Butterflies are attracted to bright colors, and butterflies and hummingbirds both like high-nectar plants such as the ones featured in this garden design. Another consideration is providing plants for all stages of the butterfly’s short life, such as adding a water feature such as a birdbath and rocks for sunning. The design illustrated here is a curved border, 30-feet long by 10-feet wide. Most of the flowers selected are suitable for a range of hardiness zones, but alternatives are also listed. Keep in mind that local nurseries usually stock varieties uniquely adapted to your area. Different butterflies prefer different plants, but you can be sure of attracting your share of butterflies with the eleven plants suggested for this garden design. The border is meant for full sun, which will also help attract butterflies since their wings need to be warm for them to fly. Most of the plants are suitable for a range of hardiness zones, but alternatives are listed. Butterfly weed is one of the last plants to emerge in the spring, so be patient. It has a long taproot and doesn’t like to be moved once it’s established. Asclepias is extremely drought tolerant because of its taproot. It also doesn’t need deadheading to keep blooming. You might want to deadhead to keep it tidy, but like its cousin the milkweed, butterfly weed will develop attractive green seed pods that are nice in arrangements.
USDA Growing Zones: 3-9Size: 2–3’ x 2’Colors: Orange blooms
Alternatives:
Asclepias tuberosa ‘Gay Butterflies’: USDA Zones 4–9; 2–3’ x 2’; orange, red, and yellow blooms; repeat bloomer Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia spp.): USDA Zones 5–9; 3–4’ x 3’; orange, red, and yellow blooms; repeat bloomer
Switchgrasses are airy clumps of thinned leaved grasses that sway in the breeze. They tolerate just about any soil and can become a nuisance self-seeding if you don’t stay ahead of them. But most are valued for their tight clumping habit, airy nature, and the hazy flower and seed heads that form late in the season. Many such as the ‘Shenandoah’ cultivar (outlined below), have red fall color. Both Shenandoah’s leaves and plumes turn a burgundy red.
USDA Growing Zones: 4-9Size: 4’ x 3’Colors: Red foliage in the fall
Alternatives:
Maiden Hair Grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’). USDA Zones 5–9, 5–6’ x 3’, green foliage with copper-red plumes Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’). USDA Zones 9–11, 2–3’ x 2–3’, maroon foliage
Deadheading keeps the plants blooming, and it’s effortless to do because of the long flower stalks.
Scabiosa columbaria (pincushion flower) ‘Pink Mist’: USDA Zones 3–9, 24" x 18", pink blooms, repeat bloomer, tends to be short-lived
Alternatives:
Dalea purpureum (purple prairie clover): USDA Zones 3–9, 18" x 18", violet blooms, repeat bloomer, a legume, and tolerant of most soilAchillea ‘Appleblossom’: USDA Zones 3–9, 24" x 18", soft pink blooms, repeat bloomer
The threadleaf coreopsis is very easy to grow, producing many flower buds along their wispy flower stems. It’s easiest to let the plants bloom themselves out and then shear back the whole plant by 1/3, rather than trying to deadhead. The plants will rally and rebloom in a couple of weeks.
Coreopsis verticillata (tickseed) ‘Zagreb’: USDA Zones 3–9, 24" x 18", gold blooms, repeat bloomer
Alternatives:
Coreopsis verticillata (tickseed) ‘Creme Brulee’: USDA Zones 4–8, 20" x 18", gold blooms, repeat bloomerCoreopsis verticillata (tickseed) ‘Moonbeam’: USDA Zones 4–9, 20" x 18", pale yellow blooms, repeat bloomer
Heliopsis is a smaller, clumping plant with yellow, daisy-like flowers that bloom in great abundance for up to three months. Deadheading improves the plant’s overall appearance but doesn’t seem to matter much for some blooms you get. The major maintenance required with Heliopsis helianthoides is periodic division every three to five years to keep the clump in control ad blooming freely. They can also tend to flop, especially after rain, and staking keeps the cluster tighter.
Heliopsis helianthoides (false sunflower) ‘Karat’ oxeye sunflower: USDA Zones 3–9, 3–4’ x 2–3’, yellow blooms, repeat bloomer
Alternatives:
Helianthus salicifolius (willowleaf sunflower): USDA Zones 3–9, 3–5’ x 3–4’, yellow blooms, mid to late summerRudbeckia fulgida (black-eyed Susan, orange coneflower) ‘Goldsturm’: USDA Zones 3–9, 2’ x 2’, yellow blooms, repeat bloomer
The recent cultivars of Veronica such as ‘Sunny Border Blue’ and ‘Goodness Grows’ are worth seeking out for their wide adaptability, tolerance to drought, pest resistant foliage, and, of course, their ability to repeat bloom throughout the growing season.
Veronica ‘Sunny Border Blue’: USDA Zones 3– 8, 24" x 18", violet-blue blooms, repeat bloomer
Alternatives:
Salvia nemorosa (meadow sage) ‘May Night’: USDA Zones 4–9, 18" x 18", deep purple blooms, repeat bloomer Lavandula augustifolia (English lavender) ‘Buena Vista’: USDA Zones 5–10; 24" x 18"; fragrant, purple, and violet blooms; mid and late summer
Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower): USDA Zones 2–10, 3–4’ x 3’, magenta blooms, repeat bloomer
Alternatives:
Echinacea tennesseensis (Tennessee coneflower): USDA Zones 3–9, 18" x 18", magenta blooms, repeat bloomerEchinacea pallida (pale or tall coneflower): USDA Zones 5–9, 3-4’ x 18", magenta blooms, repeat bloomer
These plants have thinner petals than purpurea, and the tall coneflower is more swept-back.
Lilium (Asiatic lily) ‘Red Velvet’: USDA Zones 3–11, 3–4’ x 1–2’, scarlet blooms, June–July
Alternatives:
Zauschneria arizonica (hardy hummingbird trumpet): USDA Zones 5–9, 3’ x 2’, red-orange blooms, repeat bloomer, loves heat, but not clayMonarda didyma (bee balm)’ Jacob Kline’: USDA Zones 3–8, 3–4’ x 3’, red blooms, July–August
‘Ava’ belongs to a group of Agastache commonly called the hummingbird mints. The Agastache pictured here was labeled ‘Root Beer,’ by plant breeder David Salman, who bred Agastache x ‘Ava.’ It is also known as Agastache rupestris (licorice mint hyssop), a wildflower species from Arizona and northern Mexico. The pinkish-red flowers start blooming in late summer and stay blooming for weeks. They even seem to get more intense in color as the season progresses. Once established, you’ll want every new Agastache that comes on the market. Agastache are hardy, drought-tolerant, low-maintenance plants, but they need to get acclimated before taking off. They like rich soil and seem to overwinter better if you don’t cut them back until spring. Once the butterflies are done with them, you can also cut them for dried flowers.
Agastache x ‘Ava’: USDA Zones 5–10, 4’ x 2’, rose and red blooms, repeat bloomer
Alternatives:
Centranthus ruber (Jupiter’s beard) ‘Coccineus’: USDA Zones 4–9, 30" x 30", rose-red blooms, repeat bloomer Knautia macedonica: USDA Zones 5–10, 2’ x 2’, dark purplish-red blooms, repeat bloomer; 6.6 to 8.0 (neutral–alkaline soil); knautia is tall, floppy; will weave between other flowers easily; gets large fast
Joe-Pye Weed can be weedy. The species grows very tall and spreads eagerly. But it’s been tamed, and there are several excellent cultivars out there now. Perhaps the best and most widely grown is ‘Gateway.’ Gateway has been scaled down to garden size, but it still makes an impact. This late-season bloomer will carry your butterfly garden well into fall. The one catch with growing Eupatorium is that it prefers a moist environment. However, if you can keep it well-watered the first season, it can handle a little less than ideal conditions in future years.
Eupatorium maculatum (Joe-Pye weed) ‘Gateway’: USDA Zones 4–8, 6’ x 6’, mauve blooms in August and September
Alternatives:
Buddleia davidii (butterfly bush) ‘Potter’s Purple’: USDA Zones 5–9, 4–6’ x 3–4’, purple blooms, repeat bloomer Salvia uliginosa (bog salvia): USDA Zones 6–10, 4–6’ x 4’, light blue blooms, repeat bloomer
Rose verbena starts blooming early in the summer and keeps going if you deadhead it. It has a cascading habit, which has made it popular for growing in pots. It also spreads out nicely, making it a good choice for edging. If Glandularia canadensis doesn’t ring a bell with too many of you, it’s because this plant is so easy to propagate that plant sellers can push it each year as a bedding plant. But it deserves a spot in the front of your butterfly garden because the mounded clusters of flowers not only give the butterflies a place to land, they offer multiple nectar sources.
Glandularia canadensis (rose verbena) ‘Homestead Purple’: USDA Zones 6–9, 12" x 9", lilac blooms, repeat bloomer
Alternatives:
Eupatorium coelestinum (hardy ageratum) ‘Wayside’: USDA Zones 3–8, 15" x 20", lavender-blue blooms, repeat bloomer Nepeta (catmint) ‘Blue Wonder’: USDA Zones 3–8, 12" x 18", lavender blooms, June and August
