Butterfly Attracting Plants
One of the great joys of having a garden is watching butterflies. On a sunny June or July morning, when the garden is at its peak, butterflies flit from flower to flower in search of nectar and a sunny spot to rest. With this guide, you can select the perfect plants for your dream butterfly garden.
By choosing the right plants and following a few simple guidelines, you can lure many different species to your butterfly garden. Pay extra attention to plant selection, and you can support a full butterfly lifecycle. While flowers produce nectar, specific host plants are needed so butterflies can lay eggs and feed caterpillars when they emerge. See host plants here.
Butterflies begin laying their eggs in late spring and hatch 3-6 days after they are laid. It takes 3-4 weeks for a caterpillar to pupate and 9-14 days to emerge as an adult.
Below, you will find fantastic butterfly-attracting plants.
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Asimina triloba – Pawpaw Tree
2022 Tree Of the Year, Missouri's Official State Fruit Tree
Caryopteris – Dark Knight Bluebeard
Showy blue flowers are pollinator magnets.
Caryopteris – Grand Bleu Bluebeard
Showy blue flowers are pollinator magnets.
Echinacea – Dark Shadows Wicked Coneflower
Bright petals contrast against dark cones and stems.
Echinacea – Fresco Apricot Coneflower
A refreshing change in Coneflowers!
Hibiscus lasiocarpus – Rose Mallow
Big showy plant with giant flowers, native perennial.
Rudbeckia laciniata – Cutleaf Coneflower
A Missouri native and Monarch magnet!
Salvia – Blue By You Meadow Sage
2024 Perennial Of The Year, a vast improvement over old varieties.
Salvia – Rose Marvel Meadow Sage
Largest flowers in its class, perennial.
Amelanchier alnifolia – Obelisk Downy Serviceberry
Upright narrow form of Serviceberry, perfect for small spots.
Asclepias incarnata – Swamp Milkweed
Missouri and Illinois native with clouds of pink blossoms.
Asclepias syriaca – Common Milkweed
Essential host plant for Monarch caterpillars. Mo Bot Garden's Plant of Merit winner.
Asclepias tuberosa – Butterfly Milkweed
#1 best selling Missouri native perennial.
Asclepias verticillata – Whorled Milkweed
Important food source for Monarch butterflies.
Asimina – Shenandoah Peterson Pawpaw Tree
Abundant tasty fruit can be up to one pound in weight.
Astilbe – Go Go Red Reblooming False Spirea
First Reblooming Red Astilbe! Long-lived Shade perennial.
Cercis – Ruby Falls Redbud
Weeping dwarf with elegant purple heart-shaped leaves and vibrant flowers.
Echinacea – Cara Mia Coral Coneflower
Soft peach petals surround vibrant coral puffs.
Echinacea – Revelation Coral Coneflower
Highly fragrant coral flowers.
Hibiscus – Edge of Night Rose Mallow
Striking jet black foliage and bubblegum pink blossoms on this hardy perennial.
Hibiscus – Summer Carnival Rose Mallow
Bold, beautiful flowers, gorgeous variegated foliage.
Hydrangea – Bobo Panicle Hydrangea
Award-winning tiny shrub with huge white flowers.
Kalimeris – Blue Star
Sky blue blossoms appear for months. Highly recommended. Sun to part sun perennial.
Liatris spicata Blazing Star
Showy Missouri native loved by butterflies.
Monarda – Balmy Tricolor Bee Balm
Here's a great deal - 3 plants for a great price.
Phlox paniculata – Jeana Garden Phlox
Best performer in top field trial, top award winner.
Phlox pilosa – Prairie Phlox
Native perennial, makes a fantastic ground cover in sunny areas.
Ratibida pinnata – Gray Head Mexican Hat
Fun Missouri native perennial.
Rudbeckia – Indian Summer Black-Eyed Susan
Major award-winner and staff favorite!
Andropogon – Holy Smoke Big Blue Stem Grass
Majestic silver, purple, and red hardy grass.
Buddleia – Chrysalis Cranberry Butterfly Bush
Vibrant flowers on a petite plant.
Buddleia – Pugster Blue Butterfly Bush
Multiple award winner. Plump full-sized flowers on dwarf shrubs.
Cornus – Garden Glow Red Twig Dogwood
Fantastic year-round color.
Echinacea – Kismet Pink Lemonade Coneflower
Unusual flowers bloom for months.
Echinacea – Prima Ruby Coneflower
Large red petals surround dark, almost black, cones.
Echinacea pallida – Pale Purple Coneflower
Missouri Botanical Gardens Plant of Merit Winner.
Helianthus occidentalis – Western Sunflower
Large bold Missouri native for the sun garden.
Hibiscus laevis – Halberd Leaved Rose Mallow
Its interesting leaves resemble the 15th-16th century weapon the halberd spear.
Hydrangea Quick Fire Fab Panicle Hydrangea
Magnificent color-changing flowers last for months and months.
Paeonia – Green Lotus Peony – Fresh Dug Roots for Fall Planting
An exotic beauty.
Schizachyrium scoparium – Little Bluestem Grass
2022 Perennial Plant Association Perennial Plant Of the Year
Mo native with slender green leaves highlighted with blue.
Vernonia missurica – Missouri Ironweed
Feeds countless butterflies and other important pollinators.
Echinacea paradoxa – Ozark Coneflower
A rare Missouri native perennial.
Liatris pycnostachya – Prairie Blazing Star
A favorite of humans and other critters.
Spigelia marilandica – Ragin Cajun Indian Pink
A superior selection of our Missouri native Indian Pink with multitudes of brilliant orange-red blossoms.
Achillea – Milly Rock Red Yarrow
Stunning red blossoms highlighted with yellow spring-fall.
Allium – Millenium Ornamental Onion
2018 Perennial Plant of the Year.
Amelanchier – Autumn Brilliance Apple Serviceberry
Award-winning small tree with multi-season interest.
Amsonia illustris – Shining Blue Star
Popular, easy-to-grow Missouri native perennial.
Amsonia tabermontana – Willowleaf Blue Star
Top award-winning native with starry blue flowers.
Anemone Curtain Call Deep Rose Windflower
Thousands of blossoms in late summer and fall.
Aristolochia tomentosa – Dutchman’s Pipe
Pipe shaped blossoms on rapidly growing native vine.
Aronia melanocarpa – Chokeberry
Showy Missouri native shrub. Tolerates wet soils.
Astilbe – Pumila False Spirea
Makes a fantastic ground cover for shade.
Betula – Fox Valley Dwarf River Birch – Little King Dwarf River Birch Tree
Extremely showy peeling bark.
Bignonia capreolata – Cross Vine
2" trumpet shaped blossoms, Missouri and Illinois native vine.
Buddleia – Pugster Pinker Butterfly Bush
Large pink flowers on dwarf shrubs.
Callirhoe involucrata – Purple Poppy Mallow
2019 Native of the Year. Long-blooming native Illinois and Missouri ground cover.
Carex pensylvanica Pennsylvania Sedge or Oak Sedge
Native Sedge ideal for shade to deep shade where nothing else will grow.
Carpinus caroliniana – American Hornbeam
Award-winning native tree for understory plantings.
Carya illinonensis, Pecan Tree
Large Missouri and Illinois native tree that produces delicious edible nuts.
Carya laciniosa – Shellbark Hickory
Showy bark, edible nuts on this pretty native tree.
Caryopteris – Beyond Midnight Bluebeard
Popular variety.
Caryopteris – Sapphire Surf Bluebeard Shrub
Sapphire blue flowers late summer into fall.
Ceanothus americanus – New Jersey Tea
Fragrant flowers on small native shrub, butterflies and more adore it.
Cephalanthus – Crimson Comets Buttonbush
A selection of our Missouri native with excellent fall color.
Cephalanthus occidentalis – Buttonbush
Cercis – Forest Pansy Redbud
Glossy purple heart shaped leaves and vibrant flowers.
Cercis – Pink Pom Poms Redbud Tree
Fascinating flowers on mini tree.
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