Building a Northern Butterfly Garden

"If you build it they will come!"

In the northern parts of the country, the growing season may be shorter than in the south, but the variety of annuals and perennials you can use in your garden is enormous!

Monarch in my garden.


Butterfly garden basics: to simply attract butterflies to your garden or yard, you need to have flowers which are rich sources of nectar. But to really encourage butterflies to hang out - and spend much of the year in your yard, you also need to have the host plants upon which they lay their eggs. In other words, you grow plants for the explicit purpose of being eaten! For example, milkweed (called "butterfly weed"), below, is the host plant for Monarch butterflies.


Milkweed, the host plant for Monarch butterflies.

Where To Buy Plants? The less you spend on good-quality plants, the more plants you can buy! I buy a lot of plants at my local WalMart and Home Depot stores! Discount stores sometimes will sell plants from their suppliers that may not necessarily grow in your area, so only buy those plants you are sure of.

Your local nursery may be more expensive, but may have very high-quality plants and is amost always an excellent source of information and encouragement! Our local nursery (see below) sponsors educational programs and even has a butterfly house! A good on-line source of perennials from whom I purchased many plants in the past when I lived in a remote part of Maine is Bluestone Perennials.


Favorite Nectar-Rich Perennials:

Any fragrant, nectar-rich plants will attract butterflies. Those with red/orange deep-throated flowers (such as coral honeysuckle) may also attract hummingbirds.

  • Aster
  • Bergamot - Monarda fistulosa
  • Milkweed/Butterfly weed - Asclepias tuberosa
  • Chives
  • Clover
  • Coneflower (grow this Echinacea purpurea for its healing powers as well!
  • Coreopsis
  • Day lily
  • False Indigo
  • Gas plant
  • Hollyhock
  • Loosestrife
  • Pearly everlasting
  • Sedum
  • Snakeroot

Nectar- Rich Shrubs:

  • Buddleia - butterfly bush
  • Caryopteris
  • Lilac
  • Spicebush
  • Wisteria
 Red Admiral on Butterfly Bush

Suggested Host Plants

Dove nesting in one of my arbors with passionflower and honeysuckle.

Remember - these plants are here to be eaten! To create a butterfly-friendly environment you cannot spray insecticide in your garden! When you see these plants being eaten, it is a good thing! If you do see a plant being completely devoured, you may want to pick off some of the caterpillars, because once their food source is gone, they will die if it is not time to pupate - they do not have alternative food sources. Most plants, once established, will bounce back after being defoliated by caterpillars.


Check your regional butterfly guide for which plants work for your local butterflies:

  • Aster
  • Blueberry
  • Borage
  • Cherry
  • Chickweed
  • Clover
  • Corn (Indian)
  • Crabgrass
  • Dogwood
  • Hollyhock
  • Hop vine
  • Indian paintbrush
  • Lupine
  • Mallows
  • Marigold
  • Milkweed
  • Nasturtium
  • Nettle
  • Parsley
  • Passionflower
  • Pearly everlasting
  • Plumbago
  • Queen Anne's Lace
  • Ragweed
  • Senna (Cassia)
  • Snakeroot
  • Spicebush
  • Thistle
  • Trefoil
  • Turtlehead
  • Violet
  • Willow
  • Wisteria

If you notice that most of the plants above are weeds, you will surmise correctly that perhaps the best thing for butterflies is a good wild field!

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