Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden
Butterflies in the garden are a beautiful and whimsical sight. They flutter through with elegance and help pollinate the flowers.
Here are several perennials that attract butterflies:
- Achillea (Yarrow)
- Aster New England
- Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly weed)
- Clover
- Delphinium
- Gaillardia (Blanket flower)
- Leucanthemum (Shasta daisy)
- Monarda (Bee balm)
- Phlox
- Verbena bonariensis
To obtain a complete list of over two dozen butterfly-friendly perennials and shrub ideas as well as a planting diagram that will help you build a garden that is aesthetically balanced, stop by our greenhouse. Ask our expert staff for help in selecting just the right plants for your location.
Suzanne’s Growing Tips
Here are four tips to attract butterflies to your garden:
- Plant in a sunny location to warm the butterflies’ bodies and wings
- Plant a variety of bright, colorful, nectar plants
- Plant specific host plants for the specific type of butterflies you want to attract
- Resist the temptation to use pesticide; choose other options
Suzanne Balet Haight, owner of Balet Flowers & Design, earned an Ornamental Horticulture B.S. Degree from Cornell University and SUNY Cobleskill