One of the things I do during down time away from the garden or during winter, is research on what new additions I want to add or new bugs I want to attract to my yard.
I decided to put together the top 15 plants that you can sit back and watch butterflies flock to your yard and give you that feeling that only a true gardener knows.
Dreaming is sometimes a big part of it due to money constraints but slowly, year by year I am able to add wonderful flowers to my garden beds that allow me to sit back and enjoy the show that only nature can bring. I hope you enjoy my top 15 butterfly attractors.
Alyssum
Alyssum is a beautiful perennial that comes in 4 colors. White, yellow, pink and purple. All shades may vary depending on the specific species you buy as well as size. This is going to be a easy plant to fit your budget because it can easily be grown from seed.
Daisy
Wow, Daisy's. Doing some brief research, I found out that the Daisy Family literally has over 13,000 specie names and 13 sub species. That's a lot! But once you drill it down, you'll figure it out. Here are some of the classifications:
Chrysanthemum, Coneflower, Dandelion, Sunflower, Common Daisy, Mugwort, Dahlia, Yarrow, Marigold, Zinnia.
Just to name a couple. There are so many different flowers you can pick to fit your budget or the space you want to fill, the possibilities are endless.
Personally, Coneflowers are a staple in my garden. Simply because of their affordable cost and drought tolerance. Plus the birds love the seed heads after the flowers are spent, so leave them til Spring.
Bee Balm
Butterflies are a huge fan of Bee Balm. I have this perennial on my wish list to find a place in my yard for her! Bee Balm comes in varied colors of pink, white, red, and purples. She is going to want full sun. (aka 6 hours or more) Bee Balm will also attract Hummingbirds and make a great cut flower also.
Summer Lilac
A beautiful shrub that depending on the variety you, buy can get quite large. Comes from central China and in the past few years growers have been making more compact varieties, so Butterfly bush lovers like me can have them. There are also gardeners with PHD's asking that we as novice gardeners, don't just plant this one shrub and holler done. There are articles, saying how they are the "crack" of attracting butterflies, but they don't have any "Host" factors that really provide nurturing or health benefits to birds and butterflies. Like Caterpillars for example. Some varieties are also touted as being invasive and hard to remove, but in my experience, Growers stopped producing those a couple of years ago and are sending out a non invasive and much nicer shrub.
But don't take my word for it, just do your research, so you get the right one for you and your yard.
Marigold
It's rumored to be native to Southern Europe, however no one can actually prove it. There have been so many false articles and it has been cultivated so many times, that gardeners stopped listening. This flower does provoke a teary memory for me. My Grandmother used to love these and we would always take the dried flowers and store them as seed and replant them all along the driveway. I hated it at the time. But now I cling to that sunny day of pulling little dried flower heads out of the bag and sticking them in the dirt.
This flower has medicinal properties as the Calendula Oil is used for sore throats and the oil can also be used muscle spasms, menstrual periods and a fever reducer according to WebMD.
Cosmos
If you'd like to have a wildflower look in your yard this stunning beauty is for you. It has an airy or lofty feel to it. I bought a packet of seeds one year, dropped them in a garden bed and just stood back and enjoyed the blooms. I no longer have the seed packet but I believe the variety I had was a reseeding variety, that I was only able to enjoy for a couple of years due to re-doing the garden bed.
Depending on which variety you buy, they grow anywhere from 18" to 60" and want full sun. It can take about 6 to 7 weeks to bloom, but once they do you will enjoy them up until your first hard frost.
DayLilly
Now let's talk about the easiest plant to grow. This is it. I literally dug up a daylily to transplant and left half the root system on the open ground and planted it a week later.
It lived! You cannot kill these thing. They are hardy, pest free plants, but the blooms do not last long. On average each bloom will only last a day to 3 days. Give or take?
Delphinium
This tall spiky number will be a show stopper when planted in mass. I have a few planted in my front garden bed, but due to over watering, they haven't done well. But this Spring I will get it figured out. Blooms range in size from 2 feet tall to the glorious 6 foot tall variety.
They look amazing tucked around as surprises poking through the Garden and make an awesome cut flower too. You can grow them from seed to help your budget also. Score!
Lavender
A world class favorite in everyone's book. A drought loving, perfume scented stunner any day of the week. Comes from the Mint family and also can be grown from seed. Burpee's is a good online seed resource to find it. I am not getting compensated to say that, it's my opinion. There are health benefits to Lavender and the oils it produces, there are so many different uses the possibilities are endless. Don't even get this old broad started on using them as sachets in your underwear drawer. Wreaths, cut flowers, this is a huge favorite of mine, which I mass planted about 6 last year. I am already counting the days til blooms appear.
Phlox
Another spiky grower that if you need to spread, can easily be dug up and divided in your garden. Comes in varied shades of pink, white and purples. A great perennial that butterflies and birds love as well.They also make a good cut flower. You'll love how the color goes deeper as it dries in the vase.
Salvia
A purple beauty that when things gets dry does not require a lot of watering. It also can be dug up & divided if you'd like to add more to your garden. I have not tried this flower as a cut one in the house, but I definitely won't mind trying.
Sedum
Find a sunny spot for this perennial and give a drink in 90 degrees temps once a week and this baby will love you. No fertilizer or care needed, the more you neglect them, the more they'll like it.
Yarrow
A great border plant that is Native to the US. Usually can take almost any soil except boggy. This is also an easy care perennial for a novice gardener.
Zinnias
A wide range of colors, sizes to fit your style and also can be grown from seeds to save your pocket book. These beauties are Annuals, so that's the only down side. But you will get a lot of bang if you buy the starters from your local garden center. They do perform!
Shasta Daisy
This type is another no brainer for me. You can plant these perennials and walk away. They don't require a lot of water. They want sun and that's pretty much it. They also can be divided easily to spread throughout your yard.
The trick that I have learned is don't plant just one. If you're like me and budget is an issue, save that ten bucks and grow it into 40. Then go buy the smaller versions and sit back and watch.
Have you heard the saying "one is none"? Well 5 is the jive. The more you plant in mass, the happier you will be.
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