I know it seems simple but you did post to a group that is a bit crazy about butterfly gardening. We use our whole yards to plant things to draw them in. So, asking us what we would plant in a small space is like asking us to choose which butterfly we want, when the answer is "all of them" :). What is your main goal for this space? To draw in butterflies? To have them lay eggs? To be pretty? Those things are not always compatible in one small butterfly garden. Do you mind obscuring the view behind it? Many of the plants we use are tall. Do you want annuals or perennials. My vote for a container garden like that would be for an easy annual garden that you can replant each year. It would be primarily a nectar garden that would not obscure your view. You would not have to worry about zone hardiness also. Zinnias are always a winner and you can find some smaller varieties. Another way to go would be lantanas. They would look pretty draping over the side of the container. Maybe some 12 - 16 inch zinnias in the center and some lantana along the edges. Lantana can get really big. Maybe a third or fourth plant for texture. Perhaps some salvias. Think of it as a large pot or hanging basket.
Have fun!
Elisabeth

Yep I agree, Annuals....an Oblisk in the middle for some height with a Dutchmans pipe, then fill the bottom with lantana, trailing and regular. Zinnia and Pentas if you can get them there for mid height......Butterflies do love pentas, especially red, But bright yellow lantana, and pink pentas with bright hot pink zinnias fit your call..... now except for the Pipevine, mainly a necter source garden, though the pentas will bring in Hawk moths also.....but you have milkweed in the field for host plants, so it should be pretty to look work.

Elisabeth - I know it isn't simple. Which is one reason why I still have an empty planter sitting there. Since we have the milkweed growing there, this spring I noticed a bunch of monarch caterpillars on the plants. Which inspired me to make this planter a butterfly thing.

I like the idea of the nectar garden. I actually did buy some lantana this past week and planted it in the planter. I'll see if I can find some healthy looking zinnia and penta and salvia at the greenhouse this week.

akaj9 - doesn't Dutchmans Pipe get HUGE? If it's the same plant I think it is, my parents had one that totally covered the side of their screen porch. It must have been 10' high and 20' wide.

I'd like something with height in the middle. I don't care about the view - there really isn't any view to block.

I love that spot Pixie lou! I am green with envy over your pond and the sun you have there. That planter is small and if it were me, I'd have large sweeps of butterfly (and hummer) plants surrounding the pond and a garden taking up much more of the grass. I can just see swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) loving the edge of that pond, and other wetland plants like Buttonbush. Intermixed with native grasses (host plants for skippers) and to provide habitat for the water critters. Maybe just a path going down to the pond. A girl can dream, lol (sitting on my dry upland lot).

If you want to stay in the planter, you need to be choosy. The premier nectar plants in my gardens are Buddleia, Echinacea, and the tall Zinnias. For host plants, I grow a lot of milkweeds, herbs and Zizia for the Black Swallowtails, violets, and grasses (thus far). There are also Poplar and Black Cherry trees growing in the yard, so I see Tiger Swallowtails pretty often.

Pipevine was traditionally used to screen front porches. Do your parents live in New England too? There are only 2 species of Pipevine that I'm aware would be hardy here, Aristolochia tomentosa, and A. macrophylla. I start A. tomentosa from seed, and it has survived in pots for 3 years! However, from what I've read, it is rare for the Pipevine Swallowtail to be resident in New England.

Glad you understand! I think butterfly gardening may be the best and worst for mental health :). It is so restful to sit and watch butterflies. However, it is overwhelming when looking at what to plant. So, I have sort of a shotgun approach. Grab a bunch of plants that have been recommended and see what works for my area. What works in Michigan may not work for my alkaline Ohio soils. What works across the street may not work for my microclimate. It can drive you crazy or it can be fun if you like a challenge!

Anyhow, yes, pipevine can get huge! There is a third pipevine A. serpentaria that is not as big but it is more of a woodland shade species. Whether you could get it to grow there is a maybe. I would stick to annuals. Then you have the joy of trying new things every year.

Good luck,
Elisabeth

Maybe next to the circle you could dig up a little area to put in a butterfly bush. In the circle itself, I think Lantana is beautiful, for some greenery and to make it smell wonderful what about some verbena? Another idea would be to pick one perrenial and let it fill itself in, such as blanket flower (hearty to zone 5). Good luck!

I agree with the others about the area being small and it's hard to narrow it down to just a few plants when you're asking a bunch of butterfly freaks. :-D I think a lot of us try to attract as many different kinds of butterflies as we can, which means needing lots of different kinds of plants. I like to plant both host and nectar plants, and I think it's the best way to attract butterflies to your garden. The best nectar plants here are butterfly bush (although either one of my two put in that spot would probably hog the whole space, so I guess nix that idea or else get a real small one if there is such a thing), purple coneflower (which is also a host plant for Silvery Checkerspots), and Verbena bonariensis. Also well loved are zinnias, tithonia, and tropical milkweed. If it were me doing the garden and if I'd want a tithonia, that would definitely be the plant in the middle, as it gets 6-7 feet tall. Tropical milkweed would definitely be one of my choices because of the milkweeds I've tried here (swamp, tropical, purple, common, and butterfly weed), the Monarchs have laid their eggs on the tropical the most. The leaves are more tender than those of the other kinds, which is I suspect why they prefer that one. The other types of milkweed that I've tried bloom a certain period of time in the summer and then are done, whereas the tropical milkweed blooms all summer up until the first frost.

I guess your choice of plants depends on what kinds of butterflies you want to attract; with a smaller garden, you're somewhat limited. I have multiple gardens, which are all big, so it's hard for me to narrow it down to just a few kinds of plants for you. I'm suggesting some, but then you'll have to decide what you want to have there. Since you're in zone 5, I think dill and fennel would do well there and they're host plants for the Black Swallowtail. I'd suggest rue but think it's only hardy to zone 6, so those two BST plants that I mentioned would be good and/or parsley. If the BSTs don't show up, then you'll have parsley for the kitchen. :)

I'd recommend that you get familiar with what types of butterflies you could conceivably attract in your area. The BAMONA website would tell you what kinds have already been reported in your county. I don't know where you live, so I'll post a link to that website with the info for my page, and then you can change it to your state and county on that page. Snyder Co., PA butterflies

You can also check on the BAMONA website for the host plants of individual species of butterflies, and you might want to check out the GW butterfly forum's FAQ to see what host plants members from here have personally seen the butterflies laying eggs on and/or seen the cats eating.

Good luck with the garden. Probably the best thing I can suggest is to get hubby to dig up some more of the yard. ;-) I do like that cute little site that you already have.

Cathy

To the right of the pond, hubby is in the process of putting in a patio/fire pit area. But it will be far enough away that it won't disturb the milkweed and daisies and stuff. Further to the right is my shade garden, so really no opportunity to add butterfly plants there.

Behind the pond, we are almost finished clearing - it was overrun with oriental bittersweet, multiflora rose and poison ivy. I'm thinking of putting a tiny orchard back there - 6 or 7 trees, put in a pathway, and fill the rest with perennials to create a meadow feel. I could put some butterfly bush back there, and as I pick flowers for back there, I will definitely give consideration to nectar plants. It's a pretty big area - the pond itself is 100' wide. Unfortuneately the back property line is lined with white pine trees which the conservation commission in town will not let us remove.

We do get quite a few butterfies in the yard already, but they are scattered every where. My hopes was that this little planter, I have easy access to it in my backyard, so I was hoping I could get lots of butterflies hanging out in one spot.

Cathy - I like your tithonia idea. It is already on my list of plants to get. So maybe I could put that in the center, pick another perennial or 2 for the sides - maybe some echinacea or bee balm? I'd have to see how the colors match. And then fill in with annuals?

I also have limited space (a 4' x 6' area, and small beds along my patio) and also love bright colors. I've had really good luck with zinnia, and just love the color on them. I also have a small butterfly bush in a pot, 2 small lantana (which will have to be relocated for next year as I didn't realize they they are actually shrubs!), echinacea that's not doing well, lavender, butterfly weed, marigold (to keep pests away), and a couple plants here and there that I just thought were pretty. I've had some nice activity in the last 2 weeks just with this small area. It can be done!

Here's the bright pink zinnia, it came either in the pack of "candy cane mix" seeds, or with another untagged light pink variety. I'm going to let it go to seed at the end of the season and hope for the best next year!

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Good luck!
-Sandy

Love the pink on that one Sandy, it is pretty. Hope you get lots of them next season for your butterflies! :)