Topic: Plants to attract butterflies

[barleychown]

I plan on planting several plants to attract butterflies in both my front and back yards.  I enjoy watching them, and I do not use chemicals of any sort, so the butterflies would be safe eating from the flowers in my yard.

Here's a list of plants to attract butterflies:

Purple Coneflower
Aster
Dogbane
Dogwood
Goldenrod
Pepperbush
Buddleia
Joe Pye Weed
Dandelion
Red Clover
Fleabane
Strawberry
Sunflower
Mustard
Chickweed
Thistle
Ice Plant
Black Eyed Susan
Mallow
Hollyhock
Parsley
Dill
Fennel
Queen Anne's Lace
Passion Flower
Milkweed


Can you think of any others to add?

[Dianna]

The butterflies seem to like my hibiscus trees, too, Sarah...

[Penny]

I had a big pot of the red geraniums on my front porch this summer and they hung out around it all the time, that and the purple lobelia.
They also liked my Hydrangea tree too.

[Wrennie]

Tithonia attracted a boatload of them outside my store. Sedum blooms attracted various swallowtails at home.

[Patty S]

Basil, Canna Lily, Cosmo, Coreopsis, Dianthus, Lupin (lupine), Osteospermum, Rudbeckia

[Tonya]

We have tons of goldenrod here and they loved it! They also liked my ROS trees and my gerbera.

[patches]

My Butterfly Bush attracts hundreds of butterfiles and they also love my pink petunias.   

[christy]

fern leaf yarrow
butterfly weed
astilbe
blue false indigo
boltonia
shasta daisys
white snake root
bee balm
garden phlox
pincushion flower
showy stonecrop [sedum]
thats a list from my rodales book, 
i get tons of butterflys on my phlox,  they go around the cleomes n zinnias but love the phlox.

[patches]

Christy, I used to get tons of butterflies on my fern leaf yarrow, but I finally took it out because it was invading my beds.  I had that stuff coming up everywhere, even in my lawn because it somehow managed to get under the stone edging.   Darn, the butterflies loved the flowers, and I loved the foliage, but I just couldn't deal with it getting into all my other flowers. Actually, it took me over three years to finally get rid of it! 

[landofoz]

Around here the salvia's are well known for attracting lots of butterflies and hummingbirds.  The purple salvia is the best, or so I'm told.

[patches]

I've never noticed that many butterflies around my purple Salvia, but I only have three plants.  Although I have noticed that my Liatris (Gayfeather), Asters and pink Garden Phlox seem to be quite attractive to them.    

[duh]

This is a great post.  Thankyou everyone that contributed.

la la la la la

[Tina]

You could try some lantana. You might have to winter that indoors there. It is always loaded with flutterbies when the weather is right.

[patches]

Hmmm, I didn't know that Lantana was good for attracting butterflies.    I used to have some years ago, but never even noticed if it had any butterflies going to it!  Of course, at that time, I didn't spend as much time out in the yard.   

[Tina]

Butterfly adult:
Yarrow
Agapanthus
Snapdragon
Columbine
Sea thrift
aster
astilbe
borage
bouvardia
cupid's dart
jupiter's beard
shasta daisy
coreopsis
cosmos
cynoglossum
delphinium
dianthus
globe thistle
fleabane
wild buckwheat
sea holly
Eng. wallflower
gaillardia
heliotrope
candytuft
sweet pea
liatris
lobelia
sweet alyssum
bee balm
oregano
penstemon
gloriosa daisy
salvia
scabiosa
goldenrod
marigolds
verbena
These are what my book says for annuals, perennials and grasses that  attract adult butterflies. (I left out a few that I remembered had already been mentioned in this thread) It has more shrubs and trees. It also has just as as many listed to attract larvae.

[Tina]

I take lists like this and cross reference with plant lists that are deer resistant and this is what I plant around my hillsides. If the deer don't care for it, neither do the ground squirrels  and rabbits. If I plant off the deer proof list, stuff gets razed to the ground in record time. Some days are butterfly heaven around here.

[Tina]

Shrubs to attract adult butterflies:
abelia
flowering maple
manzanita
scotch heather
caryopteris
ceanothus
choisya alnifolia
summer sweet
escallonia
hebe
toyon
lavender
honeysuckle
mahonia
philadelphus (single flowered)
potentilla
coffeeberry
rhododendrum
sumac
current
rosemary
elderberry
spiraea
lilac
vaccinum

[Tina]

Trees to attract adult butterflies:
maple
horsechestnut
apple
madrone
citrus
willow
vitex
Well darn because I'm doing lists i don't meet the ten word minimum. Maybe now I will.

[Tina]

Do you want the larvae lists too? Quite a few are crossovers with those already listed.
And then there is the hummingbird list and that has a lot of cross-overs also.

[christy]

Christy, I used to get tons of butterflies on my fern leaf yarrow, but I finally took it out because it was invading my beds.  I had that stuff coming up everywhere, even in my lawn because it somehow managed to get under the stone edging.   Darn, the butterflies loved the flowers, and I loved the foliage, but I just couldn't deal with it getting into all my other flowers. Actually, it took me over three years to finally get rid of it! 

lol thats so true patti! i dig em up n put em in the field.  they do pop up every were. they dont like get out of controll here just popin up everywere,

[patches]

  they do pop up every were. they dont like get out of controll here just popin up everywere, 

Well, Christy, that's exactly what my problem was - them popping up everywhere!  It seems they were coming up all over in my perennnial bed by the fence.  I was afraid they were going to crowd out some of my perennials or interfere with their root systems, so they had to go!!!      

[duh]

I have lots of plants to choose from now for my butterfly garden.  That is if I end up with a garden.