Butterfly houses make a great addition to your butterfly garden or as
a project for children studying nature. Some butterfly attractors you
may already have in your flower beds, if not they make nice additions to the gardens.
Honeysuckle – Semi-evergreen shrub
Yarrow – Hardy perennial
Butterfly Weed – Hardy perennial
Aster – Hardy perennial
Buddleia or Butterfly bush – Deciduous shrub
Chrysanthemum – Hardy perennial
Cosmos – annual
| Echinacea or Purple Coneflower – Hardy perennial
Joe-Pye Weeds – Hardy perennial
Sunflowers – Annual
Hemerocallis or Day Lilies – Hardy perennial
Lavender – Shrubby perennial
mints – Hardy perennial
| Phlox – Perennial
Rosemary – Tender perennial
Goldenrod – Hardy perennial
French marigolds – Annual
Zinnias – Annual
Fennel – Perennial
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A few of these plants can be quit invasive so you may consider planting them in
containers to keep them from taking over the flower beds.
The monarch butterfly lays its eggs on milkweed pods. As much as it may
pain a gardener to plant a weed, if enticing butterflies to your garden
for amusement and conservation appeals to you, plan on growing some weeds.
Butterflies seem to have an affinity for purple as hummingbirds do to red.
The flowers and plants listed are readily available and easy to grow.
The nectar-giving plants offer butterflies and their offspring sustenance.
Butterflies also need a few flat rocks or stones about the garden. Butterflies enjoy resting in the warm sun,
especially in the morning as the world wakes up. Add a shallow birdbath or a plate of water to your butterfly garden.