I'm planning a butterfly garden in my front yard and, although I know of many butterfly plants, I'm not as sure which ones look best together. I'd love to find out what some of your favorite combinations are. Here are a few considerations:
1. I'm using mostly plants that are native to New England.
2. I like purples, oranges, and yellows best.
3. The only plant that I *must* have is butterfly weed--asclepias tuberosa--I'm absolutely in love with it. Also, I already have a lot of black-eyed susans, so I'd like to keep them.
4. I made a tentative design plan, but I wasn't able to find just the right plants for spring/early summer. I find mid-summer through fall much easier.
Looking forward to hearing your ideas and experience!
What butterfly plants look best together?
I like to use Pentas. The butterflies adore it and it comes in so many colors - it's a MUST HAVE, imho!!!
Thanks for your idea, Kay. It made me curious since I never even heard of Pentas and the pics I found on the web looked lovely. Alas, turns out the reason I never heard of them is they don't grow here in Zone 6, where it's a lot colder than FL!
Best,
Shayna
Annuals are nice, too - better selection than perennials. At the end of the season, pot them up and put them somewhere warmer than 32 degrees and they should come back from the roots when you re-plant them in the spring. They aren't hardy here, either, but I bring them in year after year.
Also consider self-seeders - they will die at first freeze
or frost, but come back the following year, and usually
earlier than you would think of olanting yourself.
They just "know" when it is the right time to emerge.
And for a special plant like pentas, grow in a pot and bring
in during the winter..
I wondered which plants were native to MA so looked up the new eng. Wildflower soc ideas online for a few ideas...
Asters look nice with the perennial milkweed and also liatris and helianthus.
For springtime I like violets under my dogwoods. Also lilacs are beloved by swallowtails and pretty with some of the native bulbs that early butterflies like.
Of course some of my most popular plants like benery's Giant zinnias, verbena bonarienses and Mexican sunflower aren't at all native but look nice together.
I have a butterfly garden, and some of my favorite combos include the colors purple, blue, red, orange and yellow.
Some of my favorite b'fly plants are Mexican Sunflower "Torch" and Canna Tropicana, surrounded by zinnias, marigolds, purple coneflowers, salvia, ageratum, Russian sage, etc. I have fun every year picking out plants, watching them grow, and watching the butterflies, bees, moths, etc. that are attracted to them.
Good luck!
I'm new to this site, and just learning to post photos.
I haven't found a pic of the Mexican Sunflower so far.
Sorry, I thought of something for spring/summer:
I have clustered bellflower and yellow evening primrose that return or reseed and bloom in late spring.
They slowly spread in this full sun spot, but I can easily pull them out if I don't want them somewhere.
Also I have had Gaillardia, or blanket flower perennial that looked great with this combo!
Welcome, Gardenblue2! I moved to Florida almost 5 years ago, from Lee's Summit, Missouri.
Purples, oranges, and yellows give you lots of options. Asters and liatris, as others have mentioned, are purple New England natives that butterflies love. Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop) is native to New England, but perhaps not Massachusetts. Butterflies love it, and finches love the seeds. It would be pretty to have liatris behind your black eyed susans and some coneflowers, with shorter asters in front. You can find asters that bloom at different times.
If you want to find natives to bloom in the spring and early summer, I'd recommend this link.
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/
You can search for natives by state and by different characteristics, including light and soil requirements, and the months that they bloom.
Butterfly bushes are wonderful if they are hardy in your climate they come in a variety of colors . The butterflys flock to them plus they are lovely and smell like homemade jelly. Unfortunately they are not hardy here but sometime last a few years. The taller sedums also attract butterflys and come in different varieties to suit your needs.
My garden is not just for butterflys but many plants growing here do attract them and also hummingbirds which is a huge plus. Sometimes that is the fun part of gardening planting something that you are drawn to and then finding out it attracts other creatures.
Thanks, everyone.