Butterfly Attracting Plants
This list of butterfly attracting plants is by no means complete but it does list most of the common perennial plants that do this job. (Hey, this is a perennial plant website so I get to stick to perennial plants here) :-)
But if you plant these insect-magnets in your garden, you’ll be delighted with the result. I do note that some of these plants are food sources so the caterpillar stage will eat the plant. And other plants are nectar sources so the adult butterfly will visit it to gather food.
So yes, I know the larval forms are not really attractive and yes, they munch on your plants but if you want the gorgeous butterfly – you have to start with the voracious larva.
The trick
The "trick" is to plant some of both plants at the back of your garden where you don’t care if the caterpillars munch away. You’ll be doing a great thing but not hurting the “look” of your garden.
Here are a few of the perennials you want to consider growing:
Achillea
Agapanthus
Agastache
Alcea
Allium
Anaphalis
Anchusa
Aquilegia
Arctanthemum
Asclepias
Aster
Baptisia
Belamcanda
Boltonia
Buddleia
Calamintha
Caryopteris
Centranthus
Ceratostigma
Chelone
Chrysanthemum
Cirsium
Coreopsis
Delosperma
Dianthus
Dictamnus
Echinacea
Echinops
Erigeron
Eryngium
Erysimum
Eupatorium
Euryops
Filipendula
Gaillardia
Geum
Goniolimon
Gypsophila
Helenium
Helianthus
Heliopsis
Hemerocallis
Hesperis
Heuchera
Hibiscus
Hieracium
Inula
Kalimeris
Knautia
Lathyrus
Lavandula
Leucanthemum
Liatris
Limonium
Lobelia
Lunaria
Lychnis
Lysimachia
Malva
Malvastrum
Meehania
Mimulus
Monarda
Myosotis
Nectaroscordum
Nepeta
Nipponanthemum
Origanum
Patrinia
Penstemon
Perovskia
Phlox
Physostegia
Pimpinella
Polemonium
Primula
Pycnanthemum
Rosmarinus
Rudbeckia
Salvia
Sanicula
Satureja
Scabiosa
Scutellaria
Sedum
Sidalcea
Silene
Silphium
Solidago
Solidaster
Stokesia
Tanacetum
Teucrium
Thalictrum
Thymus
Tradescantia
Verbascum
Verbena
Vernonia
Veronica
Veronicastrum
Weigela
Zauschneria
Please note that many of these butterfly attracting plants are described on this website (and more every month join that list) but they are mostly linked and found via the sun perennials and the shade perennials pages.
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