Sustainable   |   Natural   |   Organic

5 Stunning Plants to Attract Butterflies To Your Garden

sun-hat-3411821_960_720

5 Stunning Plants to Attract Butterflies To Your Garden

sun-hat-3411821_960_720

Coneflower (Echinacea) – Showcasing beautiful hues of purple, yellow, white and pink flowers, coneflowers are a must in any pollinator garden. Coneflowers are perennials and are native to the Eastern U.S. The plants are hardy and drought resistant. If starting plants from seed, they will need to be stratified. * Also, this plant happens to be a favorite food for pesky Japanese beetles, so careful monitoring may be needed.

monarch-butterfly-2466540_960_720

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) – Another favorite native plant, is a viable food and nesting source Monarch butterflies. The butterfly lays its eggs directly on the leaves and after the caterpillar’s hatch, they will immediately eat the leaves of the plant (it is the only food Monarch caterpillars will eat). 

Milkweed is a hardy, drought tolerant perennial and the flowers colors ranges from white to purple. If starting plants from seed, they will need to be stratified. *

common-snapdragon-795976_960_720

Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) – An old garden favorite, snapdragons are technically tender perennials, they are grown as annuals due to their lack of overwinter hardiness. However, the plants are easy to grow provided they are given cooler temps and moist, well-draining soil.  The flowers’ colors range includes red, pink, white, violet, yellow, peach, purple and orange. Many new varieties are actually bi-color and pretty spectacular.

madchenauge-1538269_960_720

Tickseed (Coreopsis) – Is an all-time favorite perennial in all-native or pollinator gardens. Popular varieties such as Lance-leaved Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) and Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) are deer resistant, hardy, easy to grow and offer a long blooming period. The flowers colors range from yellow, red and pink. Many varieties offer vibrant bicolor that are sure to compel many pollinators to any garden.

yarrow-339976_960_720

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) – A very hardy, native perennial that is very easy to grow, yarrow plants are drought tolerant, can grow in poor soils and have a high nutrient content, which is why it is used as ground cover or a cover crop in many orchards as a natural fertilizer.  The large flower heads also attract many beneficial insects. The flower colors range from white, red, yellow and pink flowers.

Additional Resources:

Wildflower.org

Pollinator.org

garda_dibble_seed_planting_garden_tool_banner

2 Comments

  1. tonytomeo
    June 22, 2018 at 12:15 am

    The monarch butterflies like the blue gum eucalyptus so much that they are neglecting to pollinate the native California poppy and other native plants that depend on them.

    1. The Editors of Garden Variety
      June 22, 2018 at 4:53 pm

      How terrible…. 🙂

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

Select the fields to be shown. Others will be hidden. Drag and drop to rearrange the order.
  • Image
  • SKU
  • Rating
  • Price
  • Stock
  • Availability
  • Add to cart
  • Description
  • Content
  • Weight
  • Dimensions
  • Additional information
  • Attributes
  • Custom attributes
  • Custom fields
  • Sold
  • Shipping
Click outside to hide the compare bar
Compare
Compare ×
Let's Compare! Continue shopping
1
0