Add the 2022 Color of the Year to Your Garden
Pantone's 2022 color of the year is a new shade of blue with violet-red undertones called Very Peri. Find out which plants resemble this color and which plants complement this color well in the garden.
Almost one in five of America’s 800 butterfly species are at risk of extinction, according to NatureServe, a biodiversity umbrella group of more than 60 government and educational groups.
Many home gardeners have been creating butterfly gardens and other measures to aid and attract butterflies to help protect these crucial pollinators.
The first step is to create healthy habitats with plenty of water, shelter, and no insecticides that kill butterflies or caterpillars. The second step involves establishing a variety of plants that will serve as hosts for caterpillars and provide adult butterflies with a consistent stream of blooms throughout the growing season as well as nectar and pollen.
These are must-host plants for monarch butterflies but also good pollen sources when in bloom. Five different types are most useful, including common milkweed, swamp milkweed, whorled milkweed, the prairie-native showy milkweed, and the orange-blooming butterfly milkweed.
One of the season’s first perennials to flower, tickseed is a yellow bloomer that’s also a long-bloomer, usually starting in June and sometimes flowering into September.
These two perennials are closely related mint-family members that grow 2 to 3 feet tall and produce spidery flowers in June and July. Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) blooms lavender to pink, while Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma) blooms red.
An old-fashioned garden favorite, this native perennial has golden petals surrounding a black central cone. It blooms primarily in June and July, sometimes into August.
Another perennial that’s familiar to most home gardeners is this native perennial with the pinkish-lavender drooping petals and golden-brown central cones. It flowers from July through September.
Several versions of this native perennial make good summer nectar and pollen sources with their spiky purple, pink, or lavender blooms. Most flower from July into September.
Both annual and perennial forms of sunflowers are butterfly favorites for their big golden flowers, while the seeds of annual ones are bird favorites. Annual types flower from mid to late summer, while perennial ones are at their peak in August and September.
Joe Pye is a tall, stout perennial that produces multiple umbrella-like clusters of pinkish-lavender flowers in August and September. Like all of the above, it’s a U.S. native.
As summer winds down, asters become a key butterfly food. New York, New England, and smooth asters are three of the best with their pink, lavender, or purple daisy-like flowers. They’re native perennials that bloom August through October.
One of the last of the season’s bloomers is goldenrod, a native perennial with arching, golden flower spikes. Goldenrod blooms August into October on plants that grow 18 inches to 3 feet tall.