What’s a backyard wildlife habitat without butterflies? It’s incomplete! Butterflies are not only beautiful, but they’re beneficial, too, as pollinators of plants when they flutter around them. If you’d like to attract butterflies to your yard, offer them nectar plants and host plants.
Most butterflies as adults sip nectar as food for themselves, but their young offspring — caterpillars — can’t fly and must rely on a single plant, a host plant, to feed them through their larval stage.
Below are many of the native perennials (and a few annuals) that butterflies prefer for nectar. (Follow this link to see a list of butterfly species and their preferred host plants.) Take care never to apply insecticides to butterfly habitat. Also see: Native annuals for butterflies
Nectar perennials for butterflies
Aster (Aromatic, New England, Smooth, et al.) |
Aster spp. |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Late spring–Early-fall |
Zones: 3–9 |
Black-eyed Susan |
Rudbeckia hirta |
Annual, Perennial |
Bloom time: Mid-summer–Early-fall |
Zones 5–10 |
Blazing Star (Dense, Prairie, et al.) |
Liatris spp. |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Mid-spring–Early-fall |
Zones 3–10 |
Blue False Indigo |
Baptisia australis |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-spring–Mid-summer |
Zones: 3–10 |
Boneset (aka Snakeroot, Thoroughwort) |
Eupatorium perfoliatum |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Early-Fall–Late-fall |
Zones 3–9 |
Butterfly Weed |
Asclepias tuberosa |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Mid-summer–Early-fall |
Zones: 4–10 |
Cardinal Flower |
Lobelia cardinalis |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-summer–Early-fall |
Zones: 2–10 |
Copper Iris |
Iris fulva |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Early-spring–Spring |
Zones: 5–11 |
Daisy Fleabane |
Erigeron annuus |
Annual or biennial |
Bloom time: Mid-spring–Mid-summer |
Zones: 2–8 |
Dogbane |
Apocynum cannabinum |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Summer |
Zones: 2–8 |
Downy Phlox |
Phlox pilosa |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Mid-spring |
Zones: 4–9 |
Goldenrod (Showy, Carolina Moonlight, et al.) |
Solidago spp. (can be invasive) |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Varies; most in late-summer–Fall |
Zones: 2–8 |
Great Blue Lobelia |
Lobelia siphilitica |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-summer–Early-fall |
Zones: 3–9 |
Indian Blanket |
Gaillardia pulchella |
Annual |
Bloom time: Summer–Early-fall |
Zones: 3–9 |
Joe-pye Weed |
Eupatorium fistulosum |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Mid-summer–Early-fall |
Zones: 3–8 |
Lanceleaf Coreopsis |
Coreopsis Ianceolata |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-spring–Mid-summer |
Zones: 4–9 |
Spotted Jewelweed |
Impatiens capensis |
Annual |
Bloom time: Mid-summer–Early-fall |
Everywhere except arid regions |
Lupine (Sundial, Perennial, et al.) |
Lupinus spp. |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Spring–Summer |
Zones: 3–9 |
Milkweed (Marsh, Rose, Swamp, Purple, et al.) |
Asclepias spp. |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Varies |
Zones 2–9 |
Missouri Primrose |
Oenothera missouriensis |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-spring–Early-summer |
Zones: 4–8 |
Native Yellow Honeysuckle |
Lonicera flava |
Perennial vine (avoid non-native bush variety) |
Bloom time: Spring |
Zones: 4–9 |
Phlox |
Phlox spp. |
Annual, Perennial |
Bloom time: Spring |
Zones: 2–10 |
Purple Coneflower, et al. |
Echinacea spp. |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Summer–Late-fall |
Zones: 3–9 |
Purple Poppy Mallow |
Callirhoe involucata |
Perennial |
Bloom Time: Early-spring–Mid-summer |
Zones: 3–9 |
Red Thistle |
Cirsium occidentale |
Biennial |
Bloom time: Spring |
Zones: 2–9 |
Scarlet Sage |
Salvia coccinea |
Annual |
Bloom time: Summer–Fall |
Zones: 4–9 |
Spiked Gayfeather |
Liatris spicata |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Mid-summer–Late-summer |
Zones: 3–10 |
Sunflower (Common, Plains, Woodland, et al.) |
Helianthus spp. |
Annual, Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-summer–Fall |
Zones 3–9 |
Swamp Rose Mallow |
Hibiscus Moscheutos |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-summer |
Zones 5–8 |
Verbena (Rose, Pink, Southwestern, et al.) |
Verbena spp. |
Annual, Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-summer–Early-fall |
Zones: 3–8 |
Wild Ageratum (aka Blue Mistflower) |
Eupatorium coelestinum |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-summer–Early-fall |
Zones: 5–9 |
Wild Geranium |
Geranium maculatum |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Late-spring–mid-summer |
Zones: 3–8 |
Yarrow (Common, Mountain) |
Achillea spp. |
Perennial |
Bloom time: Mid-summer–Fall |
Zones: 1–11 |
*American Snout Butterfly, Libytheana carinenta. (WelcomeWildlife.com; cc by-sa 3.0)
More reading:
Native plants for hummingbirds
Attract butterflies to your yard
General anatomy of insects