I cannot get over all the butterflies at the nursery. They are everywhere. Literally.
It is wonderful! I don’t know if it is due to the mild winter we had, the recent rains, a combination of the two, or what, all I know is it has been amazing. There are several varieties of butterflies all over the nursery, more it seems than in previous years. They have been all over everything. If you are trying to attract butterflies to your garden and or landscape, the easiest way to achieve this would be to plant perennials.
I get asked all the time, “What do they like the most? What do they gravitate towards?”, and it is just hard to say. Blooms is the basic answer.
The photo above shows three different types of butterflies on the Tropical Milkweed also known as the Tropical Butterfly Weed.
I took several photos the past few days and am posting a photo of some I have seen lately- some I know the names of some I do not. The photo above is a Skipper Butterfly on the Mexican Mint Marigold. This is a great plant if you have not heard of it, and it has a licorice fragrance!
Planting perennials is a wonderful way to attract butterflies and bees and who doesn’t love the butterflies and the bees?
Lantana is another butterfly magnet. There are several types and varieties and colors of the Lantana- all prolific bloomers. I have yet to seen one that does not attract the butterflies. There are several Texas natives as well as adapted varieties and all equally as popular. Not sure what that little white butterfly shown in the photo is, but he is really pretty.
The ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia is an old standby for attracting bees and butterflies. The ‘Mystic Spires’ has stunning beautiful blue spires that bloom spring through fall. This is the White-striped Longtail Butterfly- they have been literally everywhere. I do not remember seeing these before in previous years; they look like zebras!
Who doesn’t love the Monarchs?
Monarchs are the most popular of all the butterflies, I think. The ‘Pink Flamingo’ Celosia are covered in the butterflies. A lady had some in her cart the other day and we counted 24 butterflies on her two plants. 24!
The little skipper butterflies are so cute. They are everywhere as well. Shown here on the white Salvia coccinea, they seem to bounce around from bloom to bloom.
The Salvia ‘Sallyfun’ are popular with the butterflies as well. I was so excited to get the shot of him in this pose! It has been wonderful lately with all the butterflies and bees. I did not post bee photos in this particular post, but the bees are buzzing along right there next to the butterflies. It is a sight to see!
I had a customer tell me she loves coming to the nursery that she feels it is like an Austin Botanical Garden. What a compliment! If you want to create your own butterfly garden, there are lots of options. There are a variety of plants you can install for any garden or landscape for full shade to full sun and anything in between.
