Purple flowers are known to attract hummingbirds and butterflies to gardens. The vibrant color of purple flowers serves as a visual signal to pollinators that there is nectar available. Certain species of hummingbirds and butterflies are particularly drawn to the color purple. When landscaping or gardening to attract these winged creatures, there are several excellent purple perennial, annual, and flowering shrub options.
Why Are Hummingbirds and Butterflies Attracted to Purple Flowers?
There are a few key reasons why purple flowers tend to attract hummingbirds and butterflies:
- Purple flowers stand out visually against green foliage, making them easier for pollinators to spot from a distance.
- Hummingbirds can see the color purple. Many butterflies such as swallowtails are also able to see purple flowers.
- Nectar-rich purple flowers provide an excellent source of food for pollinators.
- Flowers in the purple and blue color spectrum often have UV patterns that serve as guides to help direct pollinators to the nectar.
In particular, hummingbird moths are strongly attracted to purple flowers. Hummingbird moths are a sphinx moth species that feeds on nectar from long, tubular flowers using a long proboscis much like a hummingbird. Purple flowers that typically attract these moths include lilacs, bee balm, phlox, and petunias.
Top Purple Perennials that Attract Hummingbirds and Butterflies
Here are some of the best purple perennial flowers to grow to bring hummingbirds and butterflies into your garden year after year:
1. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
This popular daisy-like perennial has colorful purple ray flowers surrounding an orange-brown central cone. The blooms usually appear in mid to late summer and last into fall. Butterflies are attracted to the coneflowers for their rich nectar. Goldfinches and other birds also feed on the seeds in fall and winter.
2. Catmint (Nepeta)
With its spikes of tubular lavender-blue flowers, catmint is highly attractive to pollinators. It blooms prolifically in spring and early summer. The nectar-rich flowers bring in bees, butterflies, and hummingbird moths. Catmint grows 1-3 feet tall depending on variety and has aromatic grey-green foliage.
3. Gayfeather (Liatris spicata)
Gayfeather is a tubular purple flower that blooms in dense spikes in mid to late summer. Butterflies flock to gayfeather for its nectar. Hummingbirds are also frequent visitors. After blooming ends, the flower spikes remain standing with their feathery plumes, providing visual interest in the winter garden.
4. Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
This tall perennial grows 4-6 feet high on upright stems lined with whorls of narrow leaves. Tiny white blooms appear in summer, arranged in elongated spikes that together create a majestic plume. Culver’s root does best in moist soil and the back of flower beds. The tall flower spikes make this a great architectural plant that also attracts hummingbirds.
5. Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Garden phlox produces large, clustered blooms on upright plants in summer and early fall. Flower colors include purples, pinks, whites, and bicolors. Butterflies are attracted to the nectar-rich flowers. Hummingbirds also drink the nectar and eat small insects that live on the plants.
6. Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
With its dense spikes of purple flowers rising above grass-like foliage, blazing star is a magnet for butterflies including monarchs, swallowtails and fritillaries. It blooms mid to late summer. Hummingbirds are also frequent visitors. Blazing star does best in full sun and moist, well-drained soil.
7. Bee Balm (Monarda didyma)
Also called bergamot, bee balm has shaggy heads of tubular flowers in shades of purple, red, pink or white. It blooms in summer and thrives in moist soil and full sun to part shade. Bee balm attracts hummingbirds as well as bees, butterflies and hummingbird moths.
8. Purple Cranesbill (Geranium maculatum)
This hardy geranium is a lovely plant for partially shaded gardens. It produces clusters of five-petaled, pinkish-purple blooms above mounded foliage from late spring to mid summer. Butterflies enjoy nectaring on the flowers. Plants spread by underground rhizomes to form colonies.
9. obedience plant (Physostegia virginiana)
In late summer, this moisture-loving perennial produces tall spikes of tubular lavender-pink flowers above foliage clumps 2-4 feet high. It spreads by underground rhizomes, making it a good groundcover. Hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to the nectar-rich blooms.
10. New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
This fall-blooming aster has daisy-like flowers with yellow centers and purple rays. Plants can reach up to 6 feet high. The nectar-rich flowers attract migrating monarch butterflies in autumn as well as sipping nectar before migration. Hummingbirds also visit the flowers.
Top Annual Purple Flowers that Attract Hummingbirds and Butterflies
Annual purple flowers allow you to enjoy quick-blooming color in beds and containers that changes each year. Here are some top picks:
1. Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’)
With its upright purple-burgundy foliage and feathery plumes, this ornamental grass makes a striking vertical accent in containers and garden beds. Hummingbirds use the grass plumes as perches and to hide nests. Butterflies are also attracted.
2. Purple Cleome (Cleome hassleriana)
Cleome is a tall annual that can reach 5 feet high. It has spirals of purple, pink or white spider-like flowers from early summer into fall that attract both hummingbirds and butterflies. Plants self-sow readily.
3. Purple Salvia (Salvia farinacea)
Purple salvia produces dense spikes of tubular flowers on upright plants. The nectar-filled blooms attract hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies from early summer into fall. Salvia prefers full sun and grows 14-30 inches tall depending on variety.
4. Purple Porterweed (Stachytarpheta mutabilis)
This tropical annual has vivid violet-purple flowers that appear in summer atop plants around 3 feet tall. The nectar-rich blooms attract migrating monarch butterflies as well as hummingbirds and bees. It thrives in hot, humid climates.
5. Purple Fountain Plant (Russelia equisetiformis)
In warmer climates, this tender perennial makes a showy annual with arching purple flower spikes that bloom spring to fall. Hummingbirds are highly attracted to the tubular nectar-filled blooms. Plants do best in full sun and reach 1-3 feet tall.
6. Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida)
Grown for its vivid purple foliage, this trailing annual also produces small pinkish-purple flowers in summer that attract butterflies. Use it in hanging baskets or as a groundcover. Partial shade enhances the leaf color. Plants spread readily by rooting at stem nodes.
7. Purple Dragon Wing Begonia (Begonia x hybrida)
This beautiful begonia has deep purple leaves and dangling flower clusters in pinks and purples that bloom spring through fall. Hummingbirds visit for the nectar. Grow dragon wing begonia in shade in beds or containers. Plants reach 12-18 inches tall.
8. Persian Shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus)
Grown for its stunning iridescent purple foliage, Persian shield also blooms occasionally with small blue-purple flowers that attract hummingbirds. This annual grows best in partial shade and moist, fertile soil. Regular pruning maintains leaf color and plant shape.
9. Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia)
This heat-loving annual produces spikes of purple, pink, or white flowers on upright plants from spring until frost. The blooms attract small butterflies and hummingbirds. Angelonia does best in full sun and average to dry soil in beds or containers.
10. Purple Mountain Majesty (Agastache rupestris)
This compact type of anise hyssop has flowers in shades of purple, blue or white atop licorice-scented foliage. It blooms prolifically from early summer into fall, attracting hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. Plants grow 12-24 inches tall in full sun to part shade.
Top Shrubs with Purple Flowers that Attract Hummingbirds and Butterflies
Flowering shrubs provide structure and ornamental interest to gardens year after year. Here are some of the best purple-blooming shrubs for pollinators:
1. Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii)
Butterfly bush lives up to its name, attracting scores of butterflies with its long panicles of purple, blue, pink or white blooms and sweet scent. Flowering occurs in summer and fall. Plants can grow quite large but respond well to pruning.
2. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
The fragrant purple flower spikes of lavender are extremely attractive to pollinators. Blooms appear in spring and summer. Lavender does best in full sun and dry, well-drained soil. Plants range from 1-3 feet tall depending on variety.
3. Lilac (Syringa)
The wonderfully fragrant blooms of lilac shrubs appear in late spring. Common lilac has purple blooms while other hybrids produce white, pink or bluish-purple flowers. Butterflies, hummingbirds and hummingbird moths frequent the nectar-rich blooms.
4. Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
This hardy hibiscus blooms with huge, showy flowers up to 5 inches wide in late summer. Flower color ranges from purple to blue to white and pink. Rose of Sharon makes an excellent focal point shrub to attract hummingbirds and large butterflies such as swallowtails.
5. Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis)
Bluebeard is valued for its blue-purple flower clusters that bloom from midsummer into fall, attracting bees and butterflies. This compact, mounded shrub has gray-green foliage and does best in full sun and well-drained soil.
6. Smokebush (Cotinus coggygria)
Valued for its airy plumes that resemble puffs of smoke, smokebush also has nectar-rich purple flowers in spring. The flowers and foliage attract butterflies. After blooming, the blooms leave behind colorful purple-tinged foliage.
7. Beautyberry (Callicarpa)
Beautyberry produces small lilac flowers in spring and summer, followed by abundant clusters of vivid purple berries loved by birds. Butterflies are attracted to the flowers, while birds feast on the berries in fall.
8. Weigela (Weigela florida)
This spring-blooming shrub has tubular purple, pink, red or white flowers loved by hummingbirds. Plants have an arching, mounded habit and grow 4-6 feet tall. Weigela does best in full sun to part shade and moist, fertile soil.
9. Buddleja (Buddleja davidii)
Also called butterfly bush, this fast-growing shrub has fragrant panicles of purple, blue, pink or white flowers that bloom in summer and fall. The blooms attract both butterflies and hummingbirds. Buddleja grows quite large but responds well to pruning.
10. Purple Leaf Sand Cherry (Prunus x cistena)
Valued for its striking deep purple foliage that turns reddish-purple in fall, this compact ornamental cherry also has pinkish-white flowers in spring. Butterflies visit the flowers for nectar. Plants grow up to 8 feet tall and wide.
Creating a Pollinator-Friendly Garden
Use these tips to design a garden that attracts maximum numbers of hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators:
- Plant groupings of the same flower type rather than single specimens. Mass plantings attract more pollinators.
- Include flowers of different colors to appeal to different pollinator species.
- Plant flowers with diverse bloom times to provide nectar spring through fall.
- Include both annuals and perennials to ensure continuous bloom.
- Have flowers of different shapes like tubular and flat-faced.
- Plant flowers in sun and shade areas to support more species.
- Provide host plants that caterpillars need such as milkweed for monarchs.
- Include shrubs and trees to provide shelter and perching areas.
- Supply clean water in a shallow dish, pool or mister.
- Limit pesticide use which can harm pollinators and caterpillars.
- Provide overwintering sites like leaf litter, brush piles, evergreens and tree cavities.
By incorporating a diverse and abundant selection of pollinator-friendly purple plants in your garden, you can enjoy the beauty of hummingbirds and butterflies visiting your outdoor spaces.
Conclusion
Purple flowers have a special appeal for hummingbirds and butterflies. By planting selections from popular purple perennials like coneflower, catmint and gayfeather, annuals such as cleome and fountain grass, and flowering shrubs including butterfly bush and lilac, you can create a stunning garden that attracts these winged beauties. A mix of purple flowering plants blooming from spring through fall will provide food, shelter and nesting habitat for hummingbirds and butterflies while enhancing your garden’s beauty.