Butterfly Host Plants * Caterpillar Hosts * Turtlehead, Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips', Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red', Hardy Hibiscus moscheutos 'Southern Belle'

ButterflyBushes.com
(Rose Franklin's Perennials)

Butterfly
Host Plants

Our new 'Plant Index' page lists all the plants we expect to have available for the 2010 shipping season.

During the shipping season (May thru October), our Facebook fans will receive notification of special promotions being offered on our web site. They will also be periodically posted on which plants are especially nice at that particular time (making these plants a better buy at that particular time).

To significantly increase the butterfly population in your butterfly garden, you should provide food for baby butterflies (caterpillars). For each species in the butterfly kingdom, its larva (caterpillar) can only feed on specific plant species. These specific plant species are referred to as butterfly host plants or caterpillar host plants or butterfly larval plants. One larva's staple is another one's poison.

When they are available, we offer these plants on this page:
~ Artemisia stelleriana 'Silver Brocade' ('Silver Brocade' Artemisia) ~
~ Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips' (Turtlehead) ~
~ Dictamnus albus 'Purpureus' (Gas Plant) ~
~ Helenium (Helen's Flower or Sneezeweed) ~
~ Hibiscus moscheutos 'Galaxy' (Hardy Hibiscus) ~
~ Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red' (Beardtongue) ~
~ Lupinus 'Russell Hybrids' (Lupine) ~
~ Ruta graveolens (Rue) ~

We ship perennials from May through October.
Important Note We are able to ship plants to the following states within the USA: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. We cannot ship to other destinations. Sorry, no exceptions! If you do not live in one of the states we are permitted to ship to, do not place an order. We will not ship your order and will charge you a $3.00 service charge to cancel your order and return your payment.

Butterfly Host Plants Available For
2010 Shipping:

Most of our perennials are shipped in 3" to 4" pots.
A few may be shipped bare root. Orders are shipped via USPS Priority Mail.
Unless otherwise stated, the plants shown on this page prefers full sun.

caterpillar host plants; turtlehead; Chelone lyonii

Pink Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips')

Host plant for the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly, turtlehead grows 24"-30" high and produces spikes of bright pink flowers over dark green foliage. It prefers a moist soil and blooms August through September. Full sun or part shade. Deer resistant.

Perennial, zones 4-9. $5.00 each

butterfly larval plants; Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red'

'Husker Red' Penstemon
(Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red')

Baltimore checkerspot butterflies seek out turtlehead (above) for egg laying. But half-grown Baltimore checkerspot caterpillars often seek out Penstemon as a food source. 'Husker Red' Penstemon has dark foliage and white to light pink flower spikes in June and July. It grows 30"-36" high. Full sun or part shade. Deer resistant.

Perennial, zones 3-9. $5.00 each

Read our article on Baltimore Checkerspot butterflies.

Helen's Flower, Helenium 'Bruno', Sneezeweed, butterfly host plants

Helen's Flower (also known as Sneezeweed)
(Helenium autumnale)

Helen's Flower (Sneezeweed) grows 24"-36" high and produces small, daisy like flowers July thru August. Helenium hoopesii, the variety we offer here, bears yellow, orange, or mahogany-red flowers. Utilized as a host plant by the Dainty Sulphur butterfly. Deer resistant and drought tolerant.
Perennial, zones 4-9. $4.50 each (plants have already bloomed and have been cut back)

Rue (Ruta graveolens)

Rue is a beautiful garden plant, with lacy blue-green leaves and many small but showy bright yellow flowers from June through August. Known as herb o' grace, because its branches were once used by Catholic priests to sprinkle holy water. Rue grows 30"-36" high and is utilized as a host plant by Black Swallowtail butterflies. Deer resistant.
(Pictured above in our title bar is a Black Swallowtail on Rue.)

Perennial, zones 4-9. Sorry, Sold Out for 2010

Gas Plant
(Dictamnus fraxinella 'Rubra')
A favorite at our mail order nursery, Gas Plant grows to about 36" high and produces beautiful pink flower spikes in late spring. The leaves and flowers have a fragrant lemon scent. And as discovered by Rose, a host plant for Giant Swallowtail butterflies. Deer resistant.
Perennial, zones 3-8. Sorry, Sold Out for 2010.

butterfly host plants; Artemisia stellariana 'Silver Brocade'

'Silver Brocade' Artemisia
(Artemisia stellariana 'Silver Brocade')

Looks very similar to annual dusty miller! Grows 10"-15" high and requires well drained soil. Utilized as a host plant by Painted Ladies and American Ladies. And Painted Ladies and American Ladies seem to prefer this plant over most other plants they utilize as host plants. Deer resistant and drought tolerant.
Perennial, zones 3-8. Special $4.50 each

Lupine 'Russell Hybrids'
(Lupinus polyphyllus 'Russell Hybrids')
A favorite among early blooming perennials, Lupine blooms late May thru June. Growing 30"-36" high, the flower color may be red, pink, purple, lavender, yellow, or white. Many are bi-colored. Sorry, no choice of color.
Lupine is a host plant for the Silvery Blue butterfly. Deer resistant.
Perennial, zones 4-9. Sorry, Sold Out for 2010.

You will find milkweed, the host plant for monarch caterpillars,
on our 'Milkweed Plants' page.

We are a mail order perennial nursery.
To place an order for any of these butterfly host plants: (1) Utilize our on-line shopping cart or (2) print our online order form, fill it out, and then mail it to us, along with your check or money order. Some of the features of our online shopping cart fail to work correctly with some Internet Service Providers. If you have problems using our shopping cart, please print our order form, fill it out, and then mail it to us. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Quantities are limited on some of our nursery stock. Plants will be reserved to fill orders in the sequence in which orders are received. Please order at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment. Please do not order plants which are not currently posted with a picture, plant description, and price.

If you don't understand the meaning of 'butterfly host plants', please take the time to read our Save the Butterflies article.

Although We Do Not Have These Plants To Offer,
Here Are Some More Host Plants You May Wish To Locate
For Your Butterfly Garden:
Butterfly:	Host Plants:
Black Swallowtail	Dill, Parsley, Fennel, Rue, Queen Anne's Lace
Tiger Swallowtail	Wild Cherry, Yellow Poplar
Spicebush Swallowtail	Spicebush, Sassafras
Giant Swallowtail	Citrus Trees, Prickly Ash, Gas Plant (Dictamnus)
Great-Spangled Fritillary	Violets
Meadow Fritillary	Violets
Question Mark	Nettle, False Nettle, Elm, Hops, Hackberry
Comma (Hop Merchant)	Nettle, False Nettle, Elm, Hops
Mourning Cloak	Willow, Birch, Elm, Hackberry
Painted Lady	Hollyhock, Pearly Everlasting, 'Silver Brocade' Artemisia
Common Buckeye	Snapdragon, Heliotrope, Verbena (offered on our 'Butterfly Nectar Plants' page.)
Viceroy	Willow, Aspen, Poplar, Cherry
Red-Spotted Purple	Wild Cherry, Poplar, Aspen
Gray Hairstreak	Hibiscus, Rose of Sharon, Hollyhock
Silvery Blue	Lupine

Rose Franklin's Perennials
107 Butterfly Lane Spring Mills, PA 16875

(814) 422-8968 Email: RoseFranklin@aol.com

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