No matter what characteristics you are looking to add to your garden, including making your property more welcoming to butterflies, LEAF has you covered. Here are four native shrubs that attract butterflies and help to promote biodiversity right in your own backyard.
Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
Growing to a mature height and width of only two feet, lowbush blueberry can fit in almost any sized yard. Lowbush blueberry grows best in sandy or loam soil and needs full sunlight to provide you (and the wildlife in your yard) with its delicious, small, dark blue, juicy fruit that matures in late summer. The fruit can be eaten straight from the shrub, used raw in salads or smoothies, or processed into jams, jellies, pies, wine and juice.
Those sweet berries are preceded in the spring by green, oblong, pointed leaves with smooth edges, then in late spring by small, whitish-pink bell-shaped clusters of flowers. In fall, the leaves transition to a stunning shade of red-bronze.
On top of that, the lowbush blueberry is a butterfly magnet! Vaccinium species like the lowbush blueberry are host plants for the caterpillars of 217 butterfly and moth species including Pink-edged Sulphur, Brown Elfin and Henry’s Elfin butterflies, which love to feed on the flowers and developing fruit of lowbush blueberry.
Pussy willow (Salix discolor)
The pussy willow does well in all soil types from sandy to dense, compact clay and, like the lowbush blueberry, requires full sunlight conditions to thrive. They grow up to 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide, offering significant privacy potential with their large, dense canopy when added to your yard.
Their fuzzy, silver catkins (slim flower cluster) emerge in the late winter, and are a sure sign that spring is on its way! The wind-pollinated flowers look like tiny cat paws and provide an early nectar source for butterflies and other native pollinators. The long, thin leaves of the pussy willow transform into a brilliant shade of yellow in the fall, casting a spell of natural beauty across your outdoor space.
Salix species like the pussy willow are host plants to as many as 289 butterfly and moth species, such as bush-footed and gossamer-winged butterflies and some swallowtail butterfly species. For example, pussy willow is the preferred larval food source for Mourning Cloak and Viceroy caterpillars.
Northern Wild Raisin (Viburnum cassinoides)
Northern wild raisin grows up to five feet tall and wide and is remarkably versatile, thriving in any level of sunlight, including shade.
The shrub’s elliptical leaves emerge in spring with bronze tones, mature to a darker green in the summer and turn attractive shades of orange to red to purple in the fall. In late spring, flat-topped clusters of white flowers develop and give way to green edible berries called drupes in the summer that mature to pink, then bluish-black in the fall. The drupes emerge on red stems and can persist on the shrub throughout the winter months offering a late season food source for overwintering birds.
A favourite host plant of Spring and Summer Azure and butterflies and also used by Henry’s Elfin caterpillars, northern wild raisin is the ideal shrub for those looking to attract butterflies to their yard who may not have space for a large-growing shrub such as pussy willow or who may be looking to plant in a low light area.
Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)
Nannyberry shrubs grow up to 15 feet tall and eight feet wide and form a dense canopy, which makes it a great choice for those looking to add privacy to their yard. Like the pussy willow, the nannyberry can grow in all soil types, but offers the added adaptability of being able to thrive in partial and full sunlight areas.
Embrace the changing colours nannyberries offer throughout the seasons: they bloom with clusters of small white flowers in late spring and have dark green leaves that turn to vivid shades of yellow, red, and purple in fall. The shrub produces large groups of small, bluish-black drupes (fruit), which mature in late summer/early fall and persist into winter. This fruit is edible for humans and can be eaten when ripe right off the shrub or used in baking – if you can get any before the critters do!
In addition to these features, the nannyberry is great for attracting butterflies. It acts as the larval host for the Spring Azure butterfly and clearwing moths, and draws in a variety of other gossamer-winged butterflies, and many species of bush-footed butterflies, such as the Question Mark, and Red and White Admirals.
Invite fluttering butterflies into your garden and foster #BackyardBiodiversity by planting native shrubs and more this spring! Looking to go bigger than shrubs? We’ve got you covered with our butterfly garden kits that provide everything you need to transform your backyard into a butterfly paradise! Our butterfly kits will help you to attract a variety of native butterfly species to your yard and support them with suitable food sources and shelter. Explore our diverse selection of shrubs on our Shrubs, Garden Kits and Pawpaws page. Don’t miss out on the chance to bring the magic of butterflies to your garden this year - contact us today to place your order for our spring 2024 season!
Joel Sloggett is the Residential Planting Programs Field Assistant at LEAF
The #BackyardBiodiversity campaign is a partnership initiative with the Toronto Wildlife Centre and is supported by Ontario Power Generation.
LEAF offers a subsidized Backyard Tree Planting Program for private property. The program is supported by the City of Toronto, the Regional Municipality of York, the City of Markham, the Town of Newmarket, the Regional Municipality of Durham, the Town of Ajax, the Township of Brock, the Municipality of Clarington, the City of Oshawa, the City of Pickering, the Township of Scugog, the Town of Whitby and Ontario Power Generation.