Plants to Attract Butterflies
Plants to Attract Butterflies
These plants offer fragrant, nectar-rich flowers shaped with a landing platform — the ideal flowers to attract butterflies. Those marked with an * also serve as host plants for caterpillars.
PERENNIALS AND BIENNIALS
SPRING
Arabis caucasica (wall
rock cress)
Aubrieta deltoidea (rock cress)
Aurinia saxatilis (basket-of-gold)
Corydalis lutea (yellow corydalis)
Iberis sempervirens (edging
candytuft)
Primula spp. (primroses)
Viola spp. (violets)*
SUMMER
Achillea spp.
(yarrows)
Alcea rosea (hollyhock)*
Armeria maritima (sea pink,
thrift)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly
weed)
Astilbe spp. (astilbes)
Baptista australis (blue wild
indigo)
Coreopsis spp. (coreopsis,
tickseed)
Crambe cordifolia (colewort)*
Dianthus spp. (pinks)
Erigeron x hybridus (fleabane)
Eryngium spp. (sea hollies)
Gaillardia x grandiflora (blanket-flower)
Hemerocallis hybrids (daylilies)
Hesperis matronalis (dame's
rocket)
Lysimachia clethroides (gooseneck
loosestrife)
Monarda didyma (bee-balm, oswego
tea)
Phlox spp. (phloxes)
Saponaria ocymoldes (rock soapwort)
Scabiosa caucasica (pincushion
flower, scabious)
Sidalcea malviflora (checkerbloom)
Stokesia laevis (Stokes' aster)
Thalictrum rochebrunianum (Japanese
meadow-rue, lavender mist)
LATE SUMMER AND FALL
Anemone x hybrida (Japanese anemone)
Aster spp. (asters)
Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower)
Echinops ritro (globe-thistle)
Eupatorium fistulosum (Joe-Pye weed)
Helianthus spp. (sunflowers)
Rudbeckia spp. (coneflowers)
Salvia spp. (sages)
Sedum spp. (stone crops)
Sidalcea malviflora (checkerbloom)
Solidago hybrids (goldenrod)
ANNUALS
Ageratum houstonianum (flossflower)
Anethum graveolens (dill)*
Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon)*
Borago officinalis (borage)*
Cleome hasslerana (spider flower)
Consolida ambigua (rocket larkspur)
Coreopsis tinctoria (golden coreopsis, calliopsis)
Cosmos bipinnatus (cosmos)
Dahlia x hybrida (annual dahlia)
Dianthus chinensis (China pink)
Felicia amelloides (blue daisy, blue marguerite)
Gaillardia pulchella (annual blanket-flower)
Helichrysum bracteatum (strawflower)
Heliotropium arborescens (heliotrope)
Iberis umbellata (annual candytuft)
Ipomoea tricolor (morning glory)
Lantana spp. (lantanas)
Lavatera trimestris (tree mallow, annual mallow)
Lobularia maritima (sweet alyssum)
Petuna x hybrida (petunia)
Petroselinum crispum (parsley)*
Phlox drummondii (annual phlox)
Sanvitalia procumbens (creeping zinnia)
Schizanthus pinnatus (butterfly flower)
Tagetes spp. (marigolds)
Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican sunflower)
Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium)*
Verbena x hybrida (verbena)
Zinnia spp. (zinnias)
BULBS
SPRING
Allium spp. (ornamental onions)
SUMMER
Lilium spp. (lilies)
