Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators
Showing 1–8 of 223 results
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Achillea clypeolata Balkan yarrow
Erect, fern-like clumps of striking silver foliage. Mustard yellow platter flowers in summer.
Erect, fern-like, thick clumps of striking silver foliage. Mustard yellow platter flowers in summer. I first saw this plant at the harbor garden in Port Washington about 6 AM one fall morning. The foliage was so arresting it stopped me in my tracks.
Size: 18" x 24"
Care: sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil. Deer and drought tolerant
Native: BalkansCollected before 1804. The Balkan yarrow is known to attract butterflies with its Yellow Flowers.
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Achillea filipendulina Fernleaf Yarrow Z 3-10
Mid-summer, knee-high 3” wide mustardy yellow platters on erect stems.
Mid-summer, knee-high 3” wide mustardy yellow platters on erect stems. Excellent cut flowers, fresh or dried.
Size: 3’-4’ x 30”
Care: Sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
Native: CaucasusAchillea named for Achilles, hero of Homer’s Iliad, used a different Achillea to stop bleeding of his wounded soldiers at the siege of Troy. Achilles learned about the uses of Achillea from Chiron, the Centaur. A. filipendulina was introduced to garden cultivation in 1804 when it was sent from the Caucasus to Europe.
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Achillea ptarmica ‘The Pearl’ Sneezewort, Shirtbuttons Z 3-9
Spring - summer frilly, white “shirtbuttons”
Spring – summer frilly, white “shirtbuttons”
Size: 12-36”x 24”
Care: Full sun, well-drained to moist well-drained soil.
Native: North temperate regionsPtarmica is Greek for sneeze because this plant used for snuff. English brides carried this at their weddings and called the plant “Seven years’ love.” Cultivated in Europe since the Middle Ages and in the U.S. since the 1700’s. The double form grown in English gardens by 1597. Philip Miller (1768) referred to this as “double Maudlin.” “The Pearl” described in the May 1905 edition of The Garden as “probably giving more satisfaction than any other white-flowered hardy perennial. The Pearl is a pearl indeed.”
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Achillea tomentosa Woolly yarrow Z 4-8
Lemony colored platter-like flower heads from June to July atop a spray of wooly foliage.
Lemony colored platter-like flower heads from June to July atop a spray of wooly foliage.
Size: 8” x 12”
Care: Full sun in moist to dry soil
Native: Southern to Eastern Europe
Awards: England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.Grown in garden of Tradescant the Elder’s in 1630. ”A splendid plant with fern like foliage and rich golden-yellow flower heads.” H.H. Thomas, 1915. Achillea named for Achilles, hero of Homer’s Iliad, used Achillea millefolium to stop his soldiers’ bleeding at the siege of Troy. Philip Miller’s The Gardener’s Dictionary, describes this as having “finely cut” leaves with flowers “of a bright yellow colour, and continue long in beauty.” (1768)
**LISTED AS OUT OF STOCK BECAUSE WE DO NOT SHIP THIS ITEM. IT IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT OUR RETAIL LOCATION.
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Adlumia fungosa Allegheny vine, Climbing fumitory, Bleeding heart vine Biennial Z 4-8
Dangling pink to white Bleeding heart-like flowers bloom all summer, June-September. Fern-like foliage on twining stems
OUT OF STOCK
Dangling pink to white Bleeding heart-like flowers bloom all summer, June-September. Fern-like foliage on twining stems
Size: 6-10’ x 12”
Care: part shade to shade in moist to moist well-drained, acidic soil
Native: Nova Scotia to No. Carolina west to Minnesota Wisconsin native status-special concern
Wildlife Value: attracts bumblebees1st described in 1789 (Aiton, Vol. 3 Hortus Kewensis).
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Aethionema grandiflorum Persian stonecress Z 5-8
Bushy, low growing perennial with blue-green leaves and spikes of fragrant pink to lavender flowers, June-July
OUT OF STOCK
Bushy, low growing perennial with blue-green leaves and spikes of fragrant pink to lavender flowers, June-July
Size: 6-12” x 12-18”
Care: full sun in well-drained soil. Drought tolerant.
Native: Iran, Iraq, Caucasus, Turkey
Wildlife Value: attracts honeybees & other pollinators, Deer & Rabbit resistant.
Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural SocietyShort-lived perennial, but self-seeds where happy. Described in 1849 by Pierre Edmond Boissier and Rudolph Friedrich Hohenacker.
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Agastache foeniculum Anise hyssop Z 4-8
Purplish-blue spikes from July to October, very fragrant, smells like anise.
Purplish-blue spikes from July to October, very fragrant, smells like anise.
Size: 2-3' x 12"
Care: Full sun in well-drained soil
Native: North America
Wildlife Value: Skipper butterflies love Anise hyssop’s nectar, deer resistant.The name Agastache is from Greek agan and stachys meaning much like an ear of wheat referring to the shape of the flower spike. Anise hyssop leaves were used by American Indians of the Missouri River region to make tea and as a sweetener in cooking. The Cheyenne used it to relieve chest pain due to coughing or to a dispirited heart. Listed hyssop as an aromatic herb in McMahon’s 1805 book.
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Alcea rosea Hollyhock BIENNIAL
Early to late summer spikes of single platters - mixed colors. The classic cottage garden flower.
Early to late summer spikes of single platters – mixed colors. The classic cottage garden flower.
Size: 5-8' x 24"
Care: Sun in moist well-drained to well-drained soil. Drought tolerant
Native: West Asia
Wildlife Value: Butterfly plant, host for Painted Lady butterfliesCultivated in China for thousands of years where it symbolized the passing of time. They cooked the leaves for a vegetable and also ate the buds. Transported from Middle East to Europe by the Crusaders and introduced to England by the 1400’s. Culpepper, a 17th century English herbalist, claimed the plant could be used to cure ailments of the “belly, Stone, Reins, Kidneys, Bladder, Coughs, Shortness of Breath, Wheesing, … the King’s Evil,, Kernels, Chin-cough, Wounds, Bruises, Falls. . . (and) Sun-burning.” Both single and double forms grew in England by the time of Parkinson (1629). Parkinson said they came “in many and sundry colours.” John Winthrop Jr. introduced the 1st hollyhock to the New World in the 1630’s.
