Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators
Showing 89–96 of 220 results
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Eupatorium purpureum syn. Eutrochium purpureum Sweet Joe Pye weed Z 4-9
July – September the top of each stem branches into several smaller stems. In turn a bundle of tubes grows out of each of these smaller stems and in turn more, thinner flowers grow out of each tube, forming a dusty rose dome a foot or more across.
July – September the top of each stem branches into several smaller stems. In turn a bundle of tubes grows out of each of these smaller stems and in turn more, thinner flowers grow out of each tube, forming a dusty rose dome a foot or more across.
Size: 5- 7’ x 3-4’
Care: Sun to part shade in moist, alkaline soil
Native: Eastern U.S., Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: attracts bees and butterflies Monarch. Foliage feeds moth caterpillars.Named “Joe Pye weed” after an Indian medicine man who used the plant in New England to cure typhus. Meskwaki Indian men “nibbled (Joe Pye weed) when speaking to women when they are in the wooing mood.” This had the power of “fetching” women. Good luck when gambling for the Potawatomi. Oneidas used it to cure fever. Mahuna Indians of So. California made an infusion of the root to cure colds and coughs. Colonists used the plant to cure dropsy, gravel, gout, and rheumatism. Collected by Rev. John Banister who moved to colonial Virginia in 1678. A gunman mistakenly shot and killed him while he collected plants. Offered for sale in Bartram Garden’s 1783 Broadside, America’s 1st plant catalog.
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Eupatorium sessilifolium Upland boneset Z 4-8b
Showy, flat to dome-topped, platter-like, numerous small-flower clusters of white bloom July to September
Showy, flat to dome-topped, platter-like, numerous small-flower clusters of white bloom July to September
Size: 3-5’ x 12-24”
Care: Shade to part shade in moist well-drained to dry soil (one of few dry shade flowers)
Native: Maine to Minnesota south to Kansas, east to Georgia. Wisconsin native (endangered, threatened or of special concern in 8 states – Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont & Wisconsin
Wildlife Value: nectar attracts bees and butterflies. Foliage is food for their caterpillars. Deer & rabbit resistant.English botanist Rev. John Bannister (1654-1692) collected this in colonial Virginia. He was shot and killed by misadventure while collecting plants. Described by Scottish botanist Robert Morison (1620-1683) in Historis Plantarum Univeralis Oxoniensis pars tertia (vol. 3) 98, published posthumously in 1699.
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Fibigia clypeata Roman shields Z 5-8
Yellow spring flowers in early summer, followed by small, oval “silver dollars” on erect stems. “What is that?” many customers ask.
Yellow spring flowers in early summer, followed by small, oval “silver dollars” on erect stems. “What is that?” many customers ask.
Size: 18” x 12-15”
Care: sun well-drained soil Self-seeds freely
Native: Southern Europe
Wildlife Value: source of nectar and pollen for bees and other insectsUsed for their ornamental seed pods. Harvest either when 1st form for fuzzy grey-green color or when mature with outer skin removed for translucent, silver shield. In gardens before 1753.
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Filipendula rubra ‘Venusta’ Queen of the prairie Z 3-9
Extraordinary frothy pink plumes, like cotton candy, blooming in midsummer
OUT OF STOCK
Extraordinary frothy pink plumes, like cotton candy, blooming in midsummer
Size: 4-6’ x 4-5'
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained to moist soil
Native: US East coast west to MN s to MO and NC, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: This creates pollen but not nectar limiting the pollinators to bees and flies (Butterflies and wasps want nectar.).
Awards: Award of Garden Merit from England’s Royal Horticultural Society.Name is Latin filum pendulus meaning hanging by thread referring to threads on the roots of another species.
Wildlife value: This creates pollen but not nectar limiting the pollinators to bees and flies (Butterflies and wasps want nectar.)
Meskwaki Indians used the species for heart ailments and as an aphrodisiac. Although the plant’s name has been changed five times, the species was 1st described in 1768. Robinson, Rhodora, v. 8 pp. 202-205 (1907). “Filipendulina, a New Binomial,” The flowers of this cultivar are darker than the species. Described by German botanist Andreas Voss (1857-1922). -
Filipendula vulgaris syn. F. hexapetala Dropwort or Meadowsweet Z 3-9
In early summer bundles of milk white ball-shaped buds and open blossoms atop clumps of finely-cut, fern-like leaves, both flowers and foliage fragrant, early to mid-summer.
OUT OF STOCK
In early summer bundles of milk white ball-shaped buds and open blossoms atop clumps of finely-cut, fern-like leaves, both flowers and foliage fragrant, early to mid-summer.
Size: 24" x 18"
Care: sun in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: Europe, north and central Asia
Wildlife Value: attracts bees, beetles and fliesFilipendula is Latin from filum meaning thread and pendulus meaning hanging, small tubers hang by threadlike roots. In the 1600’s Nicholas Culpepper described Meadowsweet’s medicinal uses as curing bladder problems, throat, lung diseases and “the falling sickness.” Filipendula vulgaris also remedied bloated stomachs “dissolving and breaking the wind.”
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Foeniculum vulgaris ‘Purpureum’ Bronze fennel Z 4-9
Yellow blooms on flat-topped umbels in late spring into summer, features dusky purple, feathery, compound, aromatic purple leaves with needle-like segments.
OUT OF STOCK
Yellow blooms on flat-topped umbels in late spring into summer, features dusky purple, feathery, compound, aromatic purple leaves with needle-like segments.
Size: 4-5’ x 2-3’
Care: sun to part shade in well-drained soil.
Native: Mediterranean
Wildlife Value: attracts bees and birds. Nectar plant for Swallowtail butterflies.Ancient Egyptians used fennel as food and medicine. Considered a snake bite remedy in ancient China. During the Middle Ages people hung it over doorways to drive away evil spirits. Fennel is also associated with the origin of the marathon. Athenian Pheidippides carried a fennel stalk on his 150-mile, 2-day run to Sparta to gather soldiers for the battle of Marathon with Persia in 490 B.C. The battle itself was reportedly waged on a field of fennel. Miller’s The Gardeners Dictionary, eighth ed. 1768.
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Geranium maculatum American Cranesbill, Wild geranium, Spotted geranium Z 3-8
Clusters of two to five pink infused with lavender, flowers of five, paddle-shaped petals bloom in late spring to early summer.
Clusters of two to five pink infused with lavender, flowers of five, paddle-shaped petals bloom in late spring to early summer.
Size: 24" x 18"
Care: Full sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: East North America, Wisconsin native.
Wildlife Value: primarily visited by several kinds of bees.Native Americans taught colonists to use the plant to cure diarrhea, dysentery, and hemorrhaging. Also used on sores, open wounds, canker sores and sore feet. The Choctaw prescribed it for venereal disease. Sent to Europe in 1732. Jefferson asked John Bartram to obtain seeds, 1786. Collected by French plant hunter André Michaux (1746-1802). Pressed specimen in Emily Dickinson’s herbarium.
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Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’ Mourning widow Z 4-9
Very distinctive, variegated, chocolate-green chevron-marked leaves. Nodding, eggplant purple flowers in late spring-early summer.
Very distinctive, variegated, chocolate-green chevron-marked leaves. Nodding, eggplant purple flowers in late spring-early summer.
Size: 12-15” x 12"
Care: part sun to shade in moist well-drained soil
Native: Croatia
Wildlife Value: Deer & rabbit resistant. Attracts butterflies and other pollinatorsOK you caught me, it’s not heirloom – this had its 34th birthday in 2024. In three decades, it will be eligible for Social Security. It’s such a wonderful plant it’s Ok to make an occasional exception. It is a natural, genetic variant found growing in damp woods in Croatia. Named for the Croatian town of Samobor where the very first ‘Samobor’ still grows. Discovered in 1990 by Elizabeth Strangman of Washfield Nursery in Kent England.
