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Butterfly Garden

Common Annual Flowers to attract butterflies please?

12 years ago

I need to fill in some beds and borders. I would appreciate suggestions of common annuals that will provide colorful flowers all summer while also attracting butterflies to my garden If they also attact hummers it would be a huge bonus. Any suggestions?

How about those small mounding zinnias, marigolds or Vinca?

Thanks!

JD

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Comments (8)

MissSherry
12 years ago
Zinnias and Mexican sunflowers are two of the most popular nectar flowers with butterflies, but Mexican sunflowers/Tithonia get big. I plant my Tithonias next to the fence around my garden so I can tie them to the fence, if need be.
Salvia coccinea is another GREAT annual for both butterflies and hummingbirds. A bonus of this one is that it self sows so freely. This spring I found lots of seedlings in the area where they grew last year, so I just let the seedlings grow a little, then transplanted them to spots where I wanted them to grow. Salvia coccinea only gets abut 2' tall, at least mine did, and once they start blooming in late spring, like mine now have, they don't quit until cold weather sets in.
Shery
siam_cannas
12 years ago
Hi, zinnias and marigolds are great, ive noticed the extremely double varieties though arent so useful. One of my favourite is cosmos, there alwyas bring in the butterlies. Pentas, and salvias are also good. pentas and tropical milkweeds, are great. One of my most favourite butterfly magnets so far has to me Porter weed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis). Ive got four varieties, and the butterflies bees and hummingbirds love them. Ive got the blue, violet, purple, and coral. And no butterly garden is complete without lantanas!

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Siam.
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Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
12 years ago
Pentas
heliotrope
lantana
jjdbike
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for so many great suggestions!
JD
spaceman13
12 years ago
jjdbike,
as Msssherry said, Thihonia (Mexican Sunflower) is great, especially for Monarchs, I think!

It doesn't get as big up yonder in Zone 6 as it will in Msssherry's zone 8, and will not grow rapidle or flower till late June or July.

Mine (started from seed in early March) is still only about a foot tall. With temps now reaching the 80's they have begun to grow quickly, and have put on as much growth in the last week than the 2 months since germination!

There is also a lower growing cultivar called "Torch" that is only supposed to reach 36".

This year I put in a row of the regular Tithonia (that gets around 4 feet) in along the fence, and a row of the torch in front of that, for a 2 tiered effect.

Be sure to plant some milkweed close by as a host, because Monarchs seem to love Tithonia, and it provides a good source of host plant and nectar for the Monarchs on teir fall migration back to Mexico!

Blessed Be,
GreyOwl
jjdbike
Original Author
12 years ago
Again
Great info.
I'll pick up a few Mexican Sunflowers and a few more milkweed.
Thanks again!
JD
susanlynne48
12 years ago
Lavender is another great nectar plant. Has anyone mentioned Verbena bonariensis? Best as a filler plant, but the butterflies go nuts over it. I definitely second the Porterweed, which will be an annual for you. It is just not easily found, especially at local nurseries.

Another fantastic annual is Asclepias curassavica, or Tropical Milkweed. Not only a larval host plant for the Monarchs, it is an annual North of zone 8 that all butterflies love for nectaring.

Susan
bandjzmom
12 years ago
Gosh JD, the answer to your question varies so much depending upon where a person lives. I should see what our friend Cathy has to say about your question, as she is also in PA. I think that Zinnias are good everywhere. Pentas are great, and Tropical Milkweed is super. (for many reasons) Lantana is a HUGE hit here.~~Angie

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