Creating a garden that attracts butterflies is a simple way to add beauty and life to your outdoor space. By choosing the right perennial plants, you can enjoy vibrant blooms that provide nectar and habitat for butterflies throughout the growing season.
These 24 perennials are proven to attract butterflies all season, making your garden a welcoming spot for these colorful pollinators. With a variety of shapes and colors, these plants offer both aesthetic appeal and essential resources for butterflies.
Butterfly Weed
If you want to attract butterflies, Butterfly Weed is a great choice for your garden. This native perennial is a favorite of Monarch butterflies, offering both nectar and a place for their caterpillars to feed.
It grows well in full sun and can reach between 18 and 36 inches tall. You’ll enjoy bright orange flowers that bring lots of pollinators to your space.
Black Eyed Susan
You’ll find Black Eyed Susans easy to grow and great for adding a pop of yellow to your garden. Their bright petals and dark centers attract butterflies throughout the season.
These perennials bloom from midsummer to frost, providing long-lasting color. They also work well in borders, beds, or containers.
Deer tend to avoid them, making your garden more butterfly-friendly.
Purple Coneflower
You’ll love adding Purple Coneflower to your garden if you want to attract butterflies. These hardy perennials bloom in vibrant pinkish-purple, drawing bees and hummingbirds too.
They grow back each year from the base, making them easy to maintain. You’ll find them tough and drought tolerant, perfect for a low-maintenance garden.
Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’
You’ll enjoy soft yellow blooms that brighten your garden all summer long. This perennial attracts butterflies and supports local pollinators.
It thrives in sunny spots and tolerates heat and drought once established. Plus, it resists deer, so it stays beautiful with minimal care.
New England Aster
You’ll love planting New England Aster if you want late-season color. Its purple to pinkish flowers bloom in late summer and fall.
These flowers attract butterflies and other pollinators, helping your garden stay lively. New England Aster grows best in medium to wet soils and works well in the back of your garden for height and color.
Bee Balm
Bee balm is a great choice if you want to attract butterflies to your garden. Its bright, bold flowers provide plenty of nectar that butterflies love.
You’ll also notice hummingbirds and bees visiting these tubular blooms. This plant grows well in many gardens and adds a splash of color throughout the season.
Joe Pye Weed
You’ll love adding Joe Pye Weed to your garden if you want to attract butterflies all summer. Its fuzzy pink flowers bloom from July to September, providing nectar for many pollinators.
This plant is also a magnet for native bees and honeybees. It grows tall but some compact varieties fit smaller spaces nicely. You’ll see swallowtails, monarchs, and painted ladies visiting often.
Milkweed
Milkweed is essential if you want to attract Monarch butterflies. It serves as the main host plant where Monarch caterpillars grow and develop.
You can plant common milkweed or other varieties suitable for your zone. Milkweed also provides nectar that butterflies love throughout the season. Adding milkweed to your garden helps support butterfly lifecycles and brings more colorful visitors to your yard.
Honeysuckle
You’ll find honeysuckle vines easy to grow and quite resilient. Their fragrant flowers attract butterflies throughout the season.
These vines also provide shelter, making your garden more inviting for pollinators. You can expect a steady flow of colorful visitors with honeysuckle in your space.
Butterfly Bush
The butterfly bush is a great choice if you want to add color and attract pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds. It blooms for a long time, offering large, fragrant flower clusters that provide nectar.
Keep in mind, though, it can spread easily and may impact local ecosystems. If you plant it, look for sterile varieties to limit this risk while still enjoying the butterflies it draws to your garden.
Yarrow
Yarrow is a sturdy perennial that thrives in full sunlight and can handle dry soil. You’ll notice its flat-top yellow flowers bloom from late spring into summer, standing about 18 to 24 inches tall.
This plant not only attracts butterflies but also supports caterpillars, including those of the Painted Lady butterfly.
Phlox
Phlox is a great choice for your garden if you want to attract butterflies. Its fragrant, nectar-rich flowers bloom from early to late season, providing a steady food source.
You’ll find varieties like ‘Jeana’ especially appealing because they combine easy care with strong butterfly attraction. Plant them towards the back of your beds for vertical interest and colorful blooms.
Clematis
You can add bright color and height to your garden with clematis. These perennials attract butterflies by providing nectar-rich flowers that bloom through much of the season.
Clematis vines are easy to grow and work well climbing fences or trellises. You’ll enjoy their long-lasting blooms and the butterfly visitors they bring to your yard.
Columbine
You’ll love adding columbine to your garden for its delicate, colorful blooms. These flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds, bringing life and movement to your space.
They grow well in spring and thrive in a range of conditions, making them easy to care for. Plus, columbine plants resist deer and rabbits, so your butterflies can visit without worry.
Agastache
Agastache is a great choice if you want a low-maintenance plant that blooms all summer. You’ll enjoy its colorful spikes in shades like blue, orange, and pink.
It attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees, adding life and color to your garden. You’ll find it easy to grow and a reliable source of nectar throughout the warmer months.
Anemone hupehensis
If you want a perennial that attracts butterflies, Anemone hupehensis is a great choice. It blooms in late summer and fall, offering color when many other flowers have finished.
You’ll appreciate that it resists deer and rabbits, so your garden stays intact. It grows well in full sun or partial shade, making it flexible for many spots in your yard.
Lantana
Lantana is a bright and tough perennial that attracts butterflies with its colorful flowers and sweet nectar. You’ll find it thrives best in well-draining soil and sunny spots.
It’s drought-resistant, making it a low-maintenance choice for your garden. In colder areas, you can grow it as an annual to keep the butterfly visits coming all summer long.
Shrub Verbena
If you want a butterfly-friendly garden that blooms year-round, shrub verbena is a great choice. Its small, vibrant flowers attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds alike.
This plant is evergreen and easy to care for, making it perfect for adding color and life to your garden throughout the seasons. You’ll enjoy watching pollinators visit regularly.
Bleeding Hearts
You’ll love planting Bleeding Hearts if you want to attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden. Their unique, heart-shaped flowers hang delicately along arching stems, adding charm to shady spots.
These perennials also draw bees and other beneficial pollinators. Just remember, they go dormant in mid-summer heat, so pairing them with shade-loving plants can keep your garden looking full.
Cranesbill Geranium
You’ll enjoy the lovely blooms of Cranesbill Geranium, which come in colors like blue, pink, and purple. These perennials usually grow in mounded shapes and offer flowers about 1-3 inches wide.
They attract butterflies and bees, making your garden lively. Plus, they come back every year, so you don’t need to replant them often.
Cut Flower Geranium
You’ll find geraniums add a lovely splash of color to your garden with blooms in red, pink, purple, and orange. These flowers are great for attracting butterflies, thanks to their bright petals and mild fragrance.
Geraniums are also easy to grow in containers, making them perfect if your garden space is limited. They offer steady blooms that keep your garden lively throughout the season.
Anchusa azurea
You’ll love Anchusa azurea if you want to attract butterflies and bees to your garden. Its bright blue flowers bloom in spring and summer, adding color and life.
This perennial prefers well-drained soil and can handle sun or partial shade. Deer and rabbits usually leave it alone, making it a low-maintenance choice for you.
Armeria x formosa
You’ll enjoy adding Armeria x formosa to your garden for its charming pom-pom flowers. These blooms attract butterflies, along with bees and other pollinators.
This perennial thrives in well-drained, sunny spots and tolerates drought. It’s also resistant to deer and rabbits, making it low maintenance for your garden.
Mint (allowed to flower)
If you let mint flower, you’ll create a magnet for butterflies. Its small blooms offer easy access to nectar, attracting many pollinators.
Mint grows quickly and needs little care, making it a great choice for your garden. Just be sure to give it space, as it spreads fast.