Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators
Showing 137–144 of 210 results
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Phlox carolina ‘Miss Lingard’ Wedding phlox Z 5-8
bridal white blossoms with pink eyes
True to its common name, this 3′ tall selection bears bridal white blossoms with pink eyes from June into August
Size: 4' x 18"
Care: full sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil, resistant to powdery mildew
Native: Cultivar of native in eastern and central U.S.
Wildlife Value: attracts butterflies and hummingbirdsPhlox is Greek meaning “flame.” The species carolina in gardens before 1889 and cultivar ‘Miss Lingard’ before 1905.
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Phlox paniculata Garden phlox Z 4-8
Balls of rosy mauve flowers on 3' stems bloom from July to September.
Balls of rosy mauve flowers on 3′ stems bloom from July to September, fragrant. Perfect cottage garden flower.
Size: 4' x 3' spreader and self-seeder
Care: full sun, part shade in moist soil. Immune Walnut toxins.
Native: eastern U.S.
Wildlife Value: attracts hummingbirds and butterfliesPhlox is Greek meaning “flame.” A farmyard plant in North America. Garden phlox first cultivated in Europe in 1732 when introduced by James Sherard.
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Pimpinella major ‘Rosea’ Greater burnet, Cow parsley 5-8
Like Queen Ann’s lace but fear its invasion? Here’s a look-alike, pink perennial that won’t take over. It’s many branches, with lacy foliage, each with a pink umbel on an upright stem bloom in early to mid-summer depending on location.
Like Queen Ann’s lace but fear its invasion? Here’s a look-alike, pink perennial that won’t take over. It’s many branches, with lacy foliage, each with a pink umbel on an upright stem bloom in early to mid-summer depending on location.
Size: 3’-4’ x 2’
Care: sun to part-shade in moist well-drained soil
Native: Europe and Caucasus
Wildlife Value: attracts bees and butterflies. Its flowers are rich in both pollen and nectar.First described in literature in 1812 by German botanist David Heinrich (1760-1846) in Nouvelle Flore des Environs de Paris. He named it Pimpinella rubra. Since then botanists decided it’s a cultivar of the white-flowered Pimpinellla major and renamed it.
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Platycodon grandiflorus Balloon flower Z 4-9
Balloon shaped buds opening to blue bells
Balloon shaped buds opening to blue bells from July through September, deadhead to prolong bloom.
Size: 24" x 12"
Care: Full sun to part shade in moist well-drained to well-drained soil
Native: Eastern Asia
Wildlife Value: attracts butterflies, bees & hummingbirdsPlatycodon is Greek from platys meaning “broad” and kodon meaning “bell”, referring to the shape of the flower. Cultivated in China for hundreds of years where it is called Jie-geng. The Chinese used the root boiled to cure a chill in the stomach. Mentioned in Man’yoshu, a Japanese anthology of poems written in the 8th century. German botanist Johann Gmelin first discovered P. grandiflorus in Siberia in 1754. Gmelin’s Siberian mission, sponsored by Catherine the Great, took 10 years and nearly killed him. Gmelin introduced it to European garden cultivation by 1782. Cultivated in the U.S. since the 1800’s. Received England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.
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Polemonium brandegeei Brandegee’ Jacobs-ladder, Yellow sky pilot Z 4-8
Hanging, tubular yellow, sometimes white blooms over frilly foliage, May-July
Hanging, tubular yellow, sometimes white blooms over frilly foliage, May-July
Size: 8” x 10”
Care: sun to part shade in very well-drained soil
Native: CO, NM, SD, UT, WY
Wildlife Value: attracts bees, butterflies & mothsCollected by Townshend Stith Brandegee in the ‘Valley of the Rio Grande, on the Los Pinos Trail’ c. 1870. Brandegee then sent it to Harvard botanist Asa Gray who identified and named it to honor its collector.
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Polygonum virginianum syn. Persicaria virginiana Jumpseed Z 4-8
Arresting tiny white flowers atop nearly leafless stems blooming late summer into fall; dark green foliage marked with a maroon chevron on each leaf
Arresting tiny white flowers atop nearly leafless stems blooming late summer into fall;
dark green foliage marked with a maroon chevron on each leafSize: 2-3’ x 3-4’
Care: shade to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: All eastern areas from central Canada south to Texas, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: attracts birds, bees & butterflies, Deer resistant
Size: Cherokee made a hot infusion of leaves with the bark of a Honey Locust to treat whooping cough.Linnaeus 1753.
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Potentilla atrosanguinea Himalayan cinquefoil Z 5-8
Sun in well drained soil Z 5-8
Summer to autumn, ruby to pumpkin-colored blossoms shaped like a single petal rose, top pleated silvery foliage.
Size: 18-36" x 24"
Care: Sun well-drained to moist well-drained soil
Native: HimalayasPotentilla is Latin meaning powerful referring to medicinal properties. Potentillas used by dentists in the 16th century to reduce pain according to Gerard, English herbalist. Per Culpepper, 17th century English herbalist, potentilla is to be used if Jupiter is ascending and the moon is “applying to him.” Astrosanguinea introduced to garden cultivation in the 1820’s.
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Potentilla tridentata syn. Sibbaldiopsis tridentate Three-toothed cinquefoil Z 2-8
short subshrub that blooms all summer, then in fall the leaves turn burgundy.
Compact subshrub groundcover with white five-petaled flowers June – August. Leaves turn burgundy in fall.
Size: 3-6” x 12-15”
Care: sun in well-drained, acidic soil
Native: most of eastern North America to the arctic, south to Georgia, WI native
Wildlife Value: source of food for Copper butterflies
Awards: Cary Award Distinctive Plants for New EnglandCollected before 1789.
