Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators

Showing 25–28 of 214 results

  • Aquilegia flabellata v. pumila syn. Aquilegia flabellata ‘Nana’, Aquilegia fauriei Dwarf Fan columbine Z 4-9

    April-May lilac blooms of nodding lilac-blue to purple sepals with white petals on compact mound of blue-green foliage

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    April-May lilac blooms of nodding lilac-blue to purple sepals with white petals on compact mound of blue-green foliage

    Size: 6-9” x 9-12”
    Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil, Deadhead for rebloom
    Native: Japan
    Wildlife Value: deer and rabbit resistant. Attracts butterflies

    Latin word flabellatus mean fanlike referring to leaflet shape. First published as Aquilegia buergeriana var. pumila in Swiss journal Bulletin de l’Herbier Boissier 5: 1090. 1897.

  • Artemisia frigida Prairie sagewort, Silky wormwood, Z 3-10

    Erect stems bear silvery-white, finely-divided foliage. Leaves smell like camphor. Small yellow flowers bloom in summer. 

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    $10.95/bareroot

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    Erect stems bear silvery-white, finely-divided foliage. Leaves smell like camphor. Small yellow flowers bloom in summer. 

    Size: 6-18” x 12-18”
    Care: sun in well-drained soil
    Native: all North America except the SE, CA and OR, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: deer resistant, source of nesting material for native bees, food for caterpillars of several butterflies & moths
    Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit
    Size: Native Americans used this Artemisia to preserve meat, feed horses, repel insects, to remedy toothache, headache, coughing, lung ailments, heartburn, and colds. Indians in Great Basin used it in ceremonies .Chippewa made a decoction of root for convulsions.

    Meriwether Lewis collected this in early September 1804  along the Missouri River in South Dakota on October 3 1804.

  • Artemisia lactiflora White mugwort Z 3-8

    Blooms in plumes of creamy white, resembling an astilbe, above blackish green leaves with silver undersides, August to October

    $10.95/bareroot

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    Blooms in plumes of creamy white, resembling an astilbe, above blackish green leaves with silver undersides, August to October

    Size: 4-5’ x 1.5-2’
    Care: full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil. Drought tolerant.
    Native: East asia-China
    Wildlife Value: attracts butterflies & bees. Rabbit and Deer tolerant
    Awards: Recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit

    Genus is named for Artemis, Greek goddess of the moon, wild animals, and hunting. Lactiflora means “milk-white flowers”

    The leaves and flowering stems were used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat menstrual & liver disorders, and anti-inflammatory medicines. In East and Southeast Asia the leaves and tender stems are eaten boiled or stir fried, or in soups.

  • Asclepias curassavica Bloodflower or scarlet milkweed Z 9-11 Annual in colder areas

    Small scarlet red and orange umbels all summer and early fall

    $5.25/pot

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    Asclepias curassavica grows upright and tall with spiraling lance-shaped leaves.  Blooming all summer and early fall. Showy flowers, in small scarlet red and orange umbels.

    Size: 24-30” x 12-24”
    Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil
    Native: South America
    Wildlife Value: Attracts Monarch butterflies

    In gardens since 1750’s.