Anyone can fill their yard with the vivid colors of delicate butterflies. Native plants are the perfect choice for building a butterfly garden. But don’t go crazy and buy one of everything you see. Make note of your garden’s growing conditions and choose plants that align with them. Here are some of the best butterfly garden plants for shade.
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Shade Garden Butterfly Plants to Grow
Courtesy Mark Lowru
Virginia bluebells are an early spring blooming native plant that thrives in shade gardens.
“Do any types of shade tolerant plants attract butterflies?” asks Birds & Blooms reader Adrianne Long of Frederick, Maryland.
Horticultural expert Melinda Myers says, “You may be surprised to find a variety of native plants that tolerate shade and support butterflies. Always be sure to match the plant to the level of shade in your garden. Here are a few woodland natives to try.
Start the season with Virginia bluebells, mixing them with other perennials to mask the large leaves that die back soon after flowering. Wild geraniums (Geranium maculatum), rose pink to lavender, appear during the cooler months in spring. Woodland phlox, with bluish flowers, appear in late spring. Foam flowers (Tiarella cordifolia) produce spikes of white flowers, and their foliage remains attractive all season long, even evergreen where winters are mild.
Add a spark of color with the red and yellow blooms of Indian pinks, move on to the stately blooms of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) and finish up the season with native turtleheads.”
READ ON: Grow nectar-rich native plants for hummingbirds
About the Expert
Melinda Myers is the official gardening expert for Birds & Blooms. She is a TV/radio host, author and columnist who has written more than 20 gardening books. Melinda earned a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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