What would a garden be without butterflies? We'll show you 10 butterfly-friendly plants that will also attract colorful moths to your garden.
Whether young or old, butterflies have always amazed the eyes of all generations with their colorful appearance and their playfully easy flight. But the colorful insect is not only worth protecting because of its beauty. What few people know: butterflies are among the most important pollinators in the garden and are therefore really beneficial. Wild plants in particular are often dependent on pollination by butterflies, but crops are also reliably pollinated by some species. Caterpillar damage, which many gardeners fear, is often not a problem - in fact, caterpillars also prefer wild plants such as stinging nettle (Urtica), dock (Rumex) or various grasses. If the caterpillars do attack a garden plant, they cause unsightly feeding spots, but the plants usually do not die from this. If you let the caterpillars do as they please, most plants will recover quickly and you will be rewarded with colorful garden dwellers.
What distinguishes butterfly-friendly plants
When creating a butterfly-friendly garden, you should have the adult butterflies in mind and not the delicate caterpillars, because there are mainly nectar plants for the adult animals. Caterpillars, on the other hand, usually find enough food sources thanks to stinging nettles and wild herbs, so that they do not have to rely on specially laid out beds. However, both butterflies and caterpillars are happy about an overgrown corner in the garden where wild plants can also grow. If you prefer pretty flowers, here are the ten best butterfly-friendly plants that will attract colorful butterflies to your garden.
Tip: Want a whole mix of butterfly-friendly plants? Then you are at the right place at our Plantura butterfly club. The seed mix contains over 30 annuals and perennials that are butterfly-friendly and provide the butterflies and their caterpillars with a rich source of food. You can also just put the mixture in the potor sow in balcony boxes.
1. Globe Thistle
Globe thistle (Echinops ritro) really has a modern, almost bizarre look, with its spectacular spherical flowers that seem to float high above the ground on slender stems. If a butterfly lands on the extravagant ball of flowers, this sight can hardly be surpassed. In fact, like almost all types of thistle, the striking globe thistle is one of the most important sources of nectar for butterflies, especially for the Painted Lady genus.
The privet (Ligustrum vulgare) can be found in many gardens - no wonder, after all the plant is ideal for hedges and can also be pruned into shape. In addition, privet is considered to be extremely uncomplicated and robust. But the plant can do even more: for many German butterfly species, such as the large oxeye or the small tortoiseshell, the plant is an ideal source of food, because its delicate white panicles of flowers provide valuable nectar. This interplay of appearance, robustness and butterfly friendliness makes the privet a must for every garden.
3. Phlox
The phlox (Phlox) provides a veritable sea of flowers and is therefore a real magnet for beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies. The plant, also known as phlox, provides a firework of colors in the garden from June to September and is therefore one of the important food sources for butterflies. But its easy-care nature also supports the popularity of the beautiful flower.
Don't worry - even if the name of the purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) sounds a bit scary at first glance, it is an extremely attractive plant with large dark pink flower spikes impress knows. At best, thirsty butterflies could explain the eerie name of the plant: they actually attack the plant like vampires. C moths and the small tortoiseshell in particular like to use the plentiful supply of nectar from the beautiful flower. But moths are also dependent on the plant: it plays an important role as a forage plant for their caterpillars.
5. Evening Primrose
Even if we usually think of colorful butterflies when we think of butterflies, about 80% of all butterflies actually belong to the moths, so they only become active in the late evening hours. For this reason, the moths are particularly attracted to plants that only develop their full aroma at dusk. The evening primrose (Oenothera) is one of these butterfly-friendly plants: With its radiantly beautiful flowers that bloom from June to September, the plant is a jewel in any garden and proves to be a reliable magnet for butterflies .
Medicinal Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) is well known to most as a calming medicinal plant for anxiety disorders and insomnia. But the plant can do much more: valerian impresses in June and July with its large white or pink umbels of flowers, which also give off a wonderful smell. But not only people appreciate the perennial herb: butterflies such as the skipper butterfly visit the plant for its nectar and the caterpillars of the valerian fritillary also use the plant as a food source. The plant is also very popular with cats - they react to it in a similar intoxicated manner as to catnip (Nepeta).
7. Lavender
With its unique appearance and irresistible smell, lavender (Lavandula) transforms every garden into a Mediterranean oasis. The plant is a real jack of all trades: Not only is lavender extremely easy to care for, it also shines with its healing powers and edible flowers. The violet lavender even drives away mosquitoes - on the other hand, it almost magically attracts beneficial insects such as butterflies. From the white butterfly to the small tortoiseshell, almost all butterfly species will sooner or later look for the plant as a source of food. The plant is not very popular only as caterpillar food.
8. Purple Stonecrop
A big problem for butterflies that are still flying in late summer is that many summer flowers have already faded. Luckily, the purple sedum (Hylotelephium telephium) can help. From July, the plant shows its large, almost umbrella-like inflorescences, which often last into winterkeep. The plant ensures that peacock butterflies and C butterflies still find plenty of food in autumn. The plant is particularly interesting for gardeners because it is not only particularly beautiful as a succulent, but also very robust - drought, heat and temperatures down to -20 °C do not bother the butterfly-friendly plant.
9. Sal Willow
Sal willow (Salix caprea) is an important source of nectar for butterflies and bees. It is the only native willow species that also grows outside of swamps and meadows. It blooms as early as late winter in March and April, thus securing the food base for insects in spring. Among other things, the peacock butterfly and the small tortoiseshell fly to the Sal pasture. The caterpillars of many nocturnal moths, but also a few diurnal moth caterpillars, also feed on their leaves.
10. Sage
As a medicinal plant and spice, sage (Salvia) is well known to most people and can already be found in many gardens. But it's not just its spicy aroma and undemanding nature that make the plant so popular with gardeners - its violet flowers, which appear from June to August, also make the plant a real eye-catcher. Butterflies in particular are attracted to the small flowers - because the nectar is hidden deep inside the flower, the long-nosed insects have an enormous advantage over other pollinators and secure a lucrative nectar source for themselves. Meadow sage (Salvia pratensis) in particular is a popular food source for butterflies such as the blue and the famous swallowtail.
If you also want to attract bumblebees to your garden, here are 10 bumblebee-friendly plants. Here we show how to build a beneficial insect house for butterflies.