Plants for Butterflies and Other Pollinators

Showing 169–176 of 208 results

  • Scutellaria resinosa syn. Scutellaria wrightii Prairie skullcap Z 4-9

    Two-lipped, deep violet-blue tubes bloom from spring to fall

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    $10.25/bareroot

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    Two-lipped, deep violet-blue tubes bloom from spring to fall

    Size: 10” x 10”
    Care: sun to part shade in well-drained to moist well-drained soil, drought tolerant
    Native: Colorado, NM, KS, Oklahoma, TX, collected on the Canadian River, tributary of Arkansas River
    Wildlife Value: deer & rabbit resistant. Nectar and pollen attract butterflies and bees.

    Described by botanist John Torrey in Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of NY 2: 232 (1828)

  • Senna hebecarpa syn. Cassia hebecarpa Wild senna Z 3-8

    Six inch long taxicab yellow flower clusters along the stem in July – August

    $13.25/bareroot

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    Six inch long taxicab yellow flower clusters along the stem in July – August

    Size: 4’ x 2-6’
    Care: full sun in moist well-drained soil
    Native: all North America east of Mississippi River from Hudson Bay south to Georgia and Tennessee, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: attracts bumble bees and wasps. A legume – it adds nitrogen to the soil

    Collected by 1753.

  • Seseli gummiferum  Moon carrot  Z 5-9 self-seeding biennial or short-lived perennial.

    Five-inch diameter mound of many circles of pale pink to white flowers atop silvery, frilly, fern-like foliage flowering in mid-summer into early fall.

    $12.25/bareroot

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    Five inch diameter mound of many circles of pale pink to white flowers atop  silvery, frilly, fern-like foliage flowering in mid-summer into early fall.

    Size: 2-3’ x 12-18”
    Care: Sun to part-shade in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
    Native: Crimea, Turkey and South Aegean
    Wildlife Value: Deer resistant.  Butterfly magnet; host for caterpillar of Eastern swallowtail butterfly.

    Seseli is an ancient Greek name of an umbelliferous plant. This species first described by Linnaeus in 1735.  Re classified and renamed in 1830 in Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis, sive, Enumeratio contracta ordinum generum specierumque plantarum huc usque cognitarium, juxta methodi naturalis, normas digesta.

  • Sidalcea malvaeflora Checker bloom Z 5-9

    Bright pink mallow type blooms looking like a miniature hollyhock.

    $13.25/bareroot

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    Bright pink mallow type blooms looking like miniature hollyhock.

    Size: 2-3' x 10"
    Care: sun to part shade in well-drained soil
    Native: western No. America
    Wildlife Value: Attracts large white skipper butterflies.

    Sidalcea is the conjunction of sida and alcea.  Collected by Mexican botanist José Moziño around 1790 while on the Expedición Real de Botánica, probably in today’s Southern California.

  • Silene flos-cuculi syn. Lychnis flos-cuculi Ragged robin Z 4-9

    May-June, cotton-candy pink star shaped of thin petals as if a bursting star.  

    $13.25/bareroot

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    May-June, cotton-candy pink star shaped of thin petals as if a bursting star.

    Can not ship to: Connecticut and Maryland.

    Size: 30” x 32”
    Care: Sun to part shade, moist well-drained soil
    Native: Europe, Caucasus, Russia
    Wildlife Value: Butterfly plant, attracts Small Pearl Bordered Frilillary and Common Blue

    Flos is Latin for “flower.”  According to Parkinson (1629) Ragged robin was used to cure wounds as early as Roman times.   Grown by Washington at Mount Vernon. In 1851 Breck called the Ragged robin “an old inhabitant of the flower garden.”

  • Silphium laciniatum Compass plant Z 4-9

    Tall, sunflower-like plant with big, deeply lobed, hairy leaves, that move north and south to follow mid-day sun. Two to five inch wide, sunny-yellow daisies grow at intervals along the top half of the stiff, square, sticky stem from mid-summer into fall.  

    $13.25/bareroot

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    Tall, sunflower-like plant with big, deeply lobed, hairy leaves, that move north and south to follow mid-day sun. Two to five inch wide, sunny-yellow daisies grow at intervals along the top half of the stiff, square, sticky stem from mid-summer into fall.

     

    Size: 6- 12’ x 24”
    Care: sun to part shade in moist to well-drained soil with its deep taproot
    Native: East and central U.S. as far west as the Great Plains, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: pollinated by bumblebees, Miner bees, large leaf Cutting and solitary bees, Goldfinches feast on the seeds in fall.
    Awards: Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit

    Natives chewed the plant’s sap like chewing gum.  Lakota Sioux made an infusion of the plant to deworm horses and humans and to break up congestion in the lungs.  Grew in Bartram’s colonial nursery by 1770’s.  Grown at America’s 1st botanic garden, Elgin Botanic Garden 1811.

  • Silphium perfoliatum Cup plant Z 3-9

    Golden daisies waive at the sun from July to September, its cup shaped leaves hold water where butterflies drink & bathe

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    $13.25/bareroot

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    Golden daisies waive at the sun from July to September, its cup shaped leaves hold water where butterflies drink & bathe

    Can not ship to: Connecticut and New York

    Size: 7’ x 3’
    Care: full sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
    Native: Central North America, native to Wisconsin.
    Awards: England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit

    Sap used by Native Americans to chew and freshen breath.  Also used to cure colds, neuralgia, fever, and liver disorders.  The Chippewa used it to stop lung hemorrhaging, menstrual bleeding, and cure chest pain. Winnebago drank a potion from the plant to purify themselves before a buffalo hunt. For the Iroquois it cured paralysis, prevented children from seeing ghosts and illness caused by the dead.  Lakota Sioux children sometimes  chewed  resin like chewing gum. An infusion of the whole plant is used to rid horses and humans of intestinal worms. An infusion of the leaves is used to loosen phlegm in the lungs. Described and classified in 1753.

  • Solidago caesia syn. Solidago axillaris Blue-stemmed goldenrod, Wreath goldenrod Z 4-9

    Graceful, arching wands of clustered gold, with contrasting blue-green stems in September-October. One of the last perennials to bloom. Clump forming, noninvasive perennial.

    $13.25/bareroot

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    Graceful, arching wands of clustered gold, with contrasting blue-green stems, in September-October. Clump forming, noninvasive perennial.

    Size: 18-24” x 16-20”
    Care: part shade to shade in well-drained soil, drought tolerant
    Native: Nova Scotia to WI, south to FL and west to TX, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: With both nectar and pollen this attracts, bees, wasps and flies. It is host to caterpillars of some moths.

    The Latin name is a combination of solidus and ago, meaning “I make whole”, referring to its historic medicinal uses. According to William Cullina it has antioxidant, diuretic, astringent and antifungal properties and was used to treat urinary tract and yeast infections, sore throats and diarrhea. (W. Cullina, NEWFS, p. 197) Named by Swedish botanist Linnaeus in 1753.