Start A Garden For Butterflies

Product Details

Are you new to gardening? Would you like to start a garden that supports butterflies and other pollinators? Our Start a Garden for Butterflies was designed especially for budding green thumbs who have a soft spot for winged friends. It contains 9 different perennials (plants that return year after year). They were selected by our horticultural experts to provide ease of care as well as sources of food and habitat for winged creatures. The plants in this garden all thrive in the same conditions: full sun (defined as 6+ hours of direct sun per day) and well-drained soil. 1 plant of each variety listed below, 3 of the Liatris, 11 plants total. Covers 18 square feet. Planting diagram included.

• Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’
• Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’
• Echinacea purpurea PowWow® Wild Berry
• Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’ (3)
• Solidago sphacelata ‘Golden Fleece’
• Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’
• Achillea millefolium ‘Paprika’
• Allium ‘Millenium’
• Ornamental Grass: Sporobolus heterolepis

Before purchase, you’ll need to know your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone. This will determine whether or not the plants in this collection are hardy in your area and able to tolerate regional extremes of heat and cold. to learn more about hardiness zones and to find yours. If your zone is between 5-8, this garden is for you.

What can you expect?

Arriving in late spring is vigorous Achillea millefolium ‘Paprika,’ a spicy looking Yarrow with distinctive feathery foliage and flower clusters that make ideal landing pads for butterflies and other pollinators. The flowers emerge ruby red, then transition to salmon-rose, and are terrific for cutting, too.

Summertime brings the cheerful, colorful blossoms of three different Coneflowers, all of which offer up Daisy-like flowers that provide a feast for pollinators. In fall, goldfinches will balance on the cones of these blossoms to feed on the seeds. Tall 40″ Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ sports flowers with carmine-rose petals surrounding molasses-colored cones. Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ is a lovely mixer, its white blooms atop 3′ stems combining well with most neighbors. Petite Echinacea purpurea PowWow® Wild Berry provides a punch of color with 2′ stems capped with rosy pink flowers.

Butterfly favorite Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’ is a border standout for its distinctive form and color. These carefree native plants, also called Blazing Stars, produce upright purple wands that provide food for pollinators and a vertical accent in the garden.

The dense heads of Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’ are a pretty lavender-pink, and stems reach up to 5′ in the garden. Blooms appear from summer into fall, and they are a beacon for butterflies and other pollinators.

Award-winning Allium ‘Millenium’ sends up a profusion of 2″, globe-shaped, rosy-violet flower heads that bees adore. The flower heads appear to float above compact clumps of flat, glossy leaves that add a grassy appearance to the garden. This is a perfect plant for the edge of the border.

As autumn arrives, so do the yellow wands of compact, well-mannered Solidago sphacelata ‘Golden Fleece.’ This garden-worthy Goldenrod captures the tones of the fall season while providing a late-season source of food for pollinators, including migrating Monarch butterflies. Plants reach only 2′ tall with green foliage that serves as a terrific backdrop for the golden flowers.

Contributing texture, movement (when the breeze blows), and habitat for pollinators and other beneficial garden visitors is mounding Ornamental Grass Sporobolus heterolepis. A favorite of garden designers, this native Prairie Dropseed reaches its full height of 2-3′ in autumn when crowned with rust-colored, airy plumes against burnished gold foliage. An extra perk is its Coriander scent.

Plants in your Start a Garden collection will arrive in one of two forms: potted and/or bareroot. Bareroots may sound intimidating, but they’re not. In fact, they’re remarkably easy to plant. Visit the Growing Guide (see tab above) to learn more now or consult the Quick Start Guide you will receive when your new garden arrives.

Enjoy a garden of beautiful, full-sun favorites that will attract butterflies for years to come. We hope it’s the start of many great gardening adventures.

For more information on growing and care, click Growing Guide.