Attract Hummingbirds and Butterflies by These Flowers

Making your first hummingbird and butterfly garden is incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. But how do you begin? With the variety of blooms and bushes to choose from, it can be challenging to decide which one to choose. The good thing is that to design the garden you've always wanted, all you require is a bit of information and direction. Sooner or later, you'll wake up to the perfect whirling sound of butterflies and hummingbirds' wings while enjoying the most beautiful garden in the neighborhood.

Consider Your Gardens Structure

If you want to make a butterfly or hummingbird garden, it is essential that you need think about the entire layout that your backyard. In order to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, think about a tiered garden that will give the garden a variety. With all the various plants, flowers, herbs, and trees to select from, a good starting point for creating your ideal garden is to think about the local climate. Choose species that are indigenous to your region and will produce greater nectar than hybrids or exotics (bonus that native plants also flourish with little maintenance). By selecting species that have various blooming times, the garden will be able to provide nectar all year round. This can result in satisfied hummingbirds! Remember when you are planting your garden to leave a little space between every plant. So, hummingbirds can move around and stay in one spot when they spot that particular flower that they are drawn to. It is also possible to structure your garden to save water by putting the same plants.

Flowers for Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds aren't dull in regards to their preferences for flowers! They are extremely visual creatures, and even though the red flowers are known for attracting these birds. They don't make distinctions on the color of their choice. They're frequently seen attracted by the purple, white, orange, blue, pink, and white blooms, too! Here are a few of the most popular species that are known to attract hummingbirds.

Perennials:

• Bee Balm
• Butterfly bush (also attracts butterflies)
• Columbine
• Daylily
• Iris
• Lupine
• Scarlet Sage (grown as annual in cooler climates)
• Scarlet Trumpet Honeysuckle

Biennials:

• Foxglove
• Hollyhock
• Impatiens (Impatient Lucy)
• Larkspur
• Petunia

Annuals:

• Cleome
• Fuchsia (grown as a perennial in certain zones)

Flowers for Butterflies

If you're hoping to transform your garden to turn into an oasis for butterflies, then you're in the right place! The two species are very similar in terms of their preference for plants. They both enjoy nectar-bearing vibrantly colored red, yellow, orange, pink, and purple tubes of flowers (although butterflies prefer shorter flower tubes). However, to keep butterflies in your garden all year long, you must be prepared to provide food for their offspring! This is why you should incorporate plants that are able to serve the entire cycle of a butterfly's journey, which includes a location where they can lay eggs as well as food sources for the larvae (caterpillars) and locations to make chrysalides as well as nectar-producing sources for adult butterflies. Be sure to choose species native to your region because butterflies, as well as their native counterparts, have co-evolved throughout time and depend on one for pollination and to sustain their lives. Here are some of the top plants that attract butterflies and provide food for their offspring!

Flowers That Attract Butterflies:

• Alyssum
• Aster
• Bee Balm
• Butterfly Bush
• Calendula
• Cosmos
• Lupine
• Scarlet Sage (grown as annual in cooler climates)
• Dianthus
• Fennel
• Globe Thistle
• Goldenrod
• Hollyhock
• Lavender
• Liatris
• Marigold

Plants That Attract Butterfly Larvae (Caterpillars):

• Borage
• Fennel
• Grasses
• Hollyhocks 
• Lupine