Gardens are more than lush leaves and colorful flowers – they are havens for little animals, like butterflies, bees and birds… And you should attract as many as you can to your land, because they are good to pollinate plants and because they keep you cheerful with their flapping wings, colors and chirping.
A garden is a living thing! And if you pick varieties that attract both you “feed two birds with one flower”. Ok, that came so wrong…
Turn your garden into a favorite destination of birds and butterflies by growing plants they like, they feed on, and they grace with their beautiful presence. I have 20 varieties for you – do you wish to see them?
1: Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)
I had to start with butterfly bush, as its very name tells us that it is a favorite with fluttering butterflies, and, famously, it is also important for the monarch during its journeys across the Americas. Its nectar-rich, purple, pink, white or red flowers packed in dense and long clusters (panicles), are like restaurants for winged insects from summer to fall – and wonderful to look at for us. But did you know that once the floral display of Buddleja davidii is over, it is the turn of little birds? Yes, they will visit your garden to feed on its seeds!
Cold hardy to USDA zone 5, easy to grow and very generous with its blooms, butterfly bush is one of your best choices to attract its namesake insect and flapping little birds.
2: Lantana (Lantana camara)
Lantana is one of the most impressive shrubs I have ever seen in my life. Forming round mounds of very dense, evergreen rich green foliage, it gives shelter to many little animals inside… But you can hardly see the leaves most of the time, because it covers in round clusters of many tiny flowers (tubular in shape) and often of different colors within each umbel. The palette ranges from white, to yellow, orange, red and pink – of course butterflies will see them from afar! The fact is that it blooms for… ever, really, in mild climates at least from spring to frost, in warmer ones, all year round!
And, because it also produces little berries, little birds will find sweet food for them as well. It is not cold hardy (USDA zone 8 and above) but there are varieties in different sizes from 1 foot tall and wide (30 cm) to about 6 (1.8 meters). So, if you live in a hot country and you want lots of winged friends to your garden all year round, you know which plant to choose.
3: Milkweed (Asclepias spp.)
It’s called milkweed but it has nothing to do with cows – but a lot with pollinators of all sorts. In fact, it produces many round clusters of star shaped, orange, pink or white flowers they can feed on all through the summer months, and it is actually essential for monarch caterpillars and the preservation of this extraordinary species. Come fall, this perennial will also produce seed pods – and you know what many birds are like; they just can’t resist them!
There are very cold hardy varieties of milkweed as well, down to USDA zone 3, so, it will suit gardens even in Canada and still attract birds and butterflies, as there are different sizes, growing to 2 to 5 feet tall (60 to 150 cm).
4: Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Arguably one of the best annuals to grow in your garden to attract both butterflies and birds is the massive sunflower. Each head (“capitulum” for botanists) is so big that both winged visitors can see it from afar (a massive 32.25 inches is the world record, or 82 cm!) On top of that, they put them so high in the sky (up to 12 feet, or 3.6 meters) to show them off even better. Finally, they lure hungry visitors with the ray flowers in super bright shades, usually of yellow, orange and red, but there are pinks and whites in its palette too.
Of course, butterflies will flock to your garden for sunflowers’ abundant nectar – so, no competition there. But birds will come for their nutritious seeds – so, leave some on the head and don’t eat them all yourself!
5: Bee Balm (Monarda didyma)
Ironically, bee balm is better for butterflies than actual bees. The reason is that it forms round clusters of long, tubular flowers in red, pink or purple, which are perfect for their proboscis (that’s how a butterfly “tongue” is called, which can reach very deep inside. This is in summer, when it is in bloom, but then, this perennial will produce seeds, so, come fall, small birds will come to feast on this bounty, especially sparrows and finches.
Cold hardy to zone 4, easy to grow and bushy, bee balm has something for everybody, including you and your family. Even the lush rich green foliage has some extra value for your garden’s overall effect – it is really highly aromatic!
6: Aster (Aster spp.)
Aster is one of the easiest flowering perennials to grow, and it will keep you company till late in the season. In fact, its daisy-like flowers in white, pink, blue or purple will bloom in fall – great to keep your garden colorful. But thinking about our winged friends, it is even more important for them… Yes, because it will provide late season, nectar sweet meals for butterflies, and an even later food supply of seeds to passing birds. They do need it to face a cold winter…
Super cold hardy (to USDA zone 3 for some varieties) and growing to 1 to 3 feet tall (30 to 60 cm); asters are essential for birds and butterflies in fall, and great assets in both flower beds and borders for your garden.
7: Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
How about having a striking and vigorous flowering climber to attract winged creatures to a green wall of food? Coral honeysuckle has this sweet name for a reason… Its long, tubular flowers in red, orange and yellow shades are packed with nectar. And at this stage, in late spring and summer, you will see lots of butterflies feasting on these blooms, but you will also get the first birds – tiny ones with a long bill. Yes, hummingbirds! Later on, this vine will produce berries, and your garden will become a “tourist destination” for other species, especially thrushes and robins.
Do leave the berries on the honeysuckle vine, because they will provide food for birds till very late in the season, when it is scarce.
8: Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)
How could pollinators ever miss goldenrod growing in your garden? With its massive plumes of small yellow flowers, rising up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) into the air, waving in the wind and beckoning butterflies, even your neighbors will see it quite well! This impressive floral display will start in late summer and it will continue into fall, and light up your yard with energy and winged visitors. But even more will come, once it goes to seed – because little chirping birds find them quite delicious and nutritious.
Goldenrod is super cold hardy as well (to USDA zone 3), and ideal for a natural looking border or a naturalized area – in any case, it is very easy to grow.
9: Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Cardinal flower will fill your garden with rich green foliage till about July, when long stems will rise and open its fiery red flowers, with three bigger petals at the bottom and smaller ones on the sides and top, that make them look like scarlet flying doves. This display will attract butterflies to your garden, because they know that what we see is not the full story… The blooms have a long tubular base, and at the very bottom of it, they are rich in nectar. Lobelia cardinalis will not attract finches or blackbirds to your yard, but, if there are any hummingbirds around, they literally go crazy for it!
Another very cold hardy perennial (to USDA zone 3), ideal for traditional and natural looking gardens, cardinal flower can spark up a herbaceous border with its super red flowers and lots of flapping wings.
10: Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
If you have lots of space, and you want a fast-growing shrub to attract all sorts of little animals to your garden, then elderberry is perfect! Its super lush foliage protects little beings (like hedgehogs), and its massive clusters of white flowers are a powerful magnet for butterflies in early summer – I have never seen these blooms without dozens of winged pollinators flying around in my life. Then, by August, the berries will start to ripen, and they are super sweet and delicious, for us, and for many birds too, especially robins and waxwings. They will persist on the branches for months if you don’t harvest them all.
Ideal for a naturalized area, elderberry is very cold hardy (to USDA zone 3), and vigorous – as it grows to 12 feet tall and in spread (3.6 meters), it is not for small gardens, and you may have to cut it back a lot to keep it in size. But do it in late winter or spring, so you don’t close the “bird restaurant” down.
11: Hardy Hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos)
Do you want to have massive, exotic looking flowers in your garden all the way from July to September? Plant hardy hibiscus then! The round blooms in white, pink, orange and red can be 8 inches across (20 cm), though I have seen new cultivars that are even bigger up to an impressive 12 inches or so (30 cm)! Of course, butterflies and other pollinators will see them from a long distance, also because these massive blooms grow on a plant that can reach 7 feet into the air (2.1 meters – depending on the variety though). Then, when the seeds come, little birds will come to feed as well, even if the blossoms are spent.
You can grow hibiscus as a shrub, and this species is hardy to USDA zone 5, ideal for tropical flowers in cold regions. However, most people like to train it into a small tree, which also suits more formal garden styles.
12: Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans)
I love trumpet vine, even if I have no wings! Its foliage, lush, rich green and pinnate is amazingly elegant, and it can cover whole walls and gates, because it can climb to 40 feet tall (12 meters)! Don’t worry, though, you can prune it back quite easily. But of course, butterflies don’t care about the foliage, but they do love the nectar at the bottom of its orange, yellow, red and pinkish funnel shaped flowers, which can be 3.5 inches long (9.0 cm)! And they will come from June to September… By now you also know that long, tubular blooms also attract a very special little bird – the hummingbird!
While it looks very exotic, trumpet vine is actually very cold hardy, to USDA zone 4, in fact – ideal for winged visitors but also for a tropical atmosphere, even in cold regions.
13: Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
I think beautyberry is a very original, even strange shrub. The foliage looks “normal” enough, deciduous, elliptical, bright green. However, come late spring it produces clusters of little pink flowers in a strange place – at the base of the leaves! And this will be butterfly feeding time in your garden… They will persist for a long time, into mid summer, and then… They will turn into berries, of a very glossy, round and purplish to bluish – a very unusual shade indeed. As they start to ripen in September, they will draw lots of birds to your garden because they like their flavor.
You can actually eat the berries of beautyberry yourself, but they lack flavor to us, so, they are fine for jellies – I’d leave them on for birds instead, as this fairly cold hardy shrub (to USDA zone 6) is a major source of food for them late in the season.
14: Marigold (Tagetes spp.)
Marigolds are a gardener’s best friend – these small annuals are easy to grow, they keep pests away, they grace your garden and veggie patch with their finely cut, dark green foliage and they bloom continuously and profusely from late spring to frost! So, their orange, yellow and red flowers will provide constant food for butterflies throughout the season. But did you know that when they go to seed, they will also invite little bids, especially sparrows, to the dinner table?
I would actually suggest that you deadhead marigolds till fall, then you let them go to seed; you will get birds and they will self-seed as well. Moreover, if you really want lots of butterflies and pollinators, single-flowered varieties are better than double ones.
15: Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.)
It’s breakfast time for butterflies! Yes, because serviceberry usually blooms in early to mid-spring, often from late March to early May. So, if you want to start feeding winged visitors at the beginning of the season, you should plant one. The white flowers literally fill the branches during this time, and then they turn into juicy berries, and by July or August, lots of birds will come to feast, especially thrushes and robins. They are quite tasty for us too, so don’t eat them all, as they will persist into late in the season to feed your fluttering friends.
Serviceberry is a very decorative shrub you can also train into a tree. Cold hardy to USDA zone 4, it can be 10 to 20 feet in height and spread, depending on the variety, so you can have it in a small garden as well.
16: Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Don’t you love the fragrance of phlox? And so do butterflies! If you grow this small herbaceous perennial in your garden, you’ll have the best of two worlds, when it blooms from mid summer to early fall with those amazing clusters of small flowers in white, pink, red and purple. However, if you also want this small beauty to attract birds later on in the season, you should not deadhead the spent blossoms, because it is the seeds that they are after.
Phlox is cold hardy to USDA zone 4, ideal for all sorts of gardens, as it is small, easy to grow, generous to you, pollinators and birds. You can grow it in beds, low borders (or fronts) and even containers. What’s more, the seeds are very cheap indeed!
17: Hollyhock (Alcea rosea)
A classic of traditional and cottage gardens, hollyhock is like a “skyscraper of restaurants” for butterflies! In fact, it can quickly grow to up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) before it opens its buds. Come early summer, it will open its round blooms in blue, pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and even black! They are also quite glossy, as if to tell pollinators, “I’m here, come and have lunch!” And, being up to 4 inches across (10 cm), they are difficult to miss. Leave the spent blossoms on when they fade in fall, and you will also get butterflies fluttering around this tall beauty.
Cold hardy to USDA zone 4, hollyhock also has double-flowered varieties. However, single ones are far better for pollinators, as they can reach the pollen more easily.
18: Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
Of course blazing star will attract lots of butterflies and other pollinators to your garden in summer, when it’s in bloom… Its long spikes of purple, white or pink flowers can reach 4 feet tall (120 cm) and they keep opening for months providing a bright decorative accent to your garden and a favorite destination for winged visitors. As I promised, all the varieties I have picked for you will also attract birds – in this case, they will come in fall, when these “floral skyscrapers” fill with seeds, and it looks like finches in particular love them.
A plant for a natural looking border or beds, great as a cut flower, blazing start is cold hardy to USDA zone 3 – and it will self-seed if you leave food on for passing birds.
19: Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
Do you want to open a generous restaurant for winged friends in your garden, but you have little time for maintenance? Plant Russian sage then! The silvery and lush foliage of this fast-growing and bushy herbaceous perennial makes it ideal to fill naturalistic borders, or for low hedges. But come mid summer, it will produce lots of long spikes of purple flowers that keep blooming till fall, usually into October and – you guessed, birds love the seeds that follow!
With aromatic leaves, nectar filled blossoms and lots of seeds, Russian sage is one of the best “easy options” to attract birds and butterflies to your garden, even in cold regions, like USDA zone 4.
20: Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
Lovely flowers in white, pink, blue and purple that look like “inviting inglenooks” to pollinators where they can feed safely on nectar will open from late spring into summer if you plant penstemon. Rising to 3 feet tall (90 cm), these blooming spikes are ideal to attract butterflies to a herbaceous border even in dry and cold places (to USDA zone 3 – or grow it as an annual). Like with other varieties we have seen, the seeds will then call chirping birds to keep you company in fall.
Super easy to grow, excellent cut flower and self-seeding, penstemon closes our list of plants that attract both butterflies and birds with its unique, “old world” charm.
Last, But Not Least, a Few Final Tips…
Now you have 20 varieties of annuals, perennials and shrubs to attract both butterflies and birds (as well as other pollinators) to your garden, wherever you live and whatever the size and style of your green haven, I need to give you a few tips, before I leave you…
To start with, also provide some water for birds and pollinators, after a big meal, they are bound to feel thirsty.
Next, try to plant annuals, perennials and small shrubs in groups – they work much better for winged visitors, as they have plenty of blooms, seeds and berries to feed on in one place.
Favor single-headed flowers and local plants – they are more likely to attract native birds and butterflies. Finally, don’t use chemicals, especially pesticides! You don’t want to poison your fluttering dinner guests!
Written By
Amber Noyes
Amber Noyes was born and raised in a suburban California town, San Mateo. She holds a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of California as well as a BS in Biology from the University of San Francisco. With experience working on an organic farm, water conservation research, farmers’ markets, and plant nursery, she understands what makes plants thrive and how we can better understand the connection between microclimate and plant health. When she’s not on the land, Amber loves informing people of new ideas/things related to gardening, especially organic gardening, houseplants, and growing plants in a small space.