Nectar Sources

Tips on Nectar-bearing Plants

To have butterflies in your garden all season, you need to provide a variety of nectar bearing plants so you will always have an available food source for them. These same flowers are often used by hummingbirds & other nectar loving critters such as bumblebees, sphinx moths, honeybees, tiny wasps & myriads of other critters .

Our listings of nectar-bearing plants indicate their bloom season: early/mid/late, or a combination.

It is very difficult to know what month plants will bloom in other zones. Here we are in zone 7 and we have an extended gardening period so I've tried to give you an idea by the time of season to expect bloom. If you plant something in the spring, and it blooms that year, that is not necessarily the normal time of blooming. The second year it blooms should be correct.

Nectar-bearing Plants

Alphabetical by Botanical Name

Botanical Name	Common Name	Bloom Season
Agastache neptoides	Giant yellow hyssop	mid season
Agastache foeniculum	Anise hyssop	late spring
Allium cernuum	Nodding onion	mid season to late
Allium stellatum	Prairie onion	mid season to late
Amsonia ciliata	Blue Star	early
Amsonia illustris	Blue Star	early
Amsonia tabernaemontana	Willow leaf blue star	early
Asclepias exaltata	Poke milkweed	mid season
Asclepias speciosa	showy milkweed	mid season
Asclepias sullivantii	Sullivan's milkweed	mid season
Asclepias syricia	Common miIkweed	mid season
Asclepias tuberosa	Butterfly Weed	mid season
Aster drummondii	Drummond's aster	late
Aster grandiflorus	Large flowered aster	late
Aster oblongifolius	Fragrant aster	late
Aster paladosus	prairie aster	late
Aster pilosus	aster	late
Aster ptarmicoides	Showy aster	late
Aster prealtus	Willow leaf aster	late
Aster puniceus v. firmus	Bog aster	late
Aster simplex	aster	late
Aster urophyllus	aster	late
Baptisia sp	indigo	early to mid-season
Desmanthus illinoisensis	Bundleflower	mid-season
Echinacea sp	Coneflower	mid-season
Eupatorium altissima	Tall thoroughwort	Mid to late season
Gaura sp	Whirling butterflies	mid-season
Helianthus angustifolius	narrowleaf sunflower	late season
Helianthus grosseserratus	Sawtooth sunflower	late season
Helianthus maximilliana	Helianthus maximilliana	late season
Helianthus mollis	Ashy sunflower	mid season
Hibiscus coccienus	Texas star	mid to late season
Hibiscus laevis	hibiscus	mid season
Hibiscus lasiocarpus	hibiscus	mid season
Iris brevicaulis	Zig zag iris	early to mid season
Iris fulva	copper iris	early to mid season
Iris prismatica	cubeseed iris	mid season
Liatris aspera	Roughblazing star	late season
Liatris spicata	Gayfeather	mid to late season
Liatris squarrosa	Blazing star	late season
Lobelia cardinalis	Cardinal flower	mid to late season
Lobelia silphitica	Blue lobelia	mid to late season
Monarda menthafolia	Bee balm	mid-season
Oenothera macrocarpa	Missouri primrose	mid season
Opuntia humifusa	prickly pear cactus	mid to late season
Parthenium integrifolium	wild quinine	early to mid season
penstemon digitalis	white beardtongue	early/td>
Penstemon murrayanous	red flowered beardtongue	mid season
penstemon pallidus	pale beardtongue	early
penstemon smallii	Small's beardtongue	mid season
penstemon tenuis	Guif coast penstemon	early to mid-season
penstemon tubaeflorus	penstemon	early to mid-season
Pontedaria cordata	Pickerel weed	mid season to late
Pycnanthemum albescens	Mountain mint	mid season to late
Pycnanthemum pilosum	Mountain mint	mid season to late
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium	Narrowleaf Mountain	mid season to late
Pycnanthemum virginica	Mountain Mint	mid season to late
Ratibida pinnata	Grey headed coneflower	mid-season
Ratibida columnifera	Prairie coneflower	mid-season
Rudbeckia fulgia	Black eyed susan	early, mid & late
Rudbeckia grandiflora	Blackeyed susan	mid to late season
Rudbeckia maxima	Giant coneflower	early to mid season
Rudbeckia missouriensis	Missouri blackeyed susan	mid season
Rudbeckia occidentalis	Blackeyed susan	mid to late season
Rudbeckia subtomentosa	Sweet Blackeyed Susan	mid season
Rudbeckici triloba	Brown eyed susan	mid season
Ruellia caroliniensis	wild petunia	mid to late season
Ruellia caroliniensis	wild petunia	mid to late season
Sagittaria lancifolia	Duck potato	mid season to late
Sagittaria latifolia	Duck potato	mid season to late
Salvia azurea	Wild blue sage	mid season to late
Salvia farinacea	Mealy cup sage	mid season to late
Salvia greggii	texas sage	early to late
Salvia penstemonoides	Big Red Sage	mid to late
Saururus cernuus	Lizard tail	mid season
senecio aureus	Golden ragwort	early
Senecio longilobus	Threadleaf groundsel	mid to late season
Silphium perfoliatum	Cup plant	mid to late season
Sium suave	Water parsnip	mid to late season
Solidago sp.	Goldenrods	mid to late season
Tephrosia virginianum	Goat's Rue	early to mid season
Teucrium canadense	wiId germander	early to mid season
Thalia dealbata	Powdery thalia	mid to late season
Thermopsis carolianiana	Carolina bush pea	mid season
Tradescantia sp	Spiderworts	early to mid
Vernonia sp	Ironweeds	mid to late
Veronicastrum virginicum	Culver's root	mid season


	....helping restore the earth