Butterfly Garden Host & Nectar Plants

January 1, 2025

Nectar Plants
to Attract Butterflies

PERENNIALS

  • Achillea (Yarrow)
  • Asclepias (Milkweed)
  • Baptisia (False Indigo)
  • Coreopsis lanceolata (Tickseed)
  • Echinacea pur. (Purple Coneflower)
  • Eupatorium (Joe-Pye Weed)
  • Helianthus (Sunflower)
  • Liatris spicata (Gayfeather)
  • Leucanthemum (Shasta Daisy)
  • Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)
  • Monarda (Bee Balm)
  • Penstemon (Husker Red Beardtongue)
  • Pycnanthemum (Mountain Mint)
  • Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan)
  • Solidago (Goldenrod)
  • Vernonia nov. (Ironweed)

ANNUAL / BIENNIAL

  • Cosmos
  • Lantana
  • Petunia
  • Salvia
  • Verbena
  • Zinnia

TREES / SHRUBS / VINES

  • Cephalanthus (Button Bush)
  • Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet)
  • Lonicera sem. (Trumpet Honeysuckle)
  • Cornus sericea (Red Twig Dogwood)
  • Syringa vulgaris (Lilac)
  • Viburnum dentatum (Arrowwood)
  • Vitex (Chaste Tree)

Host Plants
to Attract Caterpillars

TREES / SHRUBS

  • Prunus (Cherries)
  • Quercus (Oak)
  • Asimina triloba (Pawpaw)
  • Betula (Birch)
  • Cornus (Dogwood)
  • Lindera (Spicebush)
  • Magnolia vir. (Sweetbay Magnolia)
  • Salix (Willow)

VINES / GRASSES

  • Aristolochia (Dutchman’s Pipe)
  • Panicum (Switchgrass)
  • Passiflora (Passion Flower)
  • Schizachyrium (Little Bluestem)

ANNUAL / BIENNIAL / HERBS

  • Alcea (Hollyhock)
  • Snapdragon
  • Cleome (Spider Flower)
  • Dill
  • Fennel
  • Nasturtium
  • Parsley
  • Ruellia (Mexican Petunia)

BY INCLUDING BOTH HOST PLANTS AND NECTAR PLANTS IN YOUR GARDEN, YOU WILL ATTRACT A WIDE SELECTION OF BUTTERFLIES & POLLINATORS!