Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators

Showing 17–20 of 213 results

  • 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

    $7.25/bareroot

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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

    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 Merit

    1st 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

  • 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.

    $7.25/bareroot

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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.

    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 resistant

    Cultivated before 1753. According to Philip Miller’s 1768 Dictionary, “planted in gardens for the variety of their flowers.”

  • Allium tuberosum Garlic chives

    August & September bright white balls on erect stems. Pretty in fall gardens & delicious too.

    $7.25/bareroot

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    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.

  • Andropogon scoparium Little bluestem Z 5-9

    Blue gray foliage turns plum orange in fall

    $10.95/bareroot

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    Andropogon scoparium  Little bluestem  Z 5-9
    Blue gray  foliage turns plum orange in fall  with wispy, feather-like seed heads

    Size: 18" x 12"
    Care: full sun in well-drained soil. Drought tolerant.
    Native: all No. America, Wisconsin native

    Discovered 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.