Each backyard used to have victory gardens, and Sundays were for family drives while butterflies were everywhere. Those times were not just simpler, they were more connected. The plants that our grandparents grew (or did they just go to Home Depot for the pretty ones?) to border their driveways or for practical purposes were actually helping to support the butterfly highways that flow through the United States. Let's take a look at how still growing garden center favorites still help with this exceptional journey.

Common Milkweed: Unsung Rest Area on Monarch's Highway

Now that rest stops every 50 miles on interstate highways aren't a thing of the past, there used to be monarchs on milkweed. This common "weed" that once was abundant on every country road isn't just a rest stop, but the only food source for monarchs. Each patch serves as a nursery, cafeteria, and motel for the majestic travelers. This makes milkweed the original Howard Johnson's for butterflies.

That Annoying Dandelion Is a Butterfly's Gas Station

Before we went to war on dandelions with chemical weapons, these golden flowers were nature's roadside diners. Just like an all-night truck stop, dandelions provide important early-spring nectar when other flowers are not available. Those "weeds" your riding mower fights with every weekend? They are saving exhausted butterfly migrants who have flown all night.

Zinnias: The Old-Fashioned Flower That Is Actually A Butterfly Migration GPS

The colorful flowers found in every garden during the 1960s are not beautiful for just any reason. Zinnias are uniform nectar producers, and provide the perfect flowery signposts for butterflies. These butterflies use zinnias as beacons during their journey south for the winter. Nature provides us with their very own Burma-Shave style advertisements, guiding butterflies flower by flower.

Lantana: The Vintage Porch Plant That Actually Acts As A Butterfly Magnet

Do you remember all the Southern porches with the hanging baskets of Lantana? They have a purpose! The clusters of flowers produce a large quantity of nectar that migrating butterflies can sense from as far away as 0.5 miles. Lantana flowers act like a neon sign that says “VACANCY” telling butterflies that space is available for them to stop and rest.

Mexican Sunflower: A Butterfly Magnet (and your Grandmother’s Secret)

The vibrant orange blossoms your grandma planted every spring weren't just for show. They have a very practical purpose – to provide lots of food for butterflies. The Mexican sunflower is a powerful nectar producing plant to the point that it's fuel enough for an epic 50 mile journey! It's like a gas station in the pre-self serve era.

The purple coneflower is the first fast food joint for Monarchs Migrating

Before fast-food chains served food on every corner, purple coneflowers were feeding butterflies on the go! The tall stems of these flowers act as landing pads while their cone like spikes provide a resting place for butterflies to sip on nectar. This is like the old drive in restaurants with car side service.

Butterfly Bush: Garden classic from the 1950s still directing wings south

Butterfly bushes are like the big, bright roadside signs that used to be all over the place for motels. These bushes act as a call for every traveling butterfly. From summer to fall, the bushes are always producing new, sweet, sugary fluids, called nectar, which butterflies need to fuel themselves and are a part of the pathways that migrating butterflies take during their travels. They are like the old roadside restaurants that were called Howard Johnson's, but for butterflies.

Joe Pye Weed: The 'Wild Weed' Your Dad Couldn't Kill That's Helping Butterflies

You know that really tall "weed" that kept coming back, no matter how many times your dad mowed it down? Well, it's actually one of the important late-summer rest stops for migrating butterflies. The pink flowering clusters provide top-notch nectar services, comparable to that corner diner that's been serving customers since the 1950s.

Cosmos: The Victory Garden Flower That's Also a Butterfly Pit Stop

The cosmos flowers that have self-seeded everywhere in your mother's victory garden do not just fill up space, they also provide a unique service that many other flowers do not. Most flowers provide nectar for only part of the day, but cosmos provide it for the entire day, like 24-hour diners.

Marigolds: Those Cemetery Flowers Are Actually Butterfly Life Savers

The faithful bloom of every autumn cemetery and border garden is a secret saver of the butterflies. Their long-range blooming season provides a consistent source of nectar well into the fall migrations. Think of a gas station that never closed for the holidays.

Wild Asters: The September Surprise That Keeps Migrations On Track

As the new school year approaches in September, many people think the little purple flowers in the fields are just autumn decorations, but they are wild asters! At a time when most other garden flowers are out of bloom, wild asters provide much needed nectar to many insects. Wild asters fuel the migration of countless butterflies to the south like a last chance gas station in the desert.

Goldrute: Kein Feind Ihrer Allergien, sondern ein Freund der Schmetterlinge

Goldenrod is one of fall's most crucial butterfly fueling stations, even though the plant gets blamed for every autumn sneeze (which is actually due to ragweed). Goldenrod's deep clusters of yellow flowers provide a larger volume of nectar than nearly every other fall plant. Goldenrod is like those old-fashioned diners that serve larger portions than you can realistically eat.

Fenchel: Ein unbesungener Held des Gemüsegartens und zukünftiges Futter für Schmetterlinge

Grandma's victory garden has that lovely, tall, feathery, herb that is edible and used for cooking, but did you know fennel also provides a home for the caterpillars of the black swallowtail butterfly? Think of it as a maternity ward, but for caterpillars. A bit like those family-run motels where the owner knows all the guests by name.

Verbena: The Antique Bouquet Flower Mapping Migration Streams

The little clusters of flowers that decorated each Sunday bouquet are actually butterfly signposts. Verbena blooms in such consistent patterns that butterflies use them to navigate like those old road signs that helped you find your way before you had GPS.

That garnish garden plot? It’s actually a butterfly nursery!

That little piece of parsley that sits on every diner plate isn't there just to make things look nice. It's actually black swallowtail butterfly's favorite place to lay their eggs, and the butterflies only choose a small number of plants to do this. Like the special booths at local diners that families would sit in every Sunday, parsley gives a place to rest for the next generation of these beautiful insects.