I don't know exactly what is in your package, but here are some of the more common annuals that attract butterflies. I'll bet some of them are in your mix.

Alyssum,cosmos,nicotiana,four o'clocks,nasturtium, salvia,zinnia

Nicotiana and salvia will attract humming birds too if they are in the red spectrum

I am suspecting you have an annual mix but I cannot be sure. it's probably loaded with the above mentioned plant seeds and possibly poppies.

If you want a perennial yard that will attract butterflies, plant the following:

Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea) - reseeds

Coreopsis

Bee balm (spreads a bit so be careful)

Butterfly bush (expensive to buy but you can easily grow this from seed)

Rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susans)

Also sprinkle in between: Dill. Surprisingly this herb which can reseed like crazy, attracts the butterfly (I think called the black swallowtail) I was delighted one day when I spotted cute green caterpillars just munching away at the dill. My daughter & I captured one of these things and fed it more dill until it developed into a cocoon and turned into a butterfly. It was quite amazing to see.

Butterfly weed - which is an annual and which you could easily grow from seed.

Thank you so much for your answers. I shall write more later but before I wanted to give you a link with a picture of the seed mix

http://www.mckenzieseeds.com/products.aspx?productID=100780

If you click on the image, it gets bigger and you may have a better look.

Could any of you indentify the flowers ?

Thank you.

Ravel30

I plant some annuals that are always attracting butterflies. I grow sweet william, calendula, cosmos, and basically any of the herbs. 'Siam Queen' basil is gorgeous! Butterflies, as well as bumble bees, love the chives I have. Ianna, my coreopsis self seeds, slowly, but it does and it does attract the black Admiral butterflies in the area. Also any of the sedums work for butterflies. If you put in a butterfly garden, make sure to put in something that butterflies can drink from. Some people use a rock with a shallow depression in it but I use 'Ladies Mantle', a chartreuse leaved plant. In the morning when I water I just sprinkle some water on the leaves and it beads up. I've seen the butterflies drinking from that. Just make sure whatever you use isn't to deep. We also put boulders in the garden. On cool mornings we see butterflies warming their wings by fanning them out on the rocks. Their wings are like small solar panels for them and they collect heat that warms their bodies. Marg

I do have lady's mantles in several areas too. But I think I will add a shallow water basin for the butterflies.

ravel - to answer your question re what kinds of flowers are shown on the seed packet cover:

Coneflowers - pink daisy like flower
Salvias - the tall pink sphires
Correopsis - in the background and another kind in the foreground.
Delphiniums or Larkspurs - sphires several kinds in different colours
Cornflower - blue fringy type flower.

Of the above list, all except cornflowers and larkspurs are annuals. The rest are considered perennials which means that these return year after year. HOwever since these are perennials, they spend the first season growing from seed, and will bloom only in the following year. So unfortunately you will not get blooms from these plants this season.

I would suggest that in the meantime, grow some butterfly attracting annuals, as mentioned by oilpainter and by Marg.

Ianna

First of all, I want to take each and everyone of you for your valuable help. I should have asked this question a lot time ago.

Let me tell you a bit about what I am trying to do. It is one of my dream to create a butterfly, hummingbird and bird friendly yard. Moreover, since I am new to the hobby, I am trying to learn as many things as possible. Another thing that I am interested in is to plant as many native plants as possible.

Over the Winter, I purchased and carefully read what I consider to be an excellent book called: "100 easy-to-grow native plants for canadian gardens" by Lorraine Johnson. From this book, I selected 8 types of native flowers that I wanted to plant in my yard.

The 8 flowers are:

Butterfly Milkweek (Asclepias tuberosa)
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Canadian Columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis)
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
New England Aster (Aster Novae-angliae)
Giant Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias Incarnata)

Moreover, from the previous person who lived here we have Bee Balms, Jewelweed, some ferns, an apple tree and hedges.
Also, we planted some Morning Glory earlier this May.

I started all my plants indoor and only recently planted them outside.

Since I didn't think that many of them would bloom on their first year, I decided to buy the McKenzie seeds Butterfly Garden mix that I mentionned. I figured that these may help the butterflies for the first year.

However, after reading all your comments, I think that I will buy some annuals and plant them in containers.

I have a few questions though. If I plant some annuals within say 1 week, will they bloom before the end of the summer or it is too late ?

I shall write some more soon.

Thank you all once again. Please feel free to give my any other comments about my plan.

Ravel30

Ravel, I'm in fact both into a bird friendly and butterfly friendly garden. I do however have separate beds(front and backyard) for this because butterflies don't really like to be exposed to birds who can prey on them.

The list you provided is a good plan (some are annuals by the way so if you had started them earlier, they should bloom this season). I've grown a few of these in my front yard. My idea of a garden bed is both a cottage garden and a 'wild garden'. It's so far been attractive to butterflies, not to mention bees and those pesky wasps...

My advise is that take things patiently and experiment, experiment, experiment. Once you plant something down, that doesn't mean you can't change your mind and relocate it later. Don't worry if a plant dies. It happens.

Some annuals have a short growing period before flowering and so I would say look into the seed packets to see how long it takes to germinate, to mature and to flower. If it's too late, perhaps an option would be to buy annual plants instead. There are many avail. now at the same price of a seed packets. Get cosmos and zinnias for example. I would still add such fast growing plants like dill because they will bloom and what's more food for the caterpillars.

Oh as for birds. They love sunflowers and my mainstay - Joe Pye weed.

Ianna

Ianna

Hi Ianna,

Again, thank you for your message. I was wondering if you could tell me which of the 8 plants that I planted are annuals ? I would really appreciate.

Thank you.

Ravel30

All of the 8 are perennials

Well, all but one is a perennial. The Rudbeckia hirta is an annual, but it has a perennial relative called Rudbeckia Fulgida goldsturm. It's better known as blackeyed susan which appears to be very similar to it's annual cousin, however it will grow fast and form a large clump. Best placed in the front of the border.

When choosing any plants, native or not, be aware of the behaviour of plants in the garden. Some can be bullies and are aggressive growers and some are docile and well behaved. So when choosing say.. bee balm, be aware that this plant can spread. it looks great in a large clump but it's always good to know these things. it also has a tendency to get mildewy which afflicks other plants as well. So just be aware of what you are choosing. And if it doesn't behave well in your yard, choose to remove it.

Ianna