Native Virginia Plants for a Butterfly Garden

Purple Coneflower

• Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is an herbaceous perennial that blooms each spring in yards and fields across its native Virginia. The purple petals droop gracefully from a spiny-looking brown center atop stems that reach 2 to 5 feet in height. These flowers begin blooming in April and last until September. The nectar of this plant attracts butterflies such as the swallowtail, great spangled fritillary, red-spotted admiral and painted lady.

Swamp Milkweed

• Swamp milkweed grows 2 to 4 feet tall and blooms from June to October with a head of fragrant blooms made up of many small, deep pink flowers. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) is used as a food source for the Monarch caterpillar and the females lay their eggs one at a time under the leaves of the milkweed plant. This native Virginia plant is also a food source and host for caterpillars of the Queen butterfly.

Arrow-wood

• Arrow-wood (Viburnum acerifolium L.) is also known as Mapleleaf. This native Virginia shrub is made up of dense branches which serve as a good shelter for birds and small mammals. This shrub grows 4 to 6 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. It blooms in the spring with clusters of tiny white, spiky flowers. In the fall, red berries appear that turn a blue-black color and the leaves turn from green to shades of pink for a colorful display in the butterfly garden. The Spring Azure butterfly is attracted to this shrub to lay its eggs, where they are protected by the dense foliage.

Purple Passion Flower

• The purple passion flower (Passiflora incarnata), also known as the purple passion vine and Maypop flower, is an herbaceous vine that can climb trees and shrubs or grow as groundcover in the garden. It can be up to 25 feet long and blooms from April to September with vibrant purple flowers that have thin, wavy blue-purple fringe surrounding the center above the petals. The purple passion flower vine is where the Gulf fritillary, variegated fritillary, banded and red-banded hairstreak butterflies lay their eggs. This native Virginia plant is a must-have in a butterfly garden.