Butterfly Nectar Sources

Over a long period beginning In late summer and fall these plants are covered with dark-eyed, bicolor red, orange, and golden yellow, 2-3" wide daisies that sit atop sturdy stems with the flowers providing pollen and nectar for smaller pollinators and other garden beneficials. Prairie Glow Brown-Eyed Susan offers more flowers over a longer period on sturdy disease resistant plants with improved vigor and branching on longer-lived plants. This is a heat and sun-loving, deer and rabbit resistant native well-suited to both the garden and landscape as well as in naturalistic settings. The Brown-Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba, readily reseeds on exposed soils but is not aggressive or difficult to control. It prefers a full to mostly sunny position in well-drained, average moist to semi-dry soils. Ripened seedheads offer food for songbirds and small mammals. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12774

Tops in Mt. Cuba Center's first Echinacea trials in 2009 and was still one of the top ten in the 2020 trials! It also garnered the most pollinator visits in their 2018-19 trial years likely due to its strongly fragrant flowers. Pure white rays surround the dark orange tipped rounded cones of disk flowers on the 3-5" wide flowers atop sturdy 24-30" high stems beginning in late spring and continuing into early fall. PRAIRIE PILLARS™ Fragrant Angel Coneflower is a hybrid Coneflower selected for its exceptionally long flowering season that lasts from late spring or early summer often into fall, briliant color, extra large flowers, and improved branching habit over the original Mac-N-Cheese as well as its perennial reliability as a garden plant. Coneflowers are clump forming perennials whose often fragrant flowers are adored by butterflies, bees, and other pollinators that can be enjoyed as part of the sunny garden garden and landscape as well as container specimens. Leave seedheads for fall and winter songbirds to enjoy. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Photos courtesy of TERRA NOVA® Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12787

Clusters of 2" wide primrose yellow fragrant 4-petalled flowers are produced in mid to late spring into early summer atop the low growing spreading stems adorned with deep green fuzzy foliage of this native perennial wildflower. Prairie Sundrops, a.k.a. Meadow Evening Primrose, is a dayflowering species of Evening Primrose with a low somewhat bushy habit and it does spread somewhat by rhizomes which is great for naturalistic settings like meadows, prairies and roadside plantings and it is reportedly relatively easy to control in garden settings as well. An adaptable native perennial that is tolerant of wet to dry soils including clay but it seems to prefer an acidic pH. The flowers attract butterflies and larger native bees. Item# 11662

Loads of tall dense spikes of 1" long, lavender-violet, nectar-rich, tubular flowers emerge from slightly darker colored calyxes from late spring or early summer to fall attracting a wide array of pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Prince's Plume Hummingbird Mint is a moderately vigorous growing Agastache with a mounding and spreading habit growing to 30" high and wide so be sure to give this flowering machine a little elbow room. Use it en masse in the garden or landscape to provide summer long color in sunny gardens and landscapes or as low maintenance, full sun container specimens to bring the pollinators in close. Provide a full to mostly sunny location with excellent drainage and good air circulation for the best results. Moderately drought resistant once well-established. Deer and rabbit resistant. Photos courtesy of TERRA NOVA® Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 13583

Hundreds of 1" wide lavender-blue, semi-double daisies with a showy yellow eye literally cover these plants for weeks beginning in late summer and continuing into mid fall. Professor Anton Kippenburg New York Aster or Michaelmas Daisy is a clump forming, densely branching, perennial growing to just 12-18" high and wide and while this is a small growing plant it never seems to lack for flower power once late summer arrives. Dr. Allen Armitage in his Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 4th edition states that "This excellent cultivar has withstood the test of time." No pinching or staking is required to enjoy these beauties. Use these perennials where you would normally buy Chrysanthemums whether as part of the perennial border, in the landscape, or even as container plants. The flowers attract bees, butterflies, hover flies, and numerous other garden beneficials. Item# 12018

This multiple award winning Iris produces pale bluish-lavender falls and standards, accented with darker veining, and are topped by a trio of pale green to cream and light lavender style arms. Professor Paul Louisiana Iris grows to about 30-32" high and flowers in late midseason. Louisiana Irises are easy and adaptable, rhizomatous perennials with fans of deep green sword-like foliage and seem as at home in standing water as they do in average moist garden soils. Remember that these plants do most of their growing in fall and winter and so this is when they should be fed and fall is also a great time to divide plants if desired. Provide a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering. Professor Paul was awarded an Honorable Mention in 1984 and the Award of Merit in 1988. Item# 13451

Large, 3" wide deep purplish red trumpet shaped flowers are produced throughout the warmer months of the year to potentially year-round under warm tropical conditions. The Purple Allamanda, we originally thought that this was the dwarf form, is a vigorous growing and very free flowering, naturally evergreen, scandent (or vine-like shrub, rambler, etc.) and can be trained to espelier, trellis, or arbor or periodic pruning will help to keep it semi-shrub-like. Rich green smooth foliage adorns the upright to arching stems on a plant that grows to about 8-12'H and may get larger with age under good conditions. Provide the Purple Alllamanda with a full to partly sunny site in an average moist but never soggy wet, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum vigor and continuous flowering. Where not hardy it can be easily overwintered in a warm sunny window as a container plant. It should make an excellent container specimen that is sure to add a little tropical flair to any sunny setting. Item# 12976

A purple form of the Blue Butterfly Bush, producing large clusters of violet and purple butterfly-shaped flowers beginning in spring and early summer and continuing into fall under good conditions. For years the only cultivar of Blue Butterfly Bush available was 'Ugandense' the common Blue Butterfly Bush, Rotheca myricoides (syn. Clerodendrum myricoides 'Ugandense'), a.k.a. Oxford Blue and Cambridge Blue, this darker purple to violet flowered cultivar was shared with us by plantsman Heidi Sheesley of Treesearch Farms, Inc., Houston, Texas. The specialized butterfly-shaped flowers are pollinated by Bumblebees and Carpenter Bees. The Purple Butterfly Bush can be enjoyed as a colorful container plant or in the garden and landscape where hardy. Item# 11765

Clusters of white to lilac, up to 1" wide, star-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers are produced nearly continuously throughout the warmer months of the year. The large velvety, white to gray green, large rounded tropical foliage of the Giant Milkweed make excellent fodder for Monarch caterpillars and one leaf can provide a substantial amount of food. A large growing shrub in tropical climates where it can be trained into a tree form, grown as a shrub, or hedge. The Giant Milkweed can easily be maintained as a large container plant. Item# 11436

The nearly 1" wide creamy white starry spring flowers are streaked with pink and are soon followed by glossy deep purple new growth that matures to deep green. The Purple Glaze® Japanese Anise Shrub, Illicium anisatum 'Murasaki-no-sato', is a shade tolerant medium-sized to large growing evergreen shrub with a slow to medium rate of growth and naturally has an upright to rounded habit. It is somewhat resistant to short periods of drought once well-established and should be grown in a site with good drainage and average moist to moist soils in an area that receives shade during the hottest part of the day, especially in hot summer climates. Anise flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Not a spice plant. Item# 12003

Tall spikes adorned with nearly 1/2" wide, deep velvety purple flowers with a contrasting white eye are produced from spring to frost to potentially year-round and attract a host of pollinators, especially larger bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Purple Porterweed, Stachytarpheta frantzii, is a naturally evergreen, shrubby tropical with a moderate branching habit and is cloaked in glossy deep green foliage. It commonly grows to about 3-4' high and wide by the end of the growing season but can become larger when grown under warm tropical conditions. This Porterweed is small enough to enjoy as a medium-sized container plant or as a colorful addition to a sunny garden or landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, fertile, average to well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 578

TThe large 2" deep bluish-purple trumpets are born freely from late spring or early summer until fall on upright to arching burgundy stems with deep bronzy green glossy foliage. Purple Showers Mexican Petunia is sterile and so it can spend more energy on an endless supply of beautiful purple trumpets instead of adding unwanted seedlings to the garden. It does spread via rhizomes creating a tall ground covering mass of foliage and stems. This wonderful and vigorous selection produces larger flowers and foliage than most other Mexican Petunias. Item# 9610

Small clusters of lightly fragrant purple and lavender flowers are born from summer to frost on this easy and adaptable perennial. With a low, naturally spreading to weeping habit Purple Trailing Lantana makes an excellent choice for the garden or as a spiller in mixed containers. Excellent for butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Hardy and considered to be non-invasive. Item# 10506.

Loads of upward facing deep orange-red tubular buds open to show off thier contrasting starry yellow petals in spring atop a neat rounded mound of foliage. Ragin' Cajun Indian Pinks, a Plant Delights introduction that originated near St. Francisville, Louisiana, was selected for its neat and compact rounded habit, high bud count, orange-red flowers, and long flowering season. This is an easy and reliable long-lived clump forming, native perennial that is tolerant of full sun to light or bright shade. It goes fully dormant in winter dying back to near ground level then returning in early spring. Indian Pinks, Spigelia marilandica, will do best in a fertile, acidic, well-drained soil with average moisture. The flowers attract hummingbirds and other long tongued pollinators. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 13100

Rounded clusters of raspberry colored buds open to 2" long tubular, nectar rich, raspberry wine colored flowers in summer. Raspberry Wine Monarda is a disease resistant selection with strongly fragrant, deer and rabbit resistant foliage that can be used to flavor teas. Bee Balm is a clump forming, slowly spreading perennial well suited to moist, well-drained soils in a sunny garden setting whether in the herb garden or in mass as an informal groundcover. Item# 11400

Masses of 1" wide yellow-eyed bluish purple daisies absolutely cover this plant for weeks in late summer and fall. Raydon's Favorite Aromatic Aster, a selection of Symphyotrichum oblongifolium and the big brother of the slightly more compact October Skies, is a medium-sized, herbaceous, densely mounding shrub-like perennial that matures to about 3' x 3' at the time of flowering. Excellent fall color for the garden as well as drought tolerance and pest and disease resistance make this an excellent addition to the perennial or wildflower border and landscape. The flowers attract a variety of pollinators but seems to be especially popular with bees. Caterpillar host: Field Crescent, Pearl Crescent, Texan Crescent, Roadside Checkerspot, Hoffman's Checkerspot, and American Lady. Prefers good to excellent drainage and a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering. Named the 2016 Plant of the Year by the Garden Club of America and selected for the 2003 Theodore Klein Award. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 13164

Large clusters of long-lasting, light lavender, mauve, to purple calyxes serve as the backdrop for the contrasting deep red, 1" wide, butterfly shaped flowers that are produced throughout the warmer months of the year, as early as midspring to about mid fall. The Red Bleeding Heart Vine, Clerodendrum x speciosum, is a naturally evergreen, heirloom, twining, tropical climber that is one of the better and more reliable flowering vines for shaded areas, although it can also take *full sun, if acclimated, where it may be even more floriferous, and it attracts butterflies and likely hummingbirds. I have always found it interesting that many of the butterfly and moth pollinated species in the genus Clerodendrum appropriately have butterfly shaped flowers. The colorful bracts have the deepest purple coloration in full to partial sun conditions. Provide the Red Bleeding Heart Vine with a moist to average moist, fertile, average to well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. This is a hybrid of the White Bleeding Heart Vine, C. thompsonae, and the Flaming Glory Bower Vine, C. splendens. Item# 599

The Red Butterfly Ginger produces large deep reddish orange to red flowers that emerge from a darkened flower spike atop the sturdy stems of rich green smooth tropical looking foliage. It very much resembles the White Butterfly Ginger when in flower other than the flower color but has darker foliage a more compact habit. The Red Butterfly Ginger is one of the earliest gingers to flower in our collection. Provide a semi-shaded location where it receives shade during the hottest portion of the day although it is fairly tolerant. The Red Butterfly Ginger will prefer an average moist, well-drained, moderately fertile soil. Item# 11521

Clusters of deep red, long-lasting, saucer-shaped calyxes are centered by deep red, 1" long, slightly curved tubular flowers and are produced along the arching stems beginning in late summer and early fall just in time for the fall hummingbird migration. Flowering may continue throughout winter and into spring in warm winter climates or will continue until the first hard frost or freeze in colder winter regions. The Red Chinese Hat, a relatively rare color form of Holmskioldia sanguinea, is a naturally evergreen, arching or scandent, tropical shrub growing to about 6-8' high and up to 8-12' wide, even as a dieback perennial in our zone 8B garden. It can utilized as a specimen planting, as an informal hedge, espalier it along a fence or on a trellis, and even as tree form or standard. Provide the Chinese Hat Plant with a full to mostly sunny site, in an average moist, fertile soil with average or better drainage for optimum vigor and flowering. See our Growing on the Edge Growing Guide for more on growing root hardy tropicals as perennials in the garden and landscape. Item# 11486

Brilliant crimson red bottlebrush-like flowers are produced in summer often into fall to potentially year-round under warm tropical conditions and attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. Red Clusters Bottlebrush, a selection of Callistemon viminalis, is a vigorous freely flowering, naturally evergreen large shrub that can also be trained into a small tree form that matures to about 12' high by about 8' wide. In zone 8, the foliage may drop after hard freezes potentially reducing flowering and so this cultivar may be best grow in warmer winter climates like zones 9 and 10. They can also be enjoyed as container plants where not reliably hardy. Provide Bottlebrush with a full to mostly sunny site in an average to well-draining, fertile soil and they are moderately drought resistant once fully established. Item# 603

1" wide, deep red, Hibiscus-like flowers are produced from spring to fall to potentially year-round under warm tropical conditions attracting hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. Red Dragon Rockrose, potentially a hybrid between the native Pavonia lasiopetala and the South American P. missionum, is a multi-stemmed, clump forming, naturally evergreen to semi-deciduous, tropical shrub adorned with deep green, lance-shaped foliage and growing to about 3-4' high and 2-3' wide. It is considered hardy in zones 9-11 and may act like a die-back perennial in areas that experience hard freezes. Where not hardy plants can be enjoyed as container plants or summer annuals. Provide a full sun to partly shaded site in a well-drained, average moist, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 13648