Butterfly Nectar Sources

16-24" high spikes of red orange buds open to pastel orange 1" long tubular flowers that fade to a light lavender pink as they age creating the soft multi-color ambrosia-like effect. Another excellent dwarf Agastache, Kudos™ Ambrosia Dwarf Hummingbird Mint develops into a mound of gray green rounded fragrant foliage from which the numerous spikes of flowers emerge beginning in spring and lasting well into fall. The nectar rich flowers attract a seemingly endless array of hummingbirds and larger butterflies. The compact habit of this Agastache lends it to use in containers where the pollinators can be drawn in close or add it to the garden and landscape in small groupings or in mass for a continuous show of color. Periodic removal of spent flower spikes will help to keep the plants looking clean and fresh as well as to help make way for new flower spikes. Image courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com. Item# 11650

Spikes of orange tubular flowers tower over the fragrant gray-green foliage of this compact free flowering Agastache from late spring to fall attracting hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees with its nectar rich rewards. Kudos™ Mandarin Dwarf Hummingbird Mint is a compact growing and exceptionally free flowering Agastache well suited to any sunny well-drained garden or container combo. Excellent drainage is key for winter survivability. New for 2017! Item# 11280

Intense true red 1" long tubular flowers adorn dense 12-24" high spikes atop the gray green fragrant foliage of this dwarf Agastache beginning in spring and continuing well into fall. Kudos™ Red Dwarf Hummingbird Mint is a true hummingbird magnet and the compact habit of this Agastache lends it to use in containers where you can draw these aerial acrobats for up close viewing as well as in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny location in a well-drained soil for optimum health and flowering. Periodic removal of spent flower spikes will help to keep the plants looking clean and fresh as well as to make way for new flower spikes. Image courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 11649

Sunny yellow 1" long tubular flowers adorn dense 18-24" high spikes atop the gray green fragrant foliage of this dwarf Agastache beginning in spring and continuing well into fall. Kudos™ Yellow Dwarf Hummingbird Mint is a true hummingbird magnet and the compact habit of this Agastache lends it to use in containers where you can draw these aerial acrobats for up close viewing as well as in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny location in a well-drained soil for optimum health and flowering. Periodic removal of spent flower spikes will help to keep the plants looking clean and fresh as well as to make way for new flower spikes. Image courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12050

Beautifully cut medium green deeply cut lacy foliage that is reminiscent of the delicately cut foliage of some Japanese Maples adorns this vigorous 'Chaste Tree'. 6-8" spikes of lavender-pink flowers that attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees are borne in summer. The Lace-Leaf Vitex is considered by many to be the most hardy of the Chaste Trees.  Item# 787.

The large pink, dark-eyed flowers of Lady Baltimore Hibiscus are sure to make a statement in the late spring and summer garden. This root hardy, die-back perennial has a compact 5' x 5' habit and is tolerant of soil moisture levels ranging from average moist to wet soils. Lord and Lady Baltimore Hibiscus are the earliest flowering cultivars that we grow. Caterpillar host: Gray hairstreak. Item# 10318.

Multitudes of 3-4" wide golden yellow daisies with a tan to dark brown 'eye' sit atop sturdy 18-24" stems and are produced in late spring to early summer and may repeat if deadheaded. The Large-Flower or Rough Coneflower, Rudbeckia grandiflora, is a tough and easy to grow clump forming perennial that can produce 80 or more flowering stems per clump once mature. This is probably one of the most underutilized native perennials as it has one of the most uniform habits of the native Coneflowers, it is long-lived and it can tolerate the moist to wet settings of acid bogs as well as short periods of drought once well-established. This is one of the major components of our Once-Mown Meadows here onsite. Provide a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering. Deer and rabbit resistant and the flowers attract a variety of smaller pollinators. Item# 9885

Nectar-rich, light purple flowers are produced continuously from spring to fall on tall spikes that butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds cannot seem to resist! Lavender Porterweed is a medium to large growing exceptionally full and vigorous Porterweed was once considered to be a purple form of the highly popular Coral Porterweed although we have learned that this is a sterile or nearly sterile hybrid cultivar. Porterweeds are excellent nectar producers outperforming nearly all other butterfly plants in the garden. Item# 483

From near white to lavender to rich purple long-lasting bracts subtend the whorls of tubular white, lavender, to purple nectar rich flowers beginning as early as late spring and continuing well into summer and into fall under good conditions. The stems are adorned with lemony to bergamot scented narrow foliage. Lemon Beebalm is a moderately drought resistant native annual species found throughout much of the central and eastern US. It readily reseeds on exposed soils and makes a good addition to naturalized areas like meadows, prairies, and roadside plantings. The tubular flowers attract a variety of bees, butterflies, as well as hummingbirds. Plants typically die after flowering and seed development is complete. Deer, rabbit, and pest resistant. Item# 11730

Large, soft lemony yellow flowers with paler lower lips and slightly darker tubes and hoods are produced in spikes from mid to late spring until fall attracting hummingbirds, occasional larger butterflies, and larger bees. Lemon Pie Salvia, likely a hybrid of Salvia greggii the Autumn Sage, develops into a compact 18-24"H x 12-18"W with good flower power. Its smaller stature lends it to use as a (forgiving) container plant for a sunny area or add it to the garden and landscape. Provide a well-drained soil in full to mostly sunny conditions and never keep soggy wet. An RHS Award of Garden Merit winner! Images courtesy of Jadelty Plant Propagation Nursery, all rights reserved. Item# 13141

This Black-Eyed Susan gets a gold star for flower power! An improved truly dwarf selection of the award winning Goldsturm, Little Goldstar Black-Eyed Susan produces loads of dark eyed golden yellow daisies on well branched sturdy stems beginning in summer and continuing into fall. All on a neat and tidy compact native perennial with deep green foliage that is deer and drought resistant once established. LIttle Goldstar Rudbeckia lends itself to use in formal settings, mass plantings, as well as for a bright spot of summer long color in less formal perennial gardens and landscapes. Image courtesy of North Creek Nurseries. Item# 10920

In mid to late summer large rounded flower clusters composed of hundreds of pinkish-purple to near rose-pink flowers are perched atop tall, dark purple, sturdy, upright stems with whorled, medium green, rugose foliage. Little Joe Coastal Joe Pye Weed, a selection of Eupatorium dubium but now classified Eutrochium dubium, is a clump forming, deciduous, herbaceous, native perennial growing to 4-5' high that is typically found growing near consistently moist areas along the East Coast but it does fine under average garden conditions as well. The flowers of Little Joe's nectar rich flowers attract butterflies and a variety of smaller pollinators including honeybees. Provide a full sun to partly shaded site in a moist to wet to average moist, fertile soil for optimum vigor, the sturdiest stems, and maximum flower production. One of only 4 cultivars to receive 5 out of 5 stars in trials at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 13183

Dense pyramidal clusters composed of hundreds of soft lemony yellow flowers are produced on short sturdy 12-18" high stems in mid to late summer attracting a wide array of pollinators. Little Lemon Goldenrod is a hybrid selected for its flower power, uncommon color, compact well-branched habit, and good garden manners, in that it stays where you put it. This little goldenrod is a hardy and reliable, deer resistant, clump forming perennial that is compact and tidy enough for container culture but may be at its best in a garden or landscape setting. Provide a full sun to mostly sunny site in an average moist, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 10280

Small clusters of 2" long tubular red and orange flowers with a yellow throat emerge from the leaf axils on long peduncles, the stem that supports the flowers, to offer up its nectar reward to hummingbirds and larger butterflies. Under warm tropical conditions Lobelia aguana flowers nearly year round with the heaviest flowering in summer and fall. A shrubby Lobelia with long deep green narrow foliage it quickly matures into a 5'x5' specimen. Lobelia aguana hails from the Mesoamerican Cloud Forests of Central America. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist soil with average or better drainage. Item# 11802

Dense clusters of fragrant dark azure to blue-violet flowers nearly cover up the nicely contrasting blue-gray foliage of this shrubby perennial beginning in mid to late summer and continuing into fall. The flowers attract butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Longwood Blue Bluebeard is a vigorous freely flowering selection of Caryopteris growing to 4' high and 3-4' wide and selected by Longwood Gardens of Pennsylvania. Caryopteris prefers a well-drained soil in a full to mostly sunny position. Somewhat drought resistant once well-established. A Missouri Botanic Gardens Plant of Merit award winner. Item# 11671

Intense pure red, massive, dinner plate sized flowers are produced beginning in early summer and continuing until fall on this vigorous and free flowering perennial Hibiscus. Lord Baltimore is one of the first widely cultivated Hardy Hibiscus developed by Robert Darby in the 1950's and it is still popular to this day! Perennial Hibiscus produce the largest flowers of any perennial in the garden and the rich red of Lord Baltimore may even stop traffic, if accidentally. It is a vigorous upright to spreading perennial that easily fits into the back of the perennial border or as a specimen in moist sites. Caterpillar host: Gray hairstreak. Item# 11017

Deep glowing red, starry flowers with tubular throats are held on sturdy 24-36" high stems and flower over an extended period beginning in summer and often into fall under good conditions. An obviously hummingbird pollinated perennial but it aslo attracts some larger butterflies, especially Sulphurs. The Louisiana Catchfly, Silene subciliata, is a rare, drought resistant, clump forming, tap-rooted, native perennial that is found only in Western Louisiana and East Texas. It is typically seen growing on well-drained sandy loams to loamy sands and so areas with good to excellent drainage will be optimum. While the Louisiana Catchfly can tolerate the filtered shade of open Longleaf Pine forests, plants tend to be sturdier and shorter in full to mostly sunny sites. The rosettes are cloaked in rounded narrow, medium-green foliage and remain evergreen in zone 8B. This is one of the few Silenes that easily tolerates the heat and humidity of Southeastern summers. Easy and reliable once established. Item# 9522

Much like our old favorite the Butterfly Ginger but with much larger (like the size of a Luna Moth) white fragrant flowers that are borne from early summer to fall on shorter sturdier stems to 3-4'H and large lush tropical foliage. An excellent cut flower whose fragrance can fill a room. Multiplies readily but not uncontrollably. Item# 9775.

A sterile clump forming selection! Machu™ Morado Ruellia produces a summer long display of purple trumpet shaped flowers that attract bees and larger butterflies. This new introduction boasts a slightly more compact habit than the similar Purple Showers but with all the flower power, heat tolerance, and adaptability and with a sterile non-invasive clump forming habit. Machu™ Morado Ruellia or Mexican Petunia is an easy to grow heat and sunloving tropical well suited to container culture as well as in the garden and landscape. Adaptable to soil types but prefers a sunny site in a fertile moist to average moist soil. Item# 12072

A superb butterfly nectar plant! Pinkish-purple daisy-like blooms with dark centers to 7" across are born mid-summer to fall. The flowers are held on sturdy stems that are 2-3'H. An outstanding and award winning selection of our native Purple Coneflower! Item # 1100.

Large clusters of 1" wide starry golden yellow flowers with anthers that age to a contrasting red may be produced throughout the year under warm tropical conditions. The flowers attract bees and butterflies and if pollinated they are followed by 3/4-1" wide helicopter-like samaras. Maiden's Jealousy, Tristellateia australasiae, is a naturally evergreen tropical twining woody climber with rich green foliage and purplish stems on the growth. It can be grown in the ground in areas with mild winters and can also be grown as a container plant where not hardy. Provide a full to mostly sunny site for optimum flowering. Maiden's Jealousy should be fairly tolerant of soil types as it is a component of Mangrove swamps and coastal forests in Tropical Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Australia. Item# 12026

Exceptionally fragrant with a strong spearmint aroma! Malcolm's Whiteleaf Mountainmint, a.k.a. Malcolm's Mint, was selected and introduced by its namesake Dr. Malcolm Vidrine for its strong minty fragrance in lieu of the typical, sometimes camphor-like, fragrance more common to this species. This is a clump forming native perennial with an upright to rounded growth habit reaching about 3' high by flowering. The dainty flowers are pollinated by a variety of smaller pollinators but are especially relished by bees. Easy to grow and deer and pest resistant. Whiteleaf Mountainmint is somewhat drought resistant once well-established. Clusters of tiny, light pink, tubular flowers are encircled by a mass of velvety white, bract-like leaves in mid to late summer. Item# 12627