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Butterfly Gardening in the Ozarks with Wildflowers

© Naomi Mathews

Early fall is a great time to begin planning next year's butterfly garden. Whether starting your garden from scratch, or adding a few special wildflowers to attract your favorite butterflies, you can begin to plan now. You won't even have to go outside in the cold to visit the gorgeous Missouri Botanical Gardens. Once you enter this flowering wonderland, you will see many outstanding Plants in Bloom that you may wish to consider planting in your garden. Finally, you will arrive at The Shaw Arboretum, a breathtakingly beautiful place.

After your virtual garden tour through all of those Gardens of Eden, you will surely be brimming with ideas for your butterfly garden, and wishing that spring was already here!

Are you ready to start planning? All right!

First, keep in mind the feeding habitats of your favorite butterflies and try to plan your garden to please them. Some butterflies prefer taller flowers, while others remain close to the ground in their search for nectar. Also, consider the blooming period of each flower to make sure there is a nectar supply for butterflies during the entire season.

Let's begin with a lovely array of perennials created by God's own hand especially for the Ozarks! Perennials will add color to your garden for many years with little care. There are about 20 species of butterflies that can be attracted to gardens in the Ozarks with native wildflowers. Therefore, there are many plants for the gardener to choose from.

A wonderful native perennial, the New England aster, (Aster novae-angliae) is one of the showiest of native asters in the Ozarks. This lovely aster is also well suited for borders. It usually blooms from August through October, and does very well in a sunny location with light shade. The blooms of the New England aster will attract many migrating Monarch butterflies in late fall, before they head south for the winter. This beautiful aster is a must for every butterfly garden!

Cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis), also native to the Ozarks, are an excellent butterfly attractant, and literally a magnet for hummingbirds. Brilliant plumes of the cardinal flowers will last from July through October. They prefer moist soil, so will likely need more water during dry periods. Cardinal flowers can grow to 3 feet tall, so be sure to design your garden with this flower behind your smaller plants.

Purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) also grow profusely throughout most of Missouri. They provide a very good nectar source for many varieties of butterflies, and bloom from May through October. This species is the most widely grown by home gardeners, and has very showy flower heads. Coneflowers prefer light shade to full sun with average moisture. Use this flower as a tall border, perhaps behind a lower border of impatiens or phlox.