The number one flower for butterflies is butterfly milkweed. No other bloom feeds adult butterflies and raises monarch babies at once. You get a true double-duty plant with one purchase. Its Latin name is Asclepias tuberosa.
Last year I tracked one butterfly milkweed plant in my yard for a whole summer. The orange blooms hosted monarch eggs, fat green caterpillars, and adult swallowtails sipping nectar all at once. I had not seen that kind of bug action on any other plant in my beds.
What makes this monarch flower beat every other choice? It does two key jobs at once for the bug world. Most flowers do just one job. Butterfly milkweed pulls double weight in your yard.
Job one is the nectar bar for adult butterflies. The bright orange clusters pump out sweet nectar all summer long. Monarchs, swallowtails, fritillaries, skippers, and painted ladies all show up for a sip.
Job two is more rare and more vital. Butterfly milkweed is the only host plant for monarch babies in North America. Monarch moms lay eggs on the leaves. The babies eat those leaves and grow into the next round of butterflies.
Compare that to a pretty zinnia or coneflower in your yard. Both feed adult butterflies just fine. But neither one hosts a single egg or feeds a caterpillar. Skip milkweed and you lose half the bug life cycle in your beds.
Monarchs and Swallowtails
- Monarchs: Lay eggs on leaves and sip nectar from blooms, making this the only true monarch flower in U.S. yards.
- Swallowtails: Black, tiger, and spicebush swallowtails all sip nectar from the bright orange clusters in your beds.
- Why they come: The wide flat flower tops give big butterflies a perch they can grip with ease while they feed.
Fritillaries and Skippers
- Great spangled fritillaries: Orange and black wings flash bright as they sip nectar from your milkweed clusters.
- Silver-spotted skippers: Small brown skippers with white wing spots that work fast across many tiny blooms.
- Why they come: Each tiny flower in a cluster has a deep nectar well that suits small mouths and short tongues.
Other Visitors Beyond Butterflies
- Native bees: Bumblebees, mason bees, and tiny sweat bees all hit milkweed for nectar and pollen each day.
- Hummingbirds: Some ruby-throats also sip from the bright orange blooms, drawn in by the warm color.
- Beneficial wasps: Spider wasps and others sip nectar while they hunt pests that bug your other plants.
Now you know it is the best butterfly plant out there. So how do you grow it? Start with seeds in fall or early spring for cheap. Each pack runs about three to five bucks and holds dozens of seeds.
Cold-treat your seeds for 30 days in your fridge first. Pop them in a damp paper towel in a zip bag. Stash in the back of your fridge. Plant after the cold spell to break the seed coat dormancy.
Pick a sunny dry spot in your yard. Butterfly milkweed loves full sun and sandy soil more than any other milkweed type. Skip wet low spots since the roots will rot fast in soggy ground.
Plant at least three plants in a tight group. Bugs spot a patch of three or more from far across your yard. They tend to fly past lone plants. In my experience a tight group works ten times better than spread-out single plants.
Build a true patch of butterfly milkweed and your butterfly garden flowers will buzz with wings all summer long. I started with just three plants my first year. Now I have a patch of nine plants that hosts dozens of monarchs each season.
Read the full article: 25 Best Pollinator Plants for Your Garden
