Attracting butterflies to your garden

Do you want to attract more butterflies to your garden? Most butterflies only eat flower nectar. Different species of butterflies usually prefer different flowers, but they will generally feed on many types of flowers from plants, shrubs, vines, and trees. Such as these 5 nectar-rich plants/flowers the Buddleja davdii, Echinacea purpurea, Sedum spectabile, Monarda and Zinnia who we will shortly describe.

Buddleja davidii (Butterfly bush)
This long-blooming hardy colorful fragrant shrub is a butterfly magnet, it attract a wide range of butterflies. Place in the full sun and it grows about 2-3m high. There are a lot of varieties in color such as pink, white and purple. They bloom from June till September (depends the variety) Zone 5-10.

Echinacea purpurea ( White Coneflower)
 White Coneflower is a perennial and grows about 30"-36" high. It blooms from late July through frost. Just like the purple variety, produces large daisy-like flowers. Prefer standing in the full sun and loves a well-drained garden soil. Is drought tolerant. Zone 3-8

Sedum spectabile (Fall sedum)
Grows about 18" - 30" tall and produces huge mauve-pink heads from late summer till mid fall. As the autumn season progresses, the flowers turn to a rosy-red. Easy to grow and like most Sedums in part shade/full sun and tolerant of heat and drought. They love a normal or loamy soil. Zone 3-9

Monarda (Bergamot)
Monardas have cottage-garden like flowers which attract butterflies. The colors range from scarlet to white. Flowering from early August into September, they make a good addition to the late summer border. Monardas like sun or very light shade and thrive on most soils, except very dry or clay. Keep them well watered over summer. Zone 4-8

Zinnia
Is an annual that prefers full sun to bloom from early summer (sometimes late spring) to early autumn. The most grow about 30” high but they can grow from 6” till 40”. The soil requirements are most any soil and a good drainage. Zinnias are there in many colors such as orange, pink, red, white, yellow.

Marian, Yourgarden Specialist