Don't Plant Butterfly Bushes

AFTER READING one of your columns, I just wanted to mention that Buddleia (butterfly bush) is becoming an invasive plant and should not be planted at all. (Tiger Swallowtail on butterfly bush) There are many other natives that are as attractive to butterflies. I am attaching a list that Sara Tangren gave me that you should feel free to use in your publications:

Native Plants for Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens
(information from Sara Tangren’s Chesapeake Natives nursery catalog, National Wildlife Federation “Gardening for Wildlife” and USFWS “Native Plants for Conservation Landscaping)

Butterfly Plants
Nectar (food source for adult butterflies)
Also host (food source for larval butterflies or caterpillars)
NOTE: Do not plant butterfly bush (Buddleia spp.), this shrub is non-native and becoming invasive.
 
Herbaceous Plants
Bee balm (Monarda didyma) – nectar for tiger swallowtail
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida) – nectar
Blazing star (Liatris spicata) – nectar
Blue wood sedge (Carex glaucodea) – many species of butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves
Blue toadflax (Linaria canadensis) – host for buckeye, nectar for early season
Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) – host for monarchs, nectar for many species *
Butterfly pea (Clitoria mariana) -- nectar
Common blue violet (Viola papillonacea) – host for fritillaries, nectar for early season
Dogbane (Apocynum spp.) -- host
Fall phlox (Phlox paniculata) – nectar for black swallowtail
False nettle (Boehmeria spp.) – host for red admiral
Frost aster (Aster dumosus) – nectar for late migrating butterflies
Goldenrods (Solidago spp.) – nectar for clouded sulphurs
Hyssop thoroughwort (Eupatorium hyssopifolium) – nectar for many species *
Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum) -- nectar
Narrow leaf mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) – nectar for many species *
New England aster (Symphiotrichum novae-angliae) – nectar for many species
New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) – nectar for many species
Panicled aster (Symphiotrichum lanceolata) – nectar for late season
Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) – host for American painted lady
Pink fuzzy bean (Strophostyles umbellata) – nectar and host
Purple-top grass (Tridens flavus) – host for common wood nymph
Shaggy blazingstar (Liatris pilosa) – nectar
Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) – host for monarchs, nectar for fritillaries
Tick trefoil (Desmodium spp.) – host
Violet lespedeza (Lespedeza violacea) – host for small butterflies
Whorled coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) – nectar for many species *
Woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus) – host for checkerspots

Shrubs
Allegheny blackberry (Rhus allegheniensis) – nectar (flowers) and juice from berries
Blueberries (Vaccinum corymbosum and Vaccinum pallidum) -- nectar
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) – nectar
Devil’s Walking Stick (Aralia spinosa) – nectar (flowers) and juice from berries
New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) – nectar
Pinxterbloom azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides) – nectar
Staghnorn sumac (Rhus hirta) -- nectar
Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) – nectar for hairstreaks
Viburnums (arrowwood, maple-leaved, witherod, possum-haw, black haw) (Viburnum spp.) – nectar

Trees
Many trees are host plants: elms, wild cherries, wild plums, hackberries, locusts, viburnums, tulip poplars, ashes, birches, willows, aspens, pawpaws, oaks, walnuts
Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) – nectar
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) – host for zebra swallowtail
Trees provide tree sap and overripe fruit for adult butterflies

Hummingbird Plants (Hummingbirds are attracted to red colors.)
Bee balm (Monarda didyma)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)
Trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans)
Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

For more information, contact Chesapeake Bay Foundation at:
www.cbf.org/landscaping

Marcy Damon
Grassroots Restoration Coordinator
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Annapolis, MD

Comments

[Jack Lewnes]

Hi, Marcy!

Concerning Butterfly Bush, I have never seen any evidence of it being invasive. (Which, of course, doesn't mean that it isn't!) We have had several of them in the BF garden at the nature center for many years and they show no signs of spreading. I'd be interested to hear what folks have to say about their experiences with Butterfly Bush. One thing is certainly true...it does what it's name says it does!

[Lisa]

Hi Marcy and Jack,
I have been using Buddleia in Florida for 10 years and haven't noticed it being at all invasive. It could very well depend on the region, just as many of the plants listed won't make it in this climate. And at least one, campsis radicans, is considered invasive by some here.

[JanetT]

I haven't noticed invasiveness either here in northern California.

[Tom Patrick]

I've had 10 butterfly bushes for more than seven years and so far they haven't been invasive even though the Maryland Native Plant Society says they are on their invasive list. I prune them back every year and they are healthy shrubs. The butterflies and bees love them.

[marcy terry]

Don't Plant Butterfly Bushes I think verry wrong
I will always plant then I live in zone 8 there is no way that they are an invasive plant. In My zone they can Like there spot and grow big or they can get to wet and rot but they can over winter as a semi - evergreen sure do bloom a lot and need to be cut back to keep them going in bloom`s all season. Most invasive plant put out runner roots to take over Butterfly Bushes have one main root system so for all that think that they are not to be planted I`m one that will always ways plant them in my Garden .