Butterfly Gardens

List of Favorite Nectar and Host Plants: plants favored by butterflies include perennials, annuals, and biennials in all colors and seasons

Nectar Plant preferred by butterfly= N
Host Plant preferred by caterpillar= H

FAVORITE PERENNIALS
Asters: blooms late summer to fall: H, N
Bee balm (bergamont): blooms summer through fall: N
Butterfly bush (buddleia): blooms midsummer to fall: N
Butterfly weed: blooms summer through fall: H, N
Clover (white or red): blooms summer to fall: H, N
Coreopsis: blooms summer to fall: N
Dianthus: blooms spring to fall: N
Lavender: blooms summer: H, N
Lupine: blooms late spring to early summer: H, N
Mints: blooms all summer: H, N
Passionflower: blooms summer to fall: H, N
Phlox: blooms summer to fall: H, N
Purple coneflower: blooms summer to fall: N
Sage: blooms summer to fall: N
Salvia: blooms summer to fall: N
Scabiosa ‘Butterfly Blue’: blooms summer through fall: N
Shasta daisy: blooms summer: N
Thistle: blooms late spring through fall: H, N
Violet: blooms spring: H, N
Yarrow: blooms summer: H, N

FAVORITE BIENNIALS
Hollyhock: blooms summer: H, N
Parsley: green from spring to fall: H
Queen Anne’s lace: blooms late spring through fall: H, N
Sweet William: blooms late spring through summer: H, N

FAVORITE ANNUAL PLANTS
Alyssum: blooms summer to midfall: N
Anise: blooms late summer: H, N
Candy tuft: blooms spring to summer: N
Common stock: blooms spring to summer: H, N
Cosmos: blooms late spring to summer: N
Heliotrope: blooms late spring to summer: N
Lobelia: blooms summer into fall: N
Marigold: blooms summer into fall: H, N
Mexican sunflower: blooms summer to fall: N
Nasturtium: blooms late summer: H,N
Cornflower: blooms summer: N
Salvia: blooms summer through fall: N
Scabiosa: blooms summer through fall: N
Scarlet sage: blooms summer to fall: N
Impatiens: blooms summer through fall: N
Verbena: blooms spring to fall: N
Zinnia: blooms midsummer to fall: N

RESOURCES:

Books
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Butterflies
By Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, New York

Butterfly Gardening
Creating Summer Magic in Your Garden
The Xerces Society/The Smithsonian Institution

Butterflies and Moths/Dorling Kindersley Handbooks
By David Carter

Websites
http://www.americanmeadows.com
click on “individual wildflower species”

University of Minnesota

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Minneapolis Monarch Festival

Xerces Society