Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators
Showing 129–136 of 210 results
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Paeonia lactiflora x Jan Van Leeuwen Z 3-8
Fragrant cupped single white blooms with yellow stamens
OUT OF STOCK
Fragrant cupped single white blooms with yellow stamens
Size: 2' x 3'
Care: Full sun in moist well-drained soil. Deer and rabbit resistant
Native: Japan
Wildlife Value: birds and ants enjoy the sweet nectar on the buds before openingIntroduced in 1928
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Penstemon digitalis Foxglove beardtongue Z 2-8
Palest of pink tubular bells
OUT OF STOCK
Palest of pink tubular bells in June – deadhead for rebloom. More vigorous and longer blooming than its well-known cultivar ‘Husker Red.’
Size: 24-48” x 18”
Care: sun or part shade in fertile, well-drained soil
Native: Nebraska to Wisconsin
Wildlife Value: attracts Baltimore butterflyPenstemon is named for its five stamens, penta meaning “five” in Greek. Used medicinally by the Dakota and Pawnee – to remedy chest pains, chills and fevers. P. digitalis first transported to Europe when the son of the royal Spanish gardener sent it to Kew in England, 1793.
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Penstemon grandiflorus Large beard tongue Z 3-9 short-lived perennial that reseeds
Large pink to lavender trumpets along the 3’ stem in early summer
Large pink to lavender trumpets along the 3’ stem in early summer
Size: 3’ x 10”
Care: full sun in well-drained soil
Native: IL to N. Dakota, south to TX, Wisconsin
Wildlife Value: attracts Baltimore butterflyDiscovered by Thomas Nuttall, (1786-1859) who searched entire No. American continent, describing this Penstemon as “splendid and beautiful,” on his trip up the Missouri River in 1811. Cured chest pains and stomach aches for the Dakota and chills and fever for the Pawnee. Sioux made decoctions of this to remedy chills and fever and chest pain.
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Penstemon hirsutus Downy penstemon Z. 3-9
Lavender-Pink outside and white inside funnels in June
OUT OF STOCK
Lavender-Pink outside and white inside funnels in June
Size: 20-30” x 12-24”
Care: sun in well-drained soil
Native: northeast North America
Wildlife Value: attracts Baltimore butterflyPenstemon is named for its five stamens, penta meaning “five” and stemon meaning “stamen” in Greek. Penstemons are “handsome and deserving,” Bailey. P. hirsutus sent from America to England in 1758.
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Penstemon ovatus Beardtongue Z 4-9
Cornflower blue trumpets encircle spike in June, one of our favorites.
Cornflower blue trumpets encircle spike in June, one of our favorites.
Size: 2’ x 8”
Care: Full sun in well-drained soil
Native: Pacific Northwest
Wildlife Value: attracts Baltimore butterflyPenstemon is named for its five stamens, penta meaning five in Greek. Penstemons. Ovatus means oval, shaped like an egg, with the narrower end up, referring to the foliage. This species first collected by Scottish plant hunter David Douglas (1799-1834) and introduced in 1826.
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Penstemon tubaeflorus Great Plains Beardtongue 4-8
Spikes of ivory bell-shaped blossoms in early summer.
Spikes of ivory bell-shaped blossoms in early summer. One of the most reliable, long lived penstemons.
Size: 36"x 15"
Care: Full sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
Native: Central Plains N., S. to TX & NE to Maine, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: attracts hummingbirds and butterfliesPenstemon is named for its five stamens, penta meaning five and stemon meaning stamen in Greek. Collected by Englishman Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) who searched entire No. American continent – parts of Canada, from New England west to Oregon, the South, Midwest, the Plains, the S.E., California & Hawaii, finding hundreds of new plants.
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Philadelphus lewisii Lewis’ Mock Orange Z 4-9
OUT OF STOCK A triple delight -from late spring to early summer clusters of 2” wide, four-petaled, snow-white flowers with a boss of center, sunny stamens smother this vase-shaped shrub. The flowers perfume the air with a delicious, orange scent. Then in fall the foliage turns citrus-yellow.
OUT OF STOCK
A triple delight -from late spring to early summer clusters of 2” wide, four-petaled, snow-white flowers with a boss of center, sunny stamens smother this vase-shaped shrub. The flowers perfume the air with a delicious, orange scent. Then in fall the foliage turns citrus-yellow.
Size: 5-10’ x 5-7’
Care: sun to part-shade in moist to well-drained soil
Native: from British Columbia to California, east to Montana.
Wildlife Value: Nectar and pollen attract bumble bees, moths, butterflies and hoverflies. It hosts caterpillars and chrysalises. Many birds eat the seeds. Idaho adopted this as the state flower.Natives used its strong and hard wood to make arrows, bows, combs, pipes for smoking, snowshoes, clubs, armor to protect chests, fishing spears, harpoon shafts, sticks for digging, knitting needles and baskets. Meriwether Lewis collected this plant in two places, in early May 1806 in Nez Perce County Idaho and two months later in Missoula County, Montana.
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Phlomis tuberosa Jerusalem sage Z 4-8
Bubblegum pink beak-shaped petals
Bubblegum pink, beak-shaped flowers encircle stem in July
Size: 4' x 12"
Care: full sun in moist well-drained to well-drained soil. Deer resistant
Native: central and S.E. Europe to central Asia.
Wildlife Value: attracts butterfliesThis was 1st collected in Siberia in 1759 – that means it’s tough & hardy. Chicago Botanic Garden gives this 4 stars for health, robust growth, hardiness and flower production.
