Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators
Showing 17–24 of 228 results
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Allium karataviense Turkestan onion, Kara Tau garlic Z 5-9
Basal rosette of wide, glaucous, arching leaves from which a soft-ball sized soft pink to white flower emerges in early summer, ephemeral
Available for purchase in spring only
Basal rosette of wide, glaucous, arching leaves from which a soft-ball sized soft pink to white flower emerges in early summer, ephemeral
Size: 9” x 6”
Care: sun in well-drained soil
Native: central Asia – the Stans (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan).
Wildlife Value: value: resistant to rabbits & deer. Attracts bees and butterflies
Awards: Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanic Garden Great Plant Pick, Royal Botanic Garden Award of Garden Merit1st described in 1875 by German botanist Eduard August von Regel (1815-1892) who served as the Director of the Imperial Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg Russia
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Allium senescens Corkscrew allium, German garlic, Greater mountain garlic Z 4-9
Lavender balls, up to 30 of them, atop thin, bluish, strap-like, twisting foliage – mid-summer day’s dream.
Allium senescens Corkscrew allium, German garlic, Greater mountain garlic Z 4-9
Lavender balls, up to 30 of them, atop thin, bluish, strap-like, twisting foliage – mid-summer day’s dream.Size: 6-12” x 6-12”
Care: sun to part shade in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
Native: Siberia
Wildlife Value: attracts butterflies & bees, deer & rabbit resistantCultivated before 1753. According to Philip Miller’s 1768 Dictionary, “planted in gardens for the variety of their flowers.”
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Allium tuberosum Garlic chives
August & September bright white balls on erect stems. Pretty in fall gardens & delicious too.
Allium tuberosum Garlic chives Z 4-8
August & September bright white balls on erect stems. Pretty in fall gardens & delicious too. Ornamental in gardens and in arrangements, both fresh and dried, delicious edible – both leaves and flowers taste just like garlic.Size: 12-18” x 8”
Care: Full sun or shade in any soil
Native: Southeast Asia
Wildlife Value: nectar source for many butterlies including the Tiger Swallowtail.Used medicinally in Asia as a remedy for incontinence, bladder weakness, and kidney trouble and knee injuries. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners made a powder from the seeds called Jiu Cai Zi used for numerous ailments.
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Andropogon scoparium Little bluestem Z 5-9
Blue gray foliage turns plum orange in fall
Andropogon scoparium Little bluestem Z 5-9
Blue gray foliage turns plum orange in fall with wispy, feather-like seed headsSize: 18" x 12"
Care: full sun in well-drained soil. Drought tolerant.
Native: all No. America, Wisconsin nativeDiscovered by French plant hunter André Michaux (1746-1802) in America’s prairies. Comanche used it to relieve syphilitic sores. Lakota made soft wispy seed heads into liners for moccasins.
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Anemone canadensis Meadow anemone PERENNIAL Z. 3-8
Pristine pure white petal-like sepals frame many golden anthers in early summer
Pristine pure white petal-like sepals frame many golden anthers in early summer
Size: 12-24”x 12”
Care: full sun to part shade in moist soil
Native: North America as far south as Missouri, Wisconsin nativeCollected by Meriwether Lewis August 17, 1804 on the 1st leg of the Expedition. Used medicinally by many Indian groups. The roots cleared up sores and leaves stopped nose bleeds for the Chippewa. It relieved the Iroquois of worms and counteracted witch medicine. For the Meskwaki this plant uncrossed crossed eyes. Ojibwa singers used it to clear their throats and remedy lower back pain. The name Anemone is Greek for the wind, “so called, because the flower is supposed not to open, except the wind blows.” The Gardeners’ Dictionary, 1768.
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Angelica sylvestris ‘Purpurea’ Wild Angelica Self-seeding Biennial Z 4-9
Wonderful deep purple stems and leaves with large umbels of purple-pink flowers late summer-early fall
Wonderful deep purple stems and leaves with large umbels of purple-pink flowers late summer-early fall
Can not ship to : Maine
Size: 6-8’ x 5'
Care: sun in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: Europe in moist woodlands and bogs.
Wildlife Value: attracts bees and butterfliesThe species described in Species Plantarum 1: 251. 1753 (1 May 1753) by Linnaeus
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Anthyllis vulneraria v. coccinea Red Kidney vetch, Woundwart Z 5-9
Foliage - low mound of downy silvery-green leaves, topped by ball-shaped red flowers May to July – showy, long-blooming makes wonderful groundcover or rock garden plant
OUT OF STOCK
Anthyllis vulneraria v. coccinea Red Kidney vetch, Woundwart Z 5-9
Foliage – low mound of downy silvery-green leaves, topped by ball-shaped red flowers May to July – showy, long-bloomingSize: 4-6” x 12-18”
Care: sun in well-drained soil
Native: Europe
Wildlife Value: sole food plant for small blue butterfly caterpillars. Flowers provide nectar and pollen for beetles and bees.
Size: Showy, long-blooming makes wonderful groundcover or rock garden plantIn traditional medicine used externally to promote wound healing and internally as a laxative and for kidney disorders. Species is ancient written about by Greek Dioscordes. Red variety since at least 1753.
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Aquilegia canadensis Canada Columbine Z 3-9
May - June scarlet and yellow columbines
May – June, scarlet and yellow columbines
Size: 24-36”x 12”
Care: part shade in moist well-drained soil
Native: Eastern Canada to Florida, west to New Mexico, Wisconsin native.
Wildlife Value: Rich, sugary nectar important food for ruby-throated hummingbirds. Buntings and finches eat the seeds. Sole food source for columbine duskywing caterpillar.Seeds are fragrant when crushed, used by Omaha, Ponca and Pawnee as perfume. Pawnee used the plant as a love charm by rubbing pulverized seeds in palm of hand and endeavoring to shake hand of desired person. Crushed seeds also used to cure fever and headaches. Cherokee made a tea for heart trouble. The Iroquois used the plant to cure poisoning and to detect people who were bewitched. Grown by Englishman Tradescant the Elder in 1632. He may have received it from France. Cultivated by Washington & Jefferson.
