfly gardening, keep in mind that butterflies can more easily access plants if gardens are designed in ‘mound’ habits with taller plants in the middle of islands or in the back of foundation plantings, gradually planting other species ‘stair-step like’ by heights leaving groundcovers or low plants at the outer or front borders.

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Shrubs and Trees                                    Perennials and Vines
Azaleas (Azalea sp.)                                                   Yarrow (Achillea sp.)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)                                          Hollyhocks (Alcea sp.)
Blue Mist Spirea (Caryopteris)                                  Columbine (Aquilegia sp.)
Quince (Chaenomeles japonica)                                  Artemesia (Artemesia (sp.)
Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)                                 Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Dogwood (Cornus sp.)                                               Asters (Aster sp.)
Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster)                                          Astilbe (Astilbe sp.)
Russian Olive (Eleagnus)                                             Boltonia (Boltonia sp.)
| Hibiscus Rose-of-Sharon (Althea sp.)                         Bellflower (Campanula sp.)
Privet (Ligustrum sp.)                                                  Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.)                                          Knapflower (Centaurea sp.)
Apple/ Crabapple (Malus sp.)                                     Mums (Chrysanthemum sp.)
Mochorange (philadelphus sp.)                                    Clematis (Clematis sp.)
Potentilla (Potentilla sp.)                                              Coreopsis/ tickseed (Coreopsis sp.)
Cherry (Prunus sp.)                                                      Dianthus (Dianthus sp.)
Rhododendron (Rhododendron sp.)                             Bleeding Heart (Dicentra sp.)
Willow (Salix sp.)                                                          Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Spirea (Spirea sp.)                                                         Blanket Flower (Gaillardia sp.)
Lilac (Syringa sp.)                                                         Geranium (Geranium sp.)
Snowball Bush (Viburnum sp.)                                     Daylilies (Hemerocallis sp.)
Korean Spice Bush (Viburnum sp.)                              Coral Bells (Heuchera sp.)
Weigela (Weigelia sp.)                                                   Candytuft (Iberis sp.)
Wisteria (Wisteria sp.)                                                  Sweet Pea (Lathyrus sp.)
                                                                                      Lavender (Lavendula sp.)
                                                                                      Gayfeather (Liatris sp.)

Annuals
Lily (Lilium sp.)                                                              Statice (Limonium sp.)
Ageratum                                                                      Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Parsley                                                                          Mint (Mentha sp.)
Verbena                                                                         Beebalm (Monarda sp.)
Nicotiana                                                                       Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis sylvatica)
Heliotrope                                                                     Catnip (Nepeta sp.)
Petunia                                                                          Evening Primrose (Oenothera sp.)
Cosmos                                                                         Penstemon (Penstemon sp.)
Zinnia                                                                            Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.)
Beans                                                                             Salvia (Salvia sp.)
Carrots                                                                          Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa sp.)
Bidens                                                                           Autumn Joy Sedum (Sedum x’ A.J.’)
Asters                                                                            Speedwell (Veronica sp.)