Havens for Butterflies and Hummingbirds

Plants to Lure Butterflies

The sipping tastes of butterflies are more wide-ranging than those of hummingbirds. Their favorites, though, are daisy-type blooms and any plant with small flowers arranged in clusters or spikes. Butterflies love all colors, but purple tops the list.

• Blanket flower, annual (Gaillardia pulchella)
• Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• Common heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens)
• Cosmos
• Dahlia
• Four o'clock (Mirabilis jalapa)
• Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
• Pink (Dianthus)
• Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima)

Plants to Lure Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds favor flowers that are tublar in shape, with blossoms arranged around stems so that tubes point outward, and without leaves or branches to get in the way of their whirring wings. Red and orange colors draw these tiny birds like magnets; however, they are also fond of blue flowers.

• Canna
• Coral bells (Heuchera)
• Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit)
• Daylily (Hemerocallis) • Fuchsia
• Lily (Lilium)
• Lobelia (Lobelia erinus)
• Parrot's beak (Lotus berthelotii)
• Petunia X hybrida
• Sage (Salvia)

For more garden ideas, purchase Container Gardening from Sunset Books.