butterflies are colorful, delicate and graceful creatures that add so much beauty to the world. They are also exciting to watch as they grow from one stage of their life to the next, including the egg, larva, pupa, and winged adult stages. For these reasons, many people want to know which flowers attract butterflies so that they can enjoy them more in their yard or garden.
In addition to their beautiful colors, these winged insects play a major role in the environment. They work just like bees to pollinate plants and keep our planet green. Unlike work-oriented bees, they perform this essential service unknowingly. Butterflies only want tasty nectar that is part of their diet, carrying pollen from plant to plant in the process. Butterflies travel further than bees and carry their uploaded pollen over a wider area.
Like bees, butterfly populations are also declining. They are losing their habitat due to urbanization and overuse of pesticides. Still, nine out of ten species of plants need help from pollinators such as butterflies. This makes it more important than ever that people help pollinators by giving them the resources they need. Meanwhile, we can watch the beautiful wings of these creatures fly from flower to flower as they feed and pick up pollen, giving us a thrilling show of their fragile yet majestic beauty.
To answer the frequently asked question: “Which flowers attract butterflies”, below we rank the top 10 most attractive plants for butterfly species. While not all of these flowering plants will grow in all regions, you are sure to find some great options for your garden butterfly attraction here.
#10: Milkweed
Milkweed is the only flower that monarch caterpillars use as a food source. It is also the nectar supplier of choice for the monarch, the most widely recognized type of butterfly in the world North America, and many other adult butterflies. Because it supports the butterfly well from egg to maturity, this plant is never a bad garden choice. The marsh milkweed blooms with pretty bursts of pink flower. But there are over 100 types of milkweed to choose from for a garden that attracts the monarch and many other types of butterflies.
#9: Lavender
For a beautiful yet delicate pop of color in your garden or potted along your walkways that is sure to attract many species of butterflies, grow lavender. These fragrant, perennial aromatic herbs aren’t just magnetic to butterflies. The flowers of the plant attract bees, hummingbirds, and other types of small birds, at. They are also useful in teas, DIY bath products, scented sachets, potpourri and many other uses around the home. The plant is heat-resistant and grows thanks to its Mediterranean origin.
#8: Heliotrope
Like lavender, heliotrope blooms in bright purple flowers that are sure to attract several species of butterflies. A butterfly can see color and knows that the most vibrant flowers yield the sweetest nectar. Growing these plants in your garden or in pots will surely draw in the lovely insects. Heliotrope, also called “Dwarf Marine,” grows large clumps of many small flowers, providing butterflies with plenty of food per square inch. The flowers are also known to smell like sweet cherry pie people.
#7: Blazing Star
With conical purple, pink or white flowers, these perennials grow in one to three foot tall upright stems with small leaves. This means that it does not take up much space, but provides enough nectar for butterfly diets. These flower stems grow well along a fence and bloom from June to early autumn. If you plant a shooting star, you can expect monarch butterflies and other butterfly species. But you can also expect to attract goldfinch birds and hummingbirds for even more intriguing winged activities.
#6: Susan with black eyes
One yellow flower that attracts crescent pearl butterflies is the black-eyed Susan. This North American wildflower was one of the first flowering plants to be domesticated for gardens and pots. In addition to having a great history, the black-eyed Susan has her distinctive black center that provides space for a butterfly to perch and feed for a few seconds before moving on to the next blossom. These long-blooming flowers are hardy perennials that grow very quickly and fill pots well.
#5: Pot Marigolds
Pot Marigolds are perennials with vibrant yellow, orange, pink or cream flowers that attract monarch butterflies and other pretty species. At the same time, these flowers repel pests from your gardens, such as mosquitoes and cabbage worms. These flowers are shaped like inverted bells or the “pots” after which they are named. This allows the flowers to hold the dew well in the mornings and after rainfall, inviting butterflies with the promise of nectar, beautiful colors and water droplets for hydration. That is a delicious butterfly buffet! In fact, the long-blo
om
ing pot marigold offers continuous flowering from May to early autumn.
#4: Bluestar
Perennials that grow up to a meter in height and have blue star-shaped flowers, these flowers are sure to bring butterflies into your garden every spring for a sweet meal of nectar. A favorite of the zebra swallowtail butterfly, the flowers sit atop lush grassy foliage, perfect as a ground cover or in a fringed garden. These plants grow best in loamy, well-drained soil and partial shade. But with enough moisture, they can grow even in direct sunlight. The snowberry clearwing moth also likes this plant for laying eggs and providing food for larvae.
#3: Lantana
As you may have guessed, butterflies love brightly colored flowers. One of their favorite colors is pink, like the pink of the exuberant blossoms of the long-blooming lantana. But lantana is as colorful as any butterfly’s wings, offering multiple shades of each plant. Solid cluster blooms for this shrubby annual can range from yellow and pink to deep red and purple. In fact, the abundance and variety of colors continues to come from late spring to the first frost.
Lantana is a real butterfly magnet, bringing in many species such as:
- giant swallowtail
- Monarch
- pipevine dovetail
- Queen
- red spotted purple
- zebra long wing
- Spicebush dovetail
- Julia Heliconian
- white checkered
- Cloudless Sulfur
- mother-of-pearl butterfly
- Great Southern White
#2: Sun hat
Also called echinacea, the pretty purple coneflower is a late summer bloomer that resembles black-eyed Susan in structure. But instead of golden yellow and black flowers, the coneflower offers an abundance of pretty purple flowers with brown centers. Growing low to the ground, this perennial works well to fill fringed gardens with ease. They work just as well as potted plants. Any butterfly must love the reliability of this nectar supplier as it grows well from Florida until Minnesota and even tolerates drought well. But it is primarily a favorite of mother-of-pearl butterflies, monarchs, painted ladies and swallowtails.
#1: Butterfly Bush
Of course, no one can doubt the butterfly-attracting properties of the butterfly bush. This appropriately named shrub is also known as summer lilac. It has long, cone-shaped blossoms that remain vibrant and nectar-rich from summer to fall. While you can find this shrub in a range of flower colors, from white to dark purple, monarch butterflies and tiger swallowtails seem to prefer lavender to shades of pink.
It is important to note that this shrub is invasive and grows best in a walled garden where it will not grow uncontrollably as it can reach four feet and spread. It is also a plant that only attracts adult butterflies and provides no life cycle support for caterpillars, eggs or pupae. But it certainly lives up to its name when its purpose is to attract colorful winged kites on the hunt for nectar.
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