Selecting plants that meet these criteria will help you in attracting butterflies to your garden. Adult butterflies only lay their eggs on one or two types of plants, which they know their caterpillars need to survive when they hatch. For caterpillars, consider plants like violets, milkweed, and asters.Learn more about milkweed, the only host plant for monarchs. Each plant will be followed by its food status (Host = host plants for butterflies and caterpillars) (Nectar = Nectar sources for adult butterflies) plus a list of butterfly species attracted to it. Container Plants for Bees, Butterflies, and Gardeners. Butterflies rely on nectar for survival. Bedding plants are often seasonal and can be bought as seeds, seedlings or fully-grown specimens. Without this sweet drink, they wouldn’t have enough energy to fly, mate, or in the case of some butterfly species, refuel after their winter hibernation or gruelling journey to the UK from southern Europe or even Africa. Recent reports have shown, however, that recent conservation efforts have given some of our most threatened species a boost. Description: These fairly compact plants for pollinators range from 1 to 3 feet high, with dark green fuzzy foliage. Plants for early spring flowers: Kerria japonica ‘Albescens’ Finally, another unusual woodlander that’s great in shade, so long as the soil is moist during summer. They’re often planted to add colour to gardens and attract a host of the UK’s pollinating insects. Attract bees and butterflies to your garden: Phacelia: Mark Diacono: “Phacelia is a beautiful, purple-flowering annual that I sow in any spare space I can, either on the vegetable patch or in the garden. Especially popular with butterflies, the boldly branching stems are topped with clusters of purple flowers and its open habit allows other plants to intermingle. Attracting butterflies. When selecting plants for butterflies, bees and hoverflies, avoid double flowers and cultivars with little or no pollen or nectar. Most of these plants will also attract a range of other interesting insects to the garden, including butterflies and honeybees. Bedding plants are commonly found in garden centres up and down the country. The following list is grouped by plant family. As they travel from flower to flower, they also pollinate them, enabling them to set seed or bear fruit. The good news is, as long as there are plants with suitable nectar for them, butterflies will visit gardens of any size, from the hugest estate to the smallest balcony. Butterflies are usually attracted to plants with red, orange, pink or yellow flowers. The GardensAll list of Best Plants and Flowers for Butterflies We have done the research and rounded up a list of tried-and-true plants and flowers to attract butterflies to your garden. Keep an eye out for butterflies nectaring on warm, sunny days. Butterflies also require warmth to fly and they usually feed only in the sun. Three quarters of butterfly species are in decline in the UK, but gardeners can play a key role in providing colourful visitors with much-needed habitats. They are full of nectar, and insects including moths and butterflies love them. Best Plants to Attract Butterflies to UK Gardens. With 35 bee species under threat of extinction in the UK, helping them to flourish is more important than ever. Caring for your plants and shrubs. Zones: Perennial in zones 9b – 11, annual in all others Get involved The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. Butterflies like the Peacock, Comma, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshells and Brimstone will all benefit from a selection of well chosen plants in a carefully planned butterfly garden. The most recent The State of the UK’s Butterflies report by Butterfly Conservation suggested 76% of the UK’s resident and regular migrant butterflies were in decline. 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