3 must-have butterfly blooms!
By: Garden Gate staff
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3 must-have butterfly blooms!
Beautiful butterflies love the heat of summer, but they can be even more abundant in fall, as adults are preparing to migrate south. Depending on your region, other species may overwinter in the pupal or larval stages, but adults still need nectar while searching for host plants to lay the season’s last eggs.
The three favorites ahead are important butterfly food sources that thrive in late summer and early fall. Just keep clicking to find out more!
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Stokes’ aster Stokesia laevis
While Stokes’ aster, such as ‘Klaus Jelitto’ here, likes moist soil, it’s drought-tolerant once established. Make sure it has good drainage, though — lingering wetness, especially in winter, can kill plants. Deadheading spent flowers down to a side branch will keep butterflies, like this great spangled fritillary, coming and plants looking neat.
Type Perennial
Blooms White, yellow, purple or pink from midsummer to early fall
Light Full sun
Soil Moist, well-drained
Size 12 to 24 in. tall, 12 to 18 in. wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 4 to 10
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 10 to 1
Source Bluestone Perennials Inc.
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Prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera
Prairie coneflower is clump forming and can also reseed, but this works well in a butterfly garden, where masses are more attractive to pollinators than just one or two plants.
Type Perennial
Blooms Yellow or burgundy-red and yellow bicolor blooms from early summer through fall
Light Full sun
Soil Infertile, well-drained, tolerates all except clay
Size 2 to 3 ft. tall, 1 to 2 ft. wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 3 to 10
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 10 to 1
Source Annie’s Annuals & Perennials
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Spider flower Cleome hassleriana and hybrids
Drought- and humidity-tolerant, spider flower’s dense foliage provides both food and hiding places for butterfly larvae, meaning it’s a good host and nectar plant. And butterflies like the monarch here aren’t the only winged visitors drawn to spider flower’s bright colors and sweet fragrance — hummingbirds love the blooms, too.
Type Tender perennial
Blooms Pink, lavender, white, or pink and white bicolor from late spring to late summer
Light Full sun
Soil Well-drained
Size 3 to 4 ft. tall, 1 to 3 ft. wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 10 to 11
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 12 to 1
Source Local garden centers
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