Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators
Showing 129–136 of 225 results
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Nepeta racemosa syn. N. mussinii Catmint Z 4-8
Lavender blue from May through September, cut back for rebloom
Lavender blue from May through September, cut back for rebloom
Size: 18" x 18"
Care: Full sun in well-drained soil
Native: Caucasus
Wildlife Value: attracts butterflies and bees
Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.Nepetas may have been named after Nepete, an old Etrusrian city. Mussinii named for the plant’s discoverer, Russian Count Apollos Apollosovitch Mussin-Pushkin. In gardens before 1810 and a favorite Victorian bedding plant by the late 1800’s. Catmints contain various amounts of an essential oil (nepetalactone) both a cat stimulant and a mosquito repellant.
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Nepeta subsessilis Japanese catmint Z 4-8
Showy bluish-purple spikes of bell-shaped flowers forming short spikes, June-September
Showy bluish-purple spikes of bell-shaped flowers forming short spikes, June-September
Size: 18-24” x 18-24”
Care: sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: Japan
Wildlife Value: deer & rabbit resistant, attracts butterfliesSubsessilis means nearly without stalks. Catmints contain various amounts of an essential oil (nepetalactone) both a cat stimulant and a mosquito repellant. From Nambu Japan where botanists called it Miso-gawa- sô. Von Siebold, German botanist and physician, who worked in Japan from 1823 to1830, saw it. Named in Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersburg, sér. 3, 20: 469. (1875) by Russian botanist Karl Maximowicz.
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Onopordum acanthium Scotch thistle, Woolly thistle Biennial Z 5-9
Soft, majestic purple-magenta thistles on prickly silver foliage and stems.
Soft, majestic purple-magenta thistles on prickly silver foliage and stems.
Can not ship to: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Size: 4-6’ x 2”
Care: full sun in moist, well-drained soil
Native: Europe and western Asia
Wildlife Value: Bees, butterflies and birdsIdentified by Dioscorides in De Materia Medica for medicinal use around 70 A.D. Chosen as the symbol of Scotland by King James V. According to legend the Scotch thistle helped Scotland fend off a night-time Viking invasion by preventing a sneak attack. It caused the Vikings to scream in pain waking the Scots. Introduced to American gardens in late 1800’s.
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Packera obovata syn. Senecio obovata Round-leaved ragwort, Golden groundsel Z. 3-8
Clusters of perky yellow daisies with sunny centers atop nearly leafless, erect stems, blooming late spring to early summer. Missouri Botanic Garden: “Vigorous spring wildflower for sunny or shady areas of the landscape. Large, naturalized plantings in woodland gardens can be spectacular in bloom. Cut off flowering stems after bloom and enjoy the semi-evergreen basal foliage which forms an attractive ground cover.”
Clusters of perky yellow daisies with sunny centers atop nearly leafless, erect stems, blooming late spring to early summer. Missouri Botanic Garden: “Vigorous spring wildflower for sunny or shady areas of the landscape. Large, naturalized plantings in woodland gardens can be spectacular in bloom. Cut off flowering stems after bloom and enjoy the semi-evergreen basal foliage which forms an attractive ground cover.”
Size: 1-2’ x 6-12” spreading
Care: sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: curved swath from eastern Canada to FL west to IL and NM
Wildlife Value: attracts bees. Deer resistantObovata means egg-shaped describing the shape of its basal leaves. First named in 1803 from a plant of Rev. Henry Muhlenberg (1783-1815) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthilf_Heinrich_Ernst_Muhlenberg,) Pennsylvania plantsman, sent to German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow (1765 – 1812). Packera named for a Canadian botanist, John G. Packer.
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Paeonia lactiflora Buckeye Belle Z 3-8
Semi-double, velvety blossoms of the deepest red, almost chocolate, with large outer petals surrounding narrow inner petals sprinkled with sparkling golden staminodes.
Semi-double, velvety blossoms of the deepest red, almost chocolate, with large outer petals surrounding narrow inner petals sprinkled with sparkling golden staminodes.
Size: 18-24” x 24-30”
Care: Full sun or part shade in most, well-drained soil
Wildlife Value: Deer and Rabbit resistant, attracts butterflies & hummingbirds, great cut flower
Awards: American Peony Society Gold Medal, American Peony Society Award for Landscape MeritHybridized in the USA in 1956 by Walter Mains
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Paeonia lactiflora x Jan Van Leeuwen Z 3-8
Fragrant cupped single white blooms with yellow stamens
OUT OF STOCK
Fragrant cupped single white blooms with yellow stamens
Size: 2' x 3'
Care: Full sun in moist well-drained soil. Deer and rabbit resistant
Native: Japan
Wildlife Value: birds and ants enjoy the sweet nectar on the buds before openingIntroduced in 1928
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Penstemon digitalis Foxglove beardtongue Z 2-8
Palest of pink tubular bells in June - deadhead for rebloom. More vigorous and longer blooming than its well-known cultivar ‘Husker Red.’
OUT OF STOCK
Palest of pink tubular bells in June – deadhead for rebloom. More vigorous and longer blooming than its well-known cultivar ‘Husker Red.’
Size: 24-48” x 18”
Care: sun or part shade in fertile, well-drained soil
Native: Nebraska, Wisconsin
Wildlife Value: host for caterpillar of Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly.Penstemon is named for its five stamens, penta meaning “five” in Greek. Used medicinally by the Dakota and Pawnee – to remedy chest pains, chills and fevers. P. digitalis first sent to Europe when the son of the royal Spanish gardener sent it to Kew Botanic Garden in England, 1793.
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Penstemon grandiflorus Large beard tongue Z 3-9 short-lived perennial that reseeds
Large pink to lavender trumpets along the 3’ stem in early summer
OUT OF STOCK
Large pink to lavender trumpets along the 3’ stem in early summer
Size: 3’ x 10”
Care: full sun in well-drained soil
Native: IL to N. Dakota, south to TX, Wisconsin
Wildlife Value: attracts Baltimore butterflyDiscovered by Thomas Nuttall, (1786-1859) who searched entire No. American continent, describing this Penstemon as “splendid and beautiful,” on his trip up the Missouri River in 1811. Cured chest pains and stomach aches for the Dakota and chills and fever for the Pawnee. Sioux made decoctions of this to remedy chills and fever and chest pain.
