What's a good NECTAR plant for butterflies in your yard?

I thought I'd start this thread to list what are good nectar plants for the butterflies which you have observed in your garden. I also realize that during different seasons, the butterflies often go to different plants.

Here's the favorites I have noticed in my yard:

Lantana - Especially the cultivar that has the multi-colored yellow/orange/red blooms! They seem to be the prefered Lantana in my garden for ALL butterflies.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/578/

In the Spring, the Trailing Lavender Lantana is a big draw. The Skipper Butterflies especially love the the blooms on this one.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2042/

Porterweed - The purple/blue blooming cultivar is a butterfly magnet in my yard! It grows to be a very large bush covered with spikes of small flowers. I have never seen volunteer seedlings from this bush and I've had it several years. I prune it back from time to time. I grows very quickly!
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51475/

Zinnia - I have many different cultivars of this plant in my yard. The butterflies go to all of them. Big or small blooms!
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/143/

So tell me ...... What's growing and blooming in your yard that bring in the butterflies to stop and drink?

Along with the Lantana and Porterweed, the Jatropha really attracts the Gulf Fritillaries and BSTs in my yard. I just added a second Jatropha last weekend.

Terrie

Buddleja davidii
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/49898/

Rudbeckia sp.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53325/

Aesclepias sp.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/73/

Becky -- I googled "drought plants that attract butterflies" and found a few... this is a long article, but so far, pretty good -- lots of info;

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/forthebirds/a/butterfly_plant.htm

plus Autumn Joy sedum is a butterfly magnet

i was sent this as a bonus plant with an order this year... so i will watch it and see how it attracts things once it blooms.

I love the Salvias! I have "Black N Blue" and "Forsythia sage" both are great nectar providers for the Swallowtails.

Adrienne

Joe Pye weed- mine is just getting ready to bloom
Echinacea- There always seems to be a butterfly sitting on the big orange cone.

In the fall, usually at the end of September or beginning of October I have several large pineapple sages (salvia elegans) that will just be smothered in sulfurs. The red blooms and the yellow butterflies are a show stopper.

some of my favorite Nectar Plants are



Cuphea any variety
Buddleia
Lantana
Coneflowers
Pentas
Zinnia
Cosmos
Salvia/Sages
Clerodendrum
Porterweeds
Coreopsis
Tithonia- Mexican Sunflower
Tithonia Diversifolia- Mexican Sunflower Tree
Sunflowers
Mexican Flame Vine
Asters
Firebush
Duranta
Goldenrod
Joe Pye Weed
Standing Cypress
Red Cypress Vine
Morning Glory Vines
Hibiscus
Liatris
Rudbeckias
Blanket Flower
Verbena any variety
Lobelia
Amaryliss
Iris
Day Lillies
Spider Lillies
Hedychiums and other type gingers
Erythrinas
Bee Balm
Cestrums
Leonurus
Milkweeds
Passion Vines
Cassias
Justicias/Shrimp Plants
Sesbania/Rattlebox
Powder Puff Tree
Tansy
Blue Pickeral
Daisys
Ruddya/Rabbit Ears
Dicliptera suberecta
Ruellias any
Lemon Mint and other flowering mints
Cannas
Chaste Tree
Agastache
Skullcap
Fire Spike
Honeysuckles
Celosia

>>Joe Pye weed- mine is just getting ready to bloom

*sniff* none of mine made it... between the rabbits and birds, they are all gone.. and i had tons of seedlings.
i dont even think i have any more seeds *double sniff*

In our area Zone 6a (Ohio River Valley) (unlike you southern gardeners), it seems like our butterfly and summer bloom season starts to get rolling the last week in June. I have to say that self seeded Verbena Bonairienses is in bloom by then and seems to be the one plant that all the butterflies who visit during that time nectar on. Anyone around here who really wants to encourage BFs to their garden ought to include VB... The swallowtails, cabbage whites, sulphurs, all like it.

Our main butterfly season comes along in mid July (it's just getting some momentum now), the milkweeds are getting some visitors, the zinnias in bloom and the homestead verbena (hardy in our zone they say) and red lantanas are getting big enough for the butterflies to see them/smell them.

I read in an essay from the University of Kentucky that 45 kinds of our butterflies nectar on Milkweeds here, and I find both milkweed 'curassavica' and 'incarnata' very popular. Not to mention that they are host plants for the Monarchs. 'Joe Pye weed' is a favorite late in autumn.

If I could have just three plants here I would have milkweed, verbena bonarienses, and zinnias.

Of course, I have lot more because I am obsessed, but those are the three most popular and I wish every homeowner would grow at least of few of them to do their little part for butterfly and pollinator conservation!

p.s. I'm not including Buddleia because everybody knows about it already.

This message was edited Jul 8, 2007 2:32 PM

Judy~ Your so right about the number of species that nectar on Milkweed.. This pic (below) is a common occurance these days.
Huisache Daisies
Veronica
Loosestrife
Agastache
Yarrow
Hardy Hibiiscus
Dito all of Donna's list, LOL (...saved me a lot of typing)

Donna~ You named a very good portion of what I would say are excellent nectar sources. I have nearly all of those because of hanging around here in DG,haha. Thanks for suggesting the Cuphea last year..The hummies here pour over the little cigars many times a day, alternating with the B&B Salvia, several Salvia gregii's, Zinnias, 4'Oclocks, Chaste Tree (Vitex), and Cardinal Flowers. I bought some Crocosmia bulbs at the 99cent store early this year, and they have been a wonderful flower for the hummer too.. The cultivar is Emberglow.

Brugmansias are also a fav of mine... I added a few more this year, and will report back what happens when they bloom, and which critters are capable of getting to the nectar deep inside. Some black caterpillars (with a white spirical stripe) have been munching on some of the leaves...

Another fairly deep one Nicotianna sylvestri (Flowering tobacco), has just begun blooming in places where I didn't plant it, lol. go fig~ I think all the flood rains had a lot to do with that. Still glad I came out with some good sized plants.

Joe Pye already mentioned along with Echinacea, (~right Bjacks~) also gets several species at a time, much like the Cinderella MW here> ~

Here's hummer all over the Crocosmia>

This Sulphur tried to cram himself inside of the Black and Blue today.. I didn't use that pic bc you could hardly see the yellow hanging out the end of a bloom.


Good subject Becky, I could go on and on about how butterflies and hummers pick their nectars.. something new practically every day around here these days.

:-Deb

In addition to alot already mentioned, Gaillardia 'Golden Goblin' and Shasta Daisies draw butterflies to my garden. I'm trying my best to group all the same colors together. Trying to acheive a monochromatic color scheme where all the flowers are the same color or differing values of the same color has required me to dig up plants and move them. I wish I had started this at the beginning. It would have made it alot easier. What few butterflies I have do seem to hone in by color and stay in the vacinity.

awesome pics deb.

Since we are discussing best Nectar flowers for butterflies, I wanted to add this conclusion about Buddiea from research at Clemson University:


"Relationship of Butterfly Visitation with Nectar Qualities and Flower Color in Butterfly Bush, Buddleia Davidii by Joseph D. Culin of Clemson University" 1996

Excerpt from the Abstract:

Butterfly visitation: Four butterflies and one day-active moth were chosen for use in examining activity in relation to flower color and nectar qualities. These were the tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus ), spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus ), silver spotted skipper (Urbanus proteus ), longtail skipper (Epargyreus clarus ), and bumblebee hawkmoth (Hemaris diffinis ). These were chosen because they are common, relatively large and showy, and therefore easily observed and identified. Patterns of butterfly bush visitation are presented for July , August , and September .

Season-long, the greatest amount of butterfly activity was observed on 'Charming Summer', 'Royal Red', 'Pink Delight', and 'Petite Plum' (Buddliea).

And this is a nice article that explains how butterflies learn/choose nectar plants

http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/4_11_98/bob1.htm

We have planned the basics for our gardens around host plants for the butterfly larvae. Then we add different plants from time to time and try new ones each year for color and nectar. Catbird8 is a Harris County Master Gardner, so she thinks we need one of everything. Photography is my hobby, so I like to encourage both hosts plants and nectar sources. Having reviewed the above list, I would add the following:
Phlox - ST's of all kinds love it, as do small and medium size butterflies.
Mexican heather - mostly for the little ones - skippers and hairstreaks.
Clerodendron - butterfly magnet. Forms a nice round top at 8 - 10 feet.
Duranta (golden dewdrop) - butterfly magnet. Can get quite large.
Cestrum - large butterflies; monarchs, ST's and yellows.

The deeper tubed flowers are great for hummers but not the best for butterflies.

Picture of Tiger ST on phlox attached.

Rod (mate of 8)

Yes Catbird & Rod... Nice selections and pic!
Deeper tubed flowers such as Cuphea, (cigar plant) need special excavation equipemt to draw the nectar out. This lil hummer has no problem doing that. Evidently when hummie goes through almost every single bloom, every day, she gets small drops of nectar on the leaves. This is actually perfect for the dime sized Gray Hairstreaks.. I see them light on the leaves fairly often. The nectar must be pretty rich. Lil dab 'll do ya for the little ones.

:-Deb

I haven't seen too many butterflies nectaring on my Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia ) yet, but I get tons of bees and other critters! And something is eating the leaves! Any cats we know of that use this plant as a host?

I lucked out with all the seeds I got in trades of Rudbeckia. I managed to get a nice assortment. Today I found a mutant plant. This plant has 3 buds/flowers and they all have something weird going on with them. Here's a photo of the oddest one. It has some weird growth coming right out of the middle of the bloom! LOL!

This message was edited Jul 14, 2007 9:24 PM

That is strange Becky!

I don't often see bfs on my Bougainvillea, but one day I saw this BST nectaring on it.

Isn't Becky's flower something? Usually a flower has to die before it's kids can come along.. Amazing!
Rox, I love your Bougainvillea, stunning shot of the BST! Guess they have more nectaring potential than I thought too. Ive never tried to grow them here in North Tx., but I see them at nurseries..I figured it was too dry for up here.

This Joe Pye always has somebody on it nectaring.. It seems to be Silver Spotted Skippers favorite. She hangs out there all day.

This is Nicotianna sylvestrii... The nectar is in 4-5" deep, so it is mostly for hummingbird moths. Not even sure a hummer could get to the nectar, they are so long.

Wow! I had heard that Bougainvillea aren't considered a nectar plant. Looks like they indeed are!!! Beautiful photo, Rox!

Deb - Are Joe-Pye weed more of a wild plant? I have some growing in my seed beds now, but still not blooming yet. Your photo makes the blooms look like feathers or something blowing in the breeze! Lovely photograph!!! :-)

Thanks Becky.. I am not sure. I heven't ever seen it growing wild, but I guess it could throw out a lot of seed and be carried away. It has gotten feathery as the blooms are maturing, what with all the visitors fluffing it out.

Hibiscus has always been a fav of nectar lovers. Here is my Texas Star...can you see what's unusual here?

I won't keep anyone in suspense here.. Remember Josephine's TS with 5-6-&7 petaled blooms? One of the blooms has 6 petals.. Haven't gotten a 7 petal one yet, but I will keep my eye on it.

This thing is getting way to tall for me to deadhead regularly, LOL!

Your Texas Star has so many blooms on it! Wow! I let mine go to seed last year and got LOTS of seeds, some of which I started new plants this year. Love the 6-petal one! My large one is budding now, so will be watching for those odd number of petals, too! I have heard that hummers especially like them. Does your little birdie frequent your blooms? Do you see BF on yours? With the huge size of the flowers. it looks like runway lights for hummers to find! LOL!

Did you figure out the cause of the odd blooms on your rudbeckia? Could it be aster yellows?