Late summer flowers for butterflies

February 2026

The flowers that the butterflies have been feeding from in February are much the same as throughout summer. Looks like the secret to a good butterfly garden is choosing long flowering perennials.

When I say butterflies, I really mean monarch butterflies, as they have ruled the roost since the males set up the garden as their territory back in mid-January. The cabbage whites and the blues have been around, but they are visitors, not residents.

Zinnias

What has flowered this month and is proving very popular with the monarchs are zinnias. The tall, bright pink, orange and red flowers are attracting them in. It's a definite favourite. Last year I bought seedlings of these from an MBNZT plant sale and they flowered in December, but this year I raised them from seed myself and they only flowered this month. I have tried short, store-bought zinnias before without success, but these large varieties seem to have the nectar load.

Buddleia

Buddleia were in flower for the first half of February. In that time, multiple species of butterflies fed from the various buddleia in the garden.

Duranta Geisha Girl

Monarch butterfly on Duranta Geisha Girl

This shrub, which was already in a raised bed on the property, is an honourable mention. The bees loved it as soon as it started flowering, but once the escallonia Pink Elle that was next to it went over, the butterflies deigned to come to this bush instead. Both monarchs and cabbage whites have been seen enjoying the nectar. Like the escallonia, duranta is probably a choice as a screening or hedging plant first, pollinator plant second, and AI has told me it is toxic to humans and pets, so its a 50/50 chance as to whether that is true.

Tropical milkweed

I have not been dead-heading these, as I want the seeds, but it doesn't seem to have stopped them flowering. The tropical milkweed remains the number one favourite flower in the garden and the monarchs fight over these all the time. All. The. Time. It's like having boisterous teenagers flying around. The bees like them too, but don't get much of a look in. I haven't seen other butterflies on these, but it may again be opportunity rather than preference.

Verbena Vanity

I haven't deadheaded this either and it keeps drawing the butterflies in. All the butterflies feed from this verbena - I could have chosen from photos of a red admiral, a yellow admiraI and monarchs feeding from it in February. I haven't had to stake it and it has survived the strong winds that have hit the garden, perhaps because it is not too tall. Lastly, it looks beautiful. I LOVE this flower. I finally managed to get a batch of seeds to germinate, but we'll see if the young plants flower before winter. The only downside is this is an annual plant and I'll need to get better at raising it.

Cosmos

The bright orange cosmos that the monarchs were not so interested in last month have proven more popular this month. Go figure. I have been religiously deadheading all the cosmos so they continued flowering through summer. The bees love them and they easy to raise from seed (even for me), making them the most affordable pollinator plant.

"Weeds"

In terms of the "weeds" I've highlighted in the other posts about flowers - early summer / mid-summer - the swan plants and nettles are still bringing butterflies in to lay eggs, but the ground weeds stopped flowering this month and are now just annoying. I really will need to think how I provide caterpillar food plants for the blue butterflies next season, as the weeds have taken out some of the groundcovers I put into the borders. It's about having leafy (for the common blues) and flowering (for the long-tailed blues) legumes at the right time of year that will not take over, but will survive the strengthening heat and humidity. Hmmm.... I welcome any advice you have about good choices.

A common blue laying eggs of birds foot trefoil in early February

Helenium

We managed to get one helenium to flower and like the verbena, it has only taken one to have an impact on the garden. It is such a beautiful plant, although it does need some good support - it falls down under the weight of all the flowers and our high wind zone does not help. The bees were all over this plant from the start and the monarchs liked it too.

Lantana montevidensis

An honourable mention this month as well for trailing lantana. This lantana is in a pot that is raised up and the height probably helps its attractiveness. The cabbage whites are more usually on this plant and it can be found in the butterfly garden borders, but has been competing with the weeds.

There are a lot of "butterfly flowers" in the garden that the bees are loving, but I have not seen any butterflies on all summer. I am pretty sure these plants, such as echinacea and tall coreopsis, would be loved by butterflies in other gardens and it just depends on the choice of other plants. As I've thrown a lot of different plants into (and the design aesthetic out of) this garden to see what worked, I can cut back on varieties and go for more of what is most popular. I will also be keeping plants that the bees and I love. I'm looking at you, salvias. I have not seen one butterfly on them, except sun-basking, but I fell for salvias when I bought some for helping sell the old house and there is no turning back now. I love 'em.