Ooooh, I almost bought some last year. Thanks for the reminder.

Caryopteris doesn't get tall.

Emily, what species butterfly bush did you try?

Sherry

Liatris ligulistylis is a big butterfly magnet.

Or Joe Pye Weed. Why don't you like the butterfly bush?

Emily, after many years of trying to grow butterfly bush, the only variety I grow successfully is budleia davidii. I’ve tried many over the years and have given up on all but this one. I currently have one that is over ten years old. It gets taller,, has large white panicles of blooms, you just have to make sure it gets the sun needed. It breaks dormancy late, you just have to be patient, mine has foliage at the bottom of the previous years growth now. If you look closely in the photo you can see my last attempt at a different variety (purple) it is long gone, this photo is four years old. We are in the same zone area so I suggest you give this one a try if you haven’t done so yet.

Sherry

How tall is tall? Salvia was the butterfly magnet for me last year...unfortunately, it does not look like it is coming back....

Joe Pye weed then. Native and all that carp. And huge. Pink.

Caryopteris gets about 4'-5' tall by the end of each summer, fyi. But Joe Pye weed is definitely a pollinator magnet, if you've got room--plus it's got that "native" flair.

'Miss Molly' is a hybrid buddleia and likely not has hardy as the davidii species.

Interestingly, in my location both the buddleia and the caryopteris are considered woody shrubs, not perennials :-)

I'm surprised to hear that Caryopteris reaches 5 feet where you are, Kirstin. In my climate even 4 would be good going. Buddlejas, however, easily reach 15 feet or more. So when the OP said they wanted something that 'gets tall' I was imaging they wanted something that height. Hence the remark that Caryopteris doesn't get tall.

Emily, if you want more color in budleia, you might try the mauve/pink version of davidii, sorry I don’t remember the cultivar name.

I love love love Miss Molly. It was covered in butterflies last summer and just kept blooming. But, like yours, it didn't make it through the winter, a huge disappointment.

I'm not a fan of joe pye weed and the caryopteris only gets 2 feet tall? Anything else?

Joe pye is the one plant in my garden besides the buddleia that gets covered in butterflies. If it's just pollinators you're after stuff that has umbel flowers like lovage, dill and angelica, or mints like hyssop, monarda and mountain mint.

I am trialing spiraea salcifolia this year - a similar shaped flower spike and getting to around 6 feet tall.

How about going to the sunflower family (helianthus) - annual or perennial? I’m trying tithonia out this season because that’s one which people have long said is a magnet.

I'm trying out Tithonia this year for the first time as well. Not sure it would be a good candidate to replace a butterfly bush, though, only in that it is not soft and delicate looking--it makes a pretty strong statement!

I just planted Veronicastrum virginicum 'Lavender Towers'. Its a late summer bloomer and a tall perennial rather than a shrub but it should do the trick for attracting butterflies.

Emily: I didn't chime in on your thread as I was hoping you'd also read through the discussion [Are butterfly bushes really that hard to keep around?[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/are-butterfly-bushes-really-that-hard-to-keep-around-dsvw-vd~5321583) My purple one is hanging in there, but with many tiny leaves and hardly any blooms, it's testing my patience. (The white one next to it is doing much better.) I just came home with a beautiful purple Duranta that a monarch was going nuts over:

It's very hardy for my area (zone 9 - Houston, TX), so I've got fingers crossed. Perhaps this is something you can look into for hardiness in your area. Everything at what we call the big box nursery out here is 1/2 off, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Good luck.