What plants are good nectar sources for butterflies?

10 years ago

This listing of plants with flowers that attract butterflies was submitted by forum members from throughout the U.S., and from many plant hardiness zones. They grew or personally observed these plants and their butterfly visitors. You should observe what nectar plants perform well in your area when deciding what to plant. Plant zones only indicate the lowest cold temperature in winter, which is just one small part of growing plants. Other factors - heat, exposure to sunlight, rainfall, drainage, humidity, soil type, soil PH, and how well or poorly a person takes care of their plants - have a lot more to do with whether or not a plant succeeds or fails than just the zone.

Anise-scented sage - Salvia guaranitica
Autumn sage - Salvia greggii
Aster - Asteraceae Spp.

Bee balm - Monarda spp.
Black-eyed susan - Rudbeckia spp.
Blue Porterweed - Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
Bottlebrush tree - Callistemon spp.
Brazilian verbena - Verbena bonariensis
Butterfly bush - Buddleia davidii (and various hybrids)
Buttonbush - Cephalanthus occidentalis
Butterfly weed - Asclepias tuberosa

Carolina jessamine - Gelsemium sempervirens
Carpetweed - Phyla nodiflora
Citrus blossoms - Citrus Spp.
Common thistle - Cirsium spp.
Copper Canyon daisy - Tagetes lemmonii
Coral plant - Jatropha multifida
Cosmos - Cosmos sulphurus

Dutchman's pipevine - Aristolochia Spp.
Elephant foot - Elephantopus spp.
Firebush - Hamelia patens
Giant hyssop - Agastache (A. foeniculum x rugosa) var. 'Blue Fortune'
Golden dewdrop (or skyflower) - Duranta repens
Gregg's mist flower - Eupatorium greggii
Ironweed - Vernonia spp.
Joepye weed - Eupatorium fistulosum
Lantana - Lantana camara
Licorice plant - Helichrysum petiolare

Marigolds - Tagetes spp.
Mexican bush sage - Salvia leucantha
Mexican flamevine - Senecio confusus
Mexican heather - Cuphea hyssopifolia
Mexican petunia - Ruellia brittoniana
Mexican sunflower - Tithonia diversifolia
Morning glory - Ipomeae spp.

Night blooming jessamine - Cestrum nocturnum
Pentas - Pentas lanceolata
Periwinkles - Vinca spp.
Pineapple sage - Salvia elegans
Pineland lantana - Lantana depressa
Phlox - Phlox spp.
Purple coneflower - Echinacea purpurea

Scarlet (or tropical) milkweed - Asclepias currasavica
Shrimp plant - Justicia spp.
Spanish needles - Bidens alba
Stokes aster - Stokesia laevis
Sweet pepperbush - Clethra spp.

Tropical red sage - Salvia coccinea
Turk's cap - Malvaviscus drommondii
White snakeroot - Eupatorium rugosum
Wild sage - Lantana involucrata
Zinnia - Zinnia elegans, Z. haageana, and Z. linearis
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I had to look up buzz pollination to find out what it is, bernergrrl! I've never paid attention to the techniques bees use when they go from flower to flower. We have jillions of bumble bees, but few honey bees, and it appears the bumble bees are doing a good job of pollination. My blueberry bushes are loaded with blueberries every summer. I've even gotten fruit from Passiflora 'Incense' with viable seeds, so the bees (mostly bumble bees) had to have transferred the pollen from the nearby Passiflora incarnatas, since 'Incense' is a hybrid that doesn't make its own pollen. One of the seedlings from my 'Incense' has made the most vigorous passionvine I've ever grown, and the gulf frits lay eggs on it readily. The bees seem to group on certain blueberry bushes for a few days, then go to another few. I've got several varieties, so I assume they're going for the nectar at the prime time for the individual varieties. Sherry
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Hi, Like many others on this forum, it can be hard to figure out what to keep and get rid of because butterflies seem to change their preferences every year. The yarrow--I have a lot of it, but I don't seem to get a lot of butterflies on it. Sometimes skippers and a lot of other pollinators. Purple coneflower--that one last year did really well--years before didn't attract so many butterflies. It may be that I now have more of it. I do have other varieties, and like you, they don't seem to be that attractive to the butterflies. I have a nepeta too, but that seems to attract only skippers, which I don't mind, so I keep it. It's in a bed that gets really dry. I use those zinnias that you use, but I want to try Zowie Flame (I think it is) because of MissSherry's picture. :) Clematis, never saw any butterflies nectaring, but plenty landing on it. Just now there was a litter hummer hanging out on a loop of it; I have clematis growing up the railings on my porch. Anyway, there are so many plants you can put in that if over a couple of years you don't seen anything on it, then I would probably replace them. There are so many plants that are sure draws (like verbena bonariensis and mexican sunflower, cosmos, etc.). Don't forget fall nectar like asters. Have fun redesigning your garden!
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Thanks for your replies, everyone! Sandy, after reading your comments about those that have a tendency to get invasive, I think I'm going to forget about planting them. I had planted a few things here already that spread like crazy and I ended up pulling them all out because I didn't like the way they tried to take over the place. I had planted Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) and those seeds just made zillions of plants. I had them planted early last year and they bloomed and I never saw even one butterfly on them. For that reason and the invasive reason, those got ripped out. I'm still pulling out little plants here and there. I also planted nicotianas one time. They have a wonderful smell but they tried to take over too. I don't like plants like that. I was afraid (still am) that the Anise hyssop that I have will try to do that too because of the many seeds that those plants have. Also, the butterflies didn't like them anyway, and so I gave half of them to various people on here. The honeybees love them. I had planted way too many plants (at least 60) and now I'm down to a comfortable (I hope) 26. If too many small plants come up next year, depending on how much time I have to spend removing them, the rest of them might get yanked out. I absolutely do not like invasive plants, and I'm so glad that you made me aware of those that would probably be that way. I will probably only plant those two that you mentioned. Cathy
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A large number of plant species are used by one or more species of butterfly. Which plants are best depends on what type of butterflies you want to attract and the environment/conditions in which you want to grow the plant. Here are some FAQ entries from the Butterfly Forum: What plants are good nectar sources for butterflies? What host plants are grown to feed caterpillars? You may want to check out the other FAQ entries in the Butterfly Forum, as well. You could also google things like 'butterfly host plants' or 'butterfly nectar sources' for more information.
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What plants are good nectar sources for butterflies?

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