Butterfly Nectar Sources

Vibrant glowing fuchsia, 1" long two-lipped tubular flowers are borne along short spikes from spring to fall on this vigorous Salvia hybrid. Vibe® Ignition Fuchsia Autumn or James Sage is hybrid of Salvia greggi x S. microphylla garnering the best of both species and boasting exceptional flower power and a naturally compact tidy rounded habit to 2'x2'. It is sure to make an easy and forgiving colorful low-maintenance container plant or add it to the garden and landscape where its flowers will draw in hummingbirds, butterflies, and larger bees throughout the growing season. Provide a full to mostly sunny site with good drainage for optimum vigor and flowering. Vibe® Ignition Fuchsia Salvia is moderately drought resistant once fully established but may flower best under average moisture conditions. Images courtesy of Ball Horticulture, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12417

Vibrant dark purple, 1" long two-lipped tubular flowers are borne along short spikes from spring to fall on this vigorous Salvia hybrid. Vibe® Ignition Purple Autumn James Sage is hybrid of Salvia greggi x S. microphylla garnering the best of both species and boasting exceptional flower power and a naturally compact tidy rounded habit to 2'x2'. It is sure to make an easy and forgiving colorful low-maintenance container plant or add it to the garden and landscape where its flowers will draw in hummingbirds, butterflies, and larger bees throughout the growing season. Provide a full to mostly sunny site with good drainage for optimum vigor and flowering. Vibe® Ignition Purple Salvia is moderately drought resistant once fully established but may flower best under average moisture conditions. Item# 11987

The large 3-4" wide, funnel shaped, white flowers are neatly edged in a broad band of contrasting rich reddish-pink and seem to nearly glow against the foil of dark green, medium textured foliage. Flowering is in midspring attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Vibrant Evergreen Azalea, a Harris hybrid, is a rare dwarf with a dense and compact habit that lends itself to bonsai culture but is sure to be a low-maintenance conversation piece in the garden and landscape.  Azaleas do best in average moist, acidic soils that are rich in organic matter but have good to excellent drainage and should be top dressed with an organic mulch such as pine straw and pine bark. We recommend using a slow-release, non-burning fertilizer that is labeled for acidic loving plants. Item# 12576

Nearly black buds open to 7" wide scarlet red ruffled flowers with a darker burgundy eye that are produced throughout the summer growing season. Vintage Wine Perennial Hibiscus is a compact well-branched large clump forming perennial with a naturally rounded habit. This is an indeterminate Hardy Hibiscus meaning that they flower all up and down the stems instead of just on the upper half of the plants creating a knockout display in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny location in moist to average moist to wet, moderately fertile soils. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12059

Dense flattened clusters of dainty white tubular flowers top the narrow blue-green to green fragrant foliage in summer. The small nectar rich flowers of Virginia Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum virginianum, attract a wide variety of pollinators, and are especially important to native bees. This is a rhizomatous native perennial that will readily spread especially in moist soils. It is native mainly to the northcentral and northeastern US and is typically found in moist soils but can tolerate drier sites where it is less likely to spread aggressively. Virginia Mountain Mint is tolerant of a wide variety of soil types from clay, to sandy, to rocky as well as calcareous soils. Item# 12355

2-3" medium to light pink Hibiscus-like flowers are produced beginning in mid-spring and continuing often into late as fall under good conditions. The Virginia Salt Marsh Mallow is a vigorous and free flowering native, Hardy Hibiscus-like perennial and a member of the Hibiscus family. It dies back to the ground in winter and readily returns in spring. Selected as the 1989 North Carolina and the Virginia 2004 wildflower of the year! Item# 9401

The huge rosy pink flowers with a darkly contrasting red eye can reach nearly 8" across in summer on this hardy hybrid Hibiscus! WALBERTON’S® Rose Moon Hibiscus is the result of many years of breeding and selection to develop a Rose of Sharon-like shrub with very large showy flowers, sterility so that it flowers longer, good hardiness, and excellent vigor all in one neat package. This is a large deciduous shrub with an upright to vase-shaped habit growing to 8-10'H x 5-6'W. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in a fertile, well-drained soil with average moisture for optimum vigor and flowering. Images courtesy of PlantHaven International, planthaven.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12448

A Louisiana Super Plant selection! The large 3-4" wide, coral pink, funnel-shaped flowers are produced beginning in late spring with sporadic summer flowering and another nice show in fall with the flowers attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Watchet Azalea, an evergreen Satsuki type, has a neat and compact, densely branching, naturally rounded habit that lends itself to use in low-maintenance gardens and landscapes, including formal settings. Its small size also lends Watchet to use in bonsai as well as for low-maintenance container plants. Provide your evergreen Azaleas with a well-drained, average moist, humus rich, acid soil and topdress with an organic mulch for the best results. Item# 12575

The pure white 1" long tubular flowers emerge from mealy-white calyxes along dense 18-24" high spikes from spring to fall attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. White Flame Salvia is a vigorous and mannerly intermediate height hybrid of Salvia longispicata x S. farinacea that revels in the heat and sun of summer when many other plants are seeking shade. Provide a full to mostly sunny site with average or better drainage in containers as well as in the garden and landscape. Although, White Flame Salvia is considered hardy to zone 7, it will likely do best if planted out in spring once the danger of freeze and frost have passed. Image courtesy of Ball Horticulture, all rights reserved. Item# 12176

In late summer and fall, Frostweed produces large flattened clusters of flowers that are used by a variety of pollinators including bees, migrating Monarchs and other butterflies. This is a relatively tall growing rhizomatous native perennial that will develop into a mass of upright stems and flowers. Frostweed, Verbesinca virginica, is typically found growing in moist to periodically dry soils in partly shaded to lightly shaded sites from the Edward's Plateau of west central Texas to Florida and as far north as Missouri and Kentucky. Compared to the very similar species Texas Crownbeard, Verbesina microptera, the Virginia Frostweed has fewer ray flowers (or petals) per flower and is considered to be more reliably cold hardy. Item# 11767

Clusters of pure white flowers with a darker eye may be born throughout summer and can nearly cover the top of the plant under good conditions. White or Swamp Milkweed is one of the few shade tolerant Milkweeds but it seems to produce a fuller denser plant where it receives at least 4-6 hours or more of direct sunlight. This is an excellent choice for use as a Monarch host as it will remain evergreen in mild winters in zone 8B and warmer and is a good substitute for the Mexican Milkweed for those looking for a reliable locally native perennial Milkweed with a smaller compact habit. Asclepias perennis is native to much of the eastern central US. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist to semi-moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Plant the Aquatic or White Milkweed in spring until about midsummer in zones 6-8 to help ensure plants are well-established before winter. It can also be enjoyed as a container plant but it should be protected if there is a chance that the soil can freeze. Item# 10451

Pure white tubular flowers emerge from tall, velvety, white calyxes on dense flower spikes from late summer to fall and may flower again in spring in areas where the plants do not freeze to the ground. White Mischief Mexican Sage Bush has soft velvety medium to gray-green foliage adorning upright to arching shrub-sized plants. This is a drought tolerant, sun and heat loving, reliable, clump forming, shrub-like perennial that is considered virtually deer proof thanks to its fragrant foliage. A selection of Salvia leucantha, White Mischief Mexican Sage will be most dependable in full to mostly sunny sites with very good to excellent drainage. This is a die-back perennial in zone 8 and colder, freezing to the ground and then returning in spring. Item# 12545

A rare or at least uncommon color form of the ever popular Blue Pea Vine producing large white blossoms held against medium green to blue green foliage on a small vine with excellent flower power. The White Pea Vine makes the perfect vine for container culture on small trellises, mailboxes, and fences that will flower from spring nearly all the way until frost. By some accounts it is a tender perennial in mild winters but is more generally grown as an annual and it readily returns from seeds saved the previous winter. Provide a full to partial sun location in a moderately fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 11952

An uncommon selection of Rose of Montana, this is a beautiful climbing perennial which produces sprays of lacy white flowers all summer and fall. It dies to the ground in winter, but faithfully returns from the ground each spring. Item # 826. 

The large pure white trumpets are born freely from summer to fall on upright to arching plants with contrasting rich green glossy foliage. White Showers Mexican Petunia is a white sport of the sterile Purple Showers allowing the plants to spend more energy on an endless supply of white trumpets instead of adding unwanted seedlings to the garden. It does spread via rhizomes creating a tall, weed smothering, ground-covering mass of foliage and stems. This wonderful and vigorous selection produces slightly larger flowers and foliage than most other Mexican Petunias. Item# 10834

Pure-white 1/2" blooms are born in grape-like drooping clusters from spring/summer to frost on this large tropical shrub sometimes grown as a tender perennial or annual. In freeze-free climates the Duranta can be used as a hedge or screen or train them into beautiful small trees. In the mildest portions of zone 8B-9 it will often act as a die-back perennial. The blooms are followed by 1/2" golden berries giving it the name of 'Golden Dewdrop'. Item# 737.

Beautiful and unique spidery white flowers absolutely cover this semi-dwarf evergreen shrub in mid-spring. The rare Koromo White Azalea's naturally compact growth habit, durability, and rare flower form make this a definite conversation piece. The lavender form of this Azalea, Koromo Shikibu or Purple Spider, lines the eastern border of the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Gardens at Stephen F Austin's Mast Arboretum. Azaleas do best in average moist, acidic soils that are rich in organic matter but have good to excellent drainage and should be top dressed with an organic mulch such as pine straw and pine bark. We recommend using a slow-release, non-burning fertilizer that is labeled for acidic loving plants. Item# 10813

Clusters of pure white flowers are borne from spring to frost on this easy and adaptable perennial. With a low, naturally spreading to weeping habit White Trailing Lantana makes an excellent choice for the garden or as a spiller in mixed containers. Excellent for butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Evergreen in mild winter climates and makes a wonderful freely flowering groundcover. Item# 10791.

Large dense spikes of pure white foxglove-like flowers are born over a long period through spring and often well into summer on this beautiful clump forming native perennial. This wildflower's popularity for bouquets has made it nearly endangered in some areas. White Wand Penstemon, Penstemon tubaeflorus var. tubaeflorus, is a rosette forming native perennial whose rich green foliage often exhibits deep maroon tinges, edges, or the entire rosette may be maroon during portions of the year. Great for butterflies, larger bees, and the small black seeds may be utilized by smaller songbirds. Item# 9542

Clusters of tiny, light pink, tubular flowers are encircled by a mass of velvety white, bract-like leaves in mid to late summer. Whiteleaf Mountainmint, Pycnanthemum albescens, has a strong minty sage-like fragrance and can be used in place of sage in cooking. It 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. Item# 10669

Clusters of small white to greenish-white flowers are borne mainly in summer among the finely textured, narrow, dark-green foliage of Whorled Milkweed. This is a tough, native, taprooted perennial found throughout all but the most western portions of the US as well as into Canada. Whorled Milkweed is a host to the Monarch and Queen butterflies. Item# 10221.

The tall stems of this native perennial cover up in 1" light purple daisies in late summer and fall. Willowleaf Aster, Symphyotrichum praealtum, produces a multitude of upright to arching stems once well-established and makes a grand statement in the fall garden, prairie, meadow, or roadsides. The flowers attract a variety of pollinators but are an especially important late summer and fall nectar source for native bees. Willowleaf Aster or Willow Aster is long rhizomatous, versus clumpforming, and will slowly colonize an area once established creating a dense stand at maturity. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in moist to average moist soils. Cutback to ground level after flowering to prevent unwanted seedlings if desired. Item# 10693.

Clusters of extra large (for a Beautyberry) showy purplish-pink flowers are produced for an extended period beginning in late spring or early summer and continuing into fall all the while ripening clusters of showy rich purple berries. The Willowleaf Beautyberry, Callicarpa salicifolia, is something of a rarity in the horticultural trade but is gaining in popularity for being one of the showiest. This large growing deciduous shrub has a naturally upright to rounded, well-branched habit lending it to use as a specimen plant and as an informal hedge or screen. The fruit attracts songbirds, small mammals, as well as likely deer and other wildlife while the nectar rich flowers attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Provide the Willowleaf Beautyberry with a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 12455

Only one of two Amsonia species to receive a 5-star rating in the Chicago Botanic Gardens trials! Showy clusters of light blue star-shaped 1" wide flowers are produced in spring atop sturdy stems cloaked in dark green willow-like foliage. The Willowleaf Eastern Bluestar has the same basic habit and growth requirements of the more common Eastern Bluestar, Amsonia tabernaemontana var. tabernaemontana, but with larger showier flower clusters that seem to cover the plant, a neat dense vase-shaped habit, and clean disease resistant foliage. An easy to grow, clump-forming native perennial that is tolerant of wet to average moist soils preferring a full to mostly sunny site in the garden and landscape. The flowers of Bluestars attract butterflies and hummingbird moths. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 11945