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Create a best-on-the-block butterfly garden with these must-have plants.

Butterfly Weed



Grow a butterfly weed or two and you're sure to have Monarchs. The adults drink nectar from the plant's summertime orange flowers, and the caterpillars eat the plant's leaves.

Here's a hint: Add variety to your garden with other milkweeds, such as annual bloodflower or tall swamp milkweed.


Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Grow it with: Liatris, another long-blooming perennial that Monarch butterflies love to visit.

Butterfly Bush



This shrub is called butterfly bush for a reason -- you're sure to see it covered in butterflies all summer long. An easy-care shrub, it features fragrant flowers in shades of blue, purple, and white.

Here's a hint: If your butterfly bush starts to get big, prune it back in winter or early spring. You can cut it almost all the way down to the ground.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 10 feet tall and 15 feet wide, depending on type
Grow it with: Mexican sunflower; this annual's bold orange flowers look great against just about any butterfly bush


Aster



A top plant for the fall garden, aster is a heavy bloomer with colorful flowers in shades of blue, purple, pink, red, and white. Aster does double duty: The blossoms supply nectar for fall butterflies, and Pearl Crescent caterpillars feed on the plant's leaves.

Here's a hint: Look for newer named varieties of asters; they're often more disease resistant and compact

Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 5 feet tall and 2 feet wide, depending on type
Grow it with: Bloody geranium -- this spring- and summer-blooming perennial develops bright red fall foliage that looks great with colorful aster flowers.


Purple Coneflower



There are lots of reasons to grow purple coneflower if you have a sunny spot. A wide range of butterflies love sipping its nectar; the plant is very heat and drought tolerant, it's a perfect cut flower, and it blooms almost all summer long.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 5 feet tall and 2 feet wide, depending on type
Grow it with: Anise hyssop for a combo that will give you pretty bouquets and tons of butterflies for weeks in summer.


Joe Pye Weed



Create towers of flowers with big Joe Pye weed, which can grow more than 6 feet tall. If you don't have that much room, don't worry -- types such as 'Little Joe' stay smaller. Either way, both you and the butterflies will love the big clusters of dusty-pink flowers that appear from midsummer to fall.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 7 feet tall and 3 feet wide, depending on type
Grow it with: South American verbena for an easy-care combination no butterfly can resist.


Salvia



There's a salvia for every garden: some are tall, others are short. Some have blue or purple blooms, and others have red, orange, or pink flowers. While you might have trouble picking a salvia, the butterflies won't -- they'll reliably flock to it every summer. 'May Night' is shown here.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall and 1 foot wide
Grow it with: Coreopsis for a long-blooming, no-fail blue-and-yellow combination.


Passionflower



Hardy passionflower is one of the most exotic vines you can grow. It's also one of the best for butterflies as a variety of them drink its nectar. It's a host plant for several types of butterflies, as well.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Climbs to 10 feet
Grow it with: Black-eyed Susan vine for a charming blue-and-yellow combo of quick-growing vines.


Mexican Sunflower



This plant is big and bold -- and perfect for butterflies. Enjoy this easy-care annual's nonstop display of big orange flowers all summer long.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 6 feet tall and 1 foot wide
Grow it with: South American verbena; the plants look amazing together and like the same growing conditions


South American Verbena



This plant is a perfect cut flower -- but don't worry about using it in bouquets. The more you cut, the more it blooms, so there will always be a supply of the lavender-purple blooms for butterflies to enjoy, too.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 6 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Grow it with: Yarrow, which has flat clusters of blooms in a rainbow of shades. Like South American verbena, it's heat and drought resistant, so it's a cinch to grow.


Zinnia


Just about everyone loves zinnia, which is why it's a favorite of butterfly gardeners, cottage gardeners, and beginning gardeners. It blooms in an almost endless range of colors and looks great all summer long.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall and 1 foot wide.
Grow it with: Fennel, which has a ferny texture that looks perfect against the bold zinnia blooms.


Black-Eyed Susan



Black-eyed Susan is just as perfect for bouquets as it is for butterflies. This tough perennial blooms in late summer with big, yellow, daisy-shaped flowers.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide, depending on type
Grow it with: Purple coneflower for a classic prairie-style combination

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