Substitute for Butterfly Bushes in wildlife friendly gardens

Butterfly Bushes (Buddleia davidii) are invasive, we've seen countless threads on the topic.

This year I dug up the last one I had. It became too troublesome deadheading.

I planted Itea virginica in its place.

What are you planting that is wildlife friendly after you remove your Butterfly Bushes?

my butterfly bushes 'removed themselves'. didn't make it thru the winter. so after reading about them, I decided not to replace them. so far all I have really planted is some eupatorium (Joe-Pye weed). I love weigela, so may put in another variety. but I'd really like something that is longer blooming like the buddleia. how long does the sweetspire bloom?

gram ~a girl~

Loved your comment that you were a girl. I have a user name and a real name that confuses people too but I'm a her not a him.

The Sweetspire is a spring bloomer and it blooms solid for well over a month and darn near close to two months.

Joepyeweed is an excellent choice. That's another one that blooms for a good long time. They bloom here more toward the middle/end of summer.

Another plant you might want to consider would be Ceanothus americanus. It's a mid summer bloomer.

If you can grow it, Vitex has the Buddleia look but is not invasive. I've noticed butterflies love it. I have an Itea that I will be planting when it gets cooler, can't wait!

the sweetspire and Ceanothus americanus both look like good possibilities. Vitex is cool, but too big for the space I have for it. I wish they weren't both white, but if the butterflies don't care I guess I shouldn't. I thought they were attracted by color?

equil, I decided to start adding the 'girl' thing because so many new folks have been calling me gramps lately, and I keep picturing my great-grandfather. in restrospect, I should have picked a different screen name, but I don't want to change it now :0)

check out Clethra, also called Summersweet. The first one in plantfiles is pink but I knew it as white, and native.

Lemme see here, butterfly attractors for New York? What about Monarda didyma or M. fistulosa which bloom mid to late summer? Check out Anaphalis margaritaceae and Veronica noveborascensis. Gnaphaloim obtusifolium blooms forever it seems long into fall. Echinacea purpurea is a great nectar and larva host.

I found this site on line for New York-
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/BackyardBiology/WildlifeGardening/ButterflyGardening.cfm

Clethra anlifolia is an excellent suggestion.

yes, I actually had clethra on my list and forgot about it. thanks

I don't know about everybody else who is planting 'butterfly friendly', but I have a lot of other plants, monarda, echinacea, New York aster, sedum, leucanthemum, rudbeckia, scabiosa, perovskia (i know hummers like it, not sure about b'flies).

I have seeds for asclepias for next year.

So what I was looking for here was a shrubby type plant like the clethra or itea. these are some good suggestions. i'll see if anybody else comes up with something different.

My lone butterfly bush was a dwarf and not too difficult to replace. Initially, I put in Monarda fistulosa (Beebalm, which always looks weedy but attracts the pollinators) and Eupatorium maculatum 'Gateway' (Joe Pye Weed). I've since added Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks' (Rough-stemmed goldenrod), and intend to plant Asclepias incarnata (Swamp milkweed). They're all over a local pond and I'm going to swipe some seed as soon as their pods split.

Grampapa, In Leopold's NATIVE PLANTS OF THE NORTHEAST, he lists the following woodies which have flowers with high-quality nectar for butterflies and hummers:

Shrubs
Callicarpa americana (Ameican beautyberry)
Ceanothus americanus (New Jersey tea)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Chamaedaphne calyculata (leatherleaf)
Clethra spp.
Diervilla lonicera (bush-honeysuckle)
Fothrgilla spp.
Itea virginica (Virginia sweet spire)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Physocarpus opulifolius (eastern ninebark)
Rhododendron spp. (including azaleas)
Spiraea alba (meadowsweet)
Symphoricarpos obiculatus (coralberry)
Vaccinium (blueberry, cranberry) spp.

Trees
Aesculus (buckeye) spp. (especially A. pavia, red buckeye)
Prunus pensylvanica (pin cherry
Salix (willow) spp.

Interesting note, it seems whenever I'm looking at plant lists to meet certain needs, Vacciniums show up.

fireweed, I just added that book to my wishlist at Amazon. I'll get it next time I order. thanks for that tip. it's just what I need.

spicebush is on my 'must-have' list already for the swallowtails, but might have to go in a different location. also ninebark. I was just looking at callicarpa yesterday, I think someone posted a pic of theirs again and it's so pretty this time of year. I want to add some plants with fruit and/or berries for the birds. Blueberries are a possibility, as long as I recognize that they are for the wildlife and I'll never see berry one LOL I've had them before and actually thought I might get to eat some.

I have a dwarf salix on order (Salix integra) that should be coming this week...this is probably not a native plant...I hope it's not a bad choice?

that's a pretty nice list. there are a few I'm not familiar with there. guess I have some homework to do. I have some conifers coming that I still have to plant this fall, so won't be doing any more ordering to spring, so I have time to think & read. I'll be watching the thread

thanks all


gram ~a girl~

Not that I ever had a butterfly bush here at this house, but somebody in this thread, gave me an Itea virginica. My husband was watering my plants, still in pots, when I had my extended stay in AR. He must of missed it or something, it was sure in sad shape when I returned home. It got planted immediately, and looks great now.

Bad news gram, your Salix integra is Asian, Korean maybe? It's documented as being invasive by numerous sources.

I love Itea virginica. I germinated some from seed specifically for friends I loved them so much. Yours should rebound. They're hardy plants.

Can you see me kicking him a good one? I almost cried. I couldn't believe it. How hard is it to water some plants?? Good grief. You love your friends so much, or you love the Itea so much??

Wanna hear a good one? I went over to my BIL's tonight. He was having trouble with his new DVR and needed my assistance in setting it up. While I was getting ready to leave, one of the aids starts asking me a question. I'm answering away, when suddenly she says "You look just like Jennifer Aniston! Seriously, you look just like her.".....think she wants something? :o)

Both

Come to think of it, you do sort of look like her. I guess I'd have to wonder what she wants though given I think we're both about 20 years older than that little sweet cookie.

Ah, but see, she never dreamed I was as old as I am! She thought I was about 36. hehehe........

I just now was able to get back on. DG was down for awhile?

Ya, the site was having problems. I tried three times to post in another thread and got wiped out.

Equil, thanks for the info on the Salix integra. I goofed. Maybe I'll keep it in a pot...it's a dwarf. The good news here is that I ordered it from Park and the last 2 things I ordered from them died anyway.

I'm learning. I'll just have to more careful to do my homework. I think the Leopold book would be a big help to me. I grabbed a bunch of .pdf files yesterday from various sites about invasive plants in the NE. NY state doesn't have very comprehensive lists except for some projects in the Adirondacks and some cooperative stuff for the Great Lakes, but I think it's OK if I borrow from Massachusetts. Anything that's a problem there is probably bad here too.

I've held off doing any planting near the lake because I know that it is very easy for plants to escape that way. I'd like to do some bog plantings, but that will have to wait until I'm more knowledgeable. I also need to identify some stuff growing at lakeside that I didn't plant to see if I need to get rid of it. Cornell Univ. has some helpful info for that.

A Salix nigra dwarf might do well in a patio pot. Try it. Can't hurt.

Hey gram, Aldo Leopold is very good but for right now you might want to start by picking up the Lakescaping for Wildlife publication-
http://davesgarden.com/gbw/c/1461/

that looks like a good book to get some info about gardening with a water front. thanks

I know it states it is for lakescaping but I used it exclusively for pondscaping. One of the best publications out there.

What is easy to grow that would be a host plant for butterfly caterpillars (and isn't invasive)?

Parsley? Butterfly weed? I did a search and found this page http://www.blossomswap.com/butterfly/host_plants.html
Lots of different plants listed, but like always, need researching for your area.

May be I have been lucky. I keep reading here how invasive butterfly bushes are but I have had them for 7 years and never had a problem. I have always deadheaded the like a perennial and remove all the flower heads after they stop blooming so maybe that's why.

Kinda scary list posted from that bloosom swap place.

If anyone plans on using that list, search for information on each plant using the Latin name.

I said to research! I just skimmed it, I didn't spend a lot of time looking at it. My bad.

Hmmm, that'll cost you one box of TMs. Pay up.

NO NO!!! Anything but my Thin Mints!! PLEASE!!! Not them!!!

Tee he, just kidding.