Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators
Showing 121–128 of 223 results
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Lupinus perennis Sun-dial lupin, Old maid’s bonnet, wild pea Z. 4-9
Many flowered blue, pea flowered raceme May-June
Many flowered blue, pea flowered raceme May-June
Size: 1-2' x 12"
Care: full sun in well drained soil. A legume, so it enriches the soil by adding nitrogen.
Native: Maine to FL, Ontario to MN to Louisiana, Wisconsin native.
Wildlife Value: Attracts both hummingbirds and butterflies. The only food for larvae of endangered species, Karner Blue butterfly.Lupinus is Latin from Lupus meaning “wolf.” Cherokee used this to stop bleeding. The Menominee fattened their horses with this Lupin and made them spirited. They rubbed the plant on themselves to give power to control the horses. Likely sent from its native Virginia to England by Tradescant the Younger in 1637. Collected by André Michaux(1746-1802) in late 1700’s. Grown by Jefferson. Grown at America’s 1st botanic garden, Elgin Botanic Garden 1811.
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Mahonia aquifolium Oregon grape Z 5-9
Clusters of buttercup yellow flowers in spring followed by glaucous blue fruit with red stems. Holly-like, evergreen leaves turn purple in fall for a four-season ornament.
Clusters of buttercup yellow flowers in spring followed by glaucous blue fruit with red stems. Holly-like, evergreen leaves turn purple in fall for a four-season ornament.
Size: 5’ x 3’
Care: sheltered site (in Z 5) in humusy, moist to moist well-drained soil, sun to part shade
Native: Pacific Northwest
Wildlife Value: Attracts bees & butterflies, Birds eat the berriesSnohomish ate the berries and made a yellow dye from its roots. It cured bloodshot eyes and kidney disease for Okanagan-Colville. California’s Karok Indians boiled the root and drank the liquid to cure numerous ailments. Steamed roots and leaves believed to remedy yellow fever. Lakota Sioux treated stomach, digestive, kidney and breathing ailments with this. Mahonia is named in honor of Bernard McMahon, (1775-1816) Scottish nurseryman who immigrated to Philadelphia around 1802. McMahon’s nursery received some seeds of plants and plants discovered by Lewis & Clark who collected this plant in April 1806 along the rapids of the Columbia River.
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Malva alcea ‘fastiagata’ Hollyhock mallow Z 5-9
Bright rose mallows from early to late summer. Cut back by half in late July for rebloom.
OUT OF STOCK
Bright rose mallows from early to late summer. Cut back by half in late July for rebloom.
Size: 3’ x 18”
Care: Sun well-drained soil, drought tolerant
Native: ItalyMalvas have been cultivated for food or flower since 6000 B.C. In 1629 Parkinson described the uses for the Hollyhock mallow: “By reason of their viscous or slimie quality doe helpe to make the body soluble… helpe also to ease the paines of the stone and gravell, causing them to be the more easily voided: being outwardly applied, they mollisie hard tumors.”
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Melampodium leucanthum Blackfoot daisy Z 5-10
No fail low mounds of up to 50 small white daisies spring-fall, atop narrow, hairy, grey-green leaves
OUT OF STOCK
No fail low mounds of up to 50 small white daisies spring-fall, atop narrow, hairy, grey-green leaves
Size: 6-10” x 12-20”
Care: sun to part-shade in well-drained soil. Its tap root reaches down for moisture and hair on foliage protects if from desiccating winds and sun - xeric plant
Native: Colorado, Oklahoma, TX &AZ (no wonder it likes well drained soil) but perfectly happy as far north as 20° below zero in winter.
Wildlife Value: birds eat seeds –pollen and nectar attract bees and butterflies. Deer resistantBotany professor John Riddell found this in Texas, Described in Flora of North America, 1842.
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Mimulus lewisii syn. Erythyranthe lewisii Lewis’ Monkeyflower Z 5-9
Bright rose trumpets with hairy yellow throats, flowers all summer
Bright rose trumpets with hairy yellow throats, flowers summer
Size: 2-3’ x 12"
Care: sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: Alaska to California and as far west as Colorado
Wildlife Value: Nectar for hummingbirds and bees
Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of MeritFirst collected by Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis & Clark Expedition “on the head springs of the Missouri, at the foot of Portage hill,” in August 1805.
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Monarda didyma ‘Cambridge Scarlet’ Beebalm, Oswego tea
Whorls of scarlet tubes & bracts looking like fireworks, in summer
Whorls of scarlet tubes & bracts looking like fireworks, in summer
Size: 3-4' x spreading
Care: sun to part shade in well-drained soil.
Native: N. E. America
Wildlife Value: Checkered white, Fritillary and Melissa blue butterflies relish Beebalm’s nectar.Cherokee used the species medicinally, to cure colic, flatulence, nosebleed, measles, flu, hysteria and to induce restful sleep. Monarda was named in honor of Nicholas Monardes (1493-1588), a Spanish botanist who wrote about plants of the New World. Discovered by John Bartram (1699-1777) being used by colonists in Oswego N.Y. to make tea. Oswego Indians taught the colonists how to make tea from the dried leaves. Bartram sent this Beebalm to Peter Collinson in England in whose garden it grew in 1744. By 1757 its English availability was “nearly universal” among gardeners. During the American Revolution used as a substitute for tea. Grown at America’s 1st botanic garden, Elgin Botanic Garden 1811.This cultivar ‘Cambridge Scarlet’ recommended by Gertrude Jekyll in 1908.
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Monarda fistulosa Wild bergamont Z 3-9
Whorls of hooded lavender tubes in July - August
Whorls of hooded lavender tubes in July – August
Size: 3-4' x 2' spreading
Care: Sun to part shade any soil.
Native: central U.S., Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Checkered white, Tiger swallowtail, Giant swallowtail and Melissa blue butterflies relish Wild bergamot’s nectar. Supports over 70 bee species including Rusty patched Bumble Bee.Used medicinally by many Native tribes- Blackfoot, Cherokee, Chippewa, Choctaw, Crow, Dakota and Flathead. Cherokee: to cure colic, flatulence, nosebleed, measles, flu, hysteria and insomnia. Blackfoot called it “Single-young-Man.” Teton Dakotas boiled the leaves and flowers to cure abdominal pain. Ho-Chunk boiled the leaves to remove pimples. Choctaws cured chest pain in children. The Flathead cured colds and sore teeth with Wild Bergamot. HoChunk inhaled fumes in a sweat bath to cure colds. Oneidas made a tea. For the Sioux it was nourishment and a panacea: tea, stomach ache, fever, indigestion, sore throats, fainting, whooping cough, wounds, sore eyes, ulcers, and snakebites. First documented by French explorers before 1635. Plant exported to Europe by Tradescant the Younger in 1637. Grown by Washington at Mount Vernon. Today it is a flavor in Earl Grey tea.
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Nepeta nervosa Catmint Z 4-9
Chubby spikes of many clear blue-purple flowers blooming June-September. Deadhead to rebloom
OUT OF STOCK
Chubby spikes of many clear blue-purple flowers blooming June-September. Deadhead to rebloom
Size: 16-20” x 18-24”
Care: sun in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: China
Wildlife Value: deer & rabbit resistant, attracts bees & butterfliesNepetas may have been named after Nepete, an old Etrusrian city. Nervosa means with conspicuous veins. Collected before 1833.
