![Butterfly Bush and Monarch Butterfly Monarch butterfly on Butterfly Bush](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/butterflybush-butterfly-monarch.jpg)
Bringing Butterflies to Your Garden
Butterflies! Beautiful, ephemeral, almost magical with their well-known metamorphosis from larva to adult. Butterflies are especially meaningful to us at Swallowtail Garden Seeds, as the company is named for the swallowtail butterfly! Butterflies can bring brightly-colored beauty and useful pollination to your garden.
When planting for butterflies, it’s wise to consider all stages of a butterfly’s life and their variety of needs. Butterflies need places to lay their eggs, food plants for their caterpillars, safe places to form chrysalides, and nectar for the adults. Native flowering plants are ideal for butterflies, who in many cases have co-evolved over time with the plants and rely on one another for survival and for reproduction. Consider color and plant type; butterflies tend to be attracted to blooms in bright colors that are clustered with short flower tubes. It’s always best to avoid pesticides or fertilizers in a garden where you wish to encourage beneficial insects of any kind. For more butterfly-specific considerations, see this page at the National Wildlife Federation. For a list of native plants in your area, click here.
The following is a list of annuals, perennials, flowering vines, and herbs that butterflies find irresistible. You’re sure to find some gems on this list as well! For best results, consider a mix of annuals and perennials, and think about providing plants that have complementary bloom cycles, so there’s always something blooming for the butterflies.
Butterfly Friendly Plants
Butterfly Friendly Annuals
![Ageratum houstonianum](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/ageratum.jpg)
![Lobularia maritima](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/alyssum.jpg)
![Anchusa](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/anchusaannual.jpg)
![Angelonia](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/angelonia.jpg)
![Aster flowers.](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/aster-annual.jpg)
![Cyanus segetum](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/bachelors-button.jpg)
![Asclepias curassavica](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/butterfly-weed.jpg)
![Arctotis fastuosa](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/cape-daisy.jpg)
![Coleus plants](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/coleus.jpg)
![Cosmos bipinnatus](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/cosmos-double-click-series-flowers.jpg)
![Dahlia variabilis](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/dahlia-painted-lady-butterly-square.jpg)
![Gazania rigens](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/gazania.jpg)
![Nicotiana x sanderae](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/nicotiana.jpg)
![Osteospermum ecklonis](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/osteospermum.jpg)
![Rudbeckia hirta](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/rudbeckia.jpg)
![Antirrhinum majus](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/snapdragon-liberty-classic-mix-seeds.jpg)
![Xerochrysum bracteatum](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/strawflower.jpg)
![Helianthus annuus](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/sunflower-definitely-peacock-butterfly-square.jpg)
![Tithonia rotundifolia](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/tithonia-torch-butterfly.jpg)
![Zinnia spp.](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/dark-butterfly-zinnia.jpg)
Butterfly Friendly Perennials
![Agastache aurantiaca](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/agastache.jpg)
![Anchusa azurea](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/anchusa.jpg)
![Anemone hupehensis](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/anemone.jpg)
![Armeria x formosa](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/armeria.jpg)
![Aster Novi-belgii](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/asters-perennial-monarch-square.jpg)
![Astilbe x arendsii](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/astilbe.jpg)
![Aurinia saxatilis](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/basket-of-gold.jpg)
![Buddleia davidii](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/butterfly-bush-peacock-butterfly-square.jpg)
![Asclepias incarnata](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/butterfly-weed-orange-zebra-swallowtail-square.jpg)
![Iberis sempervirens](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/candytuft.jpg)
![Chelone obliqua](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/chelone-perennial-seeds.jpg)
![Aquilegia](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/columbine.jpg)
![Thymus serpyllum](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/perennial-flowers/thyme-perennial-seeds-index.jpg)
![Hesperis matronalis](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/dames-rocket.jpg)
![Dianthus caryophyllus](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/dianthus.jpg)
![Echinacea spp.](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/echinacea-admiral-butterfly-square.jpg)
![Myosotis sylvatica](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/forget-me-not.jpg)
![Mirabilis jalapa](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/four-o-clock.jpg)
![Gaillardia aristata, G. grandiflora](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/gaillardia.jpg)
![Gaura lindheimeri](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/gaura.jpg)
![Liatris spicata](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/gayfeather-black-swallowtail-square.jpg)
![Echinops bannaticus](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/globe-thistle.jpg)
![Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/heliopsis.jpg)
![Alcea rosea](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/hollyhock-perennial-seeds.jpg)
![Delosperma cooperi](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/ice-plant.jpg)
![Polemonium caeruleum](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/jacobs-ladder-perennial-seeds.jpg)
![Eutrochium maculatum](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/joe-pye-weed-swallowtail-square.jpg)
![Centranthus ruber](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/jupiters-beard-monarch.jpg)
![Lavandula spp.](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/lavender-swallowtail-butterfly-square.jpg)
![Lupinus polyphyllus](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/lupine.jpg)
![Lunaria annua](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/money-plant.jpg)
![Nepeta spp.](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/nepeta.jpg)
![Penstemon barbatus](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/penstemon.jpg)
![Perovskia atriplicifolia](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/russian-sage.jpg)
![Scabiosa caucasica](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/scabiosa.jpg)
![Sedum spurium](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/sedum-perennial-seeds.jpg)
![Leucanthemum x superbum](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/shasta-daisy.jpg)
![Tradescantia x andersoniana](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/spiderwort.jpg)
![Stokesia laevis](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/stokesia.jpg)
![Verbascum spp.](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/verbascum.jpg)
![Verbena bonariensis](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/verbena-bonariensis-purple-top-monarch-square.jpg)
![Veronica spicata](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/veronica.jpg)
![Achillea millefolium](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/yarrow.jpg)
![Malva sylvestris](https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/gardens/butterfly-friendly-plants/zebra-hollyhock.jpg)
Butterfly Friendly Flowering Vines
Butterfly Friendly Herbs
Written by Emily.