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Jupiter’s Beard: A Long-Blooming Perennial That Attracts Butterflies

by | Updated: May 8, 2023

Jupiters Beard is a long-blooming perennial that attracts butterflies. It also goes by the names: Red Valerian and Centranthus ruber.

Would you like a long-blooming perennial…

… that attracts butterflies, gives you color all summer AND is drought tolerant?

Yes, pleasssssse!

I can’t wait to introduce you to Jupiter’s Beard (aka, Red Valerian). Its botanical name is Centranthus ruber.

If you want months of color, I think it’s one of the best flowers for Colorado, Utah and similar western states. It’s one of my favorite perennials. (Perennials are the flowers that come back year after year.)

Close up of Jupiters Beard 'Red Valerian'

Centranthus ruber 'Red Valerian' (aka, Jupiters Beard) in a Colorado perennial garden

Here are a few reasons to add Jupiter’s Beard to your garden.

This flower plant is:

  • Easy to grow
  • Colorful and showy
  • Drought tolerant (you don’t have to water it much once it gets established in your garden—awesome for semi-arid states like Colorado and Utah)
  • Tolerant of hail (it bounces back quickly from light hailstorms)
  • Resistant to nibbling deer and rabbits (they tend to skip it for munching)

Plus, it’s a MAGNET for butterflies, bees and moths.

Seriously, it’s like Grand Central Station for pollinators.

I constantly find myself heading back into my house to get my camera because there’s a new butterfly dancing across its flowers.

“Oh, hey there, Swallowtail butterfly!”

If you want a flower that attracts butterflies, plant Red Valerian (aka, Jupiter's Beard). Here it is with a Swallowtail butterfly.

The Monarch butterfly in the photo below visited my Jupiter’s Beard plant in October.

(Yep, flowers and butterflies well into October!!)

Jupiter's Beard (aka, Red Valerian) is a perennial flower that attracts monarch butterflies

And its color goes on, and on, and on …

When you’re planning a perennial garden, I think one of the biggest challenges can be finding flowers that give you showy color for a long time.

Most perennials only bloom for a few weeks, and then they’re done for the season.

The beauty of Jupiter’s Beard is that it will keep pushing out new flower blooms over the whole summer.

The only catch is that you need to keep up with trimming off the faded blooms, so new buds can grow in.

Jupiters Beard is a long-blooming flower for semi-arid gardens

And if you don’t trim off the dead blooms?

Well, this happy-go-lucky plant will send its seeds EVERYWHERE.

It’s like a birthday card with glitter on it. No many how many times you vacuum, you keep finding more glitter.

Friends, the seeds on this plant are like glitter.

So, put Jupiter’s Beard in a spot you want to fill in with more flowers OR be diligent about trimming off the dead blooms.

You can find Jupiter’s Beard with red, pink or white flowers.

The red variety is more of a dark pink than a true red, but it’s still very pretty.

Jupiter's Beard (aka, Centranthus and Red Valerian) comes in red, pink and white colors.

Jupiter’s Beard is happiest when it gets a lot of sunshine (6+ hours/day).

It grows well up to elevations of about 9,000 feet.

And if you’re familiar with plant hardiness zones (which tell you whether a plant is likely to survive winter temperatures in your area), Jupiter’s Beard typically grows well in gardens in zones 4-9.

Jupiter's Beard comes in flower colors like pink, white and red

Do you live outside the intermountain west?

If you live in another region of the country, ask at your local garden center whether Jupiter’s Beard can be grown where you live.

Jupiter’s Beard can spread aggressively in maritime regions (like the West Coast), so there are places where it isn’t allowed.

Related tips that may interest you:

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Ann from Go West Gardener with her flowerpots and garden

Hey there, I'm Ann

I’m a professional garden writer, master gardener, blogger and Colorado girl. I help flower lovers in the intermountain west get more beauty with less effort. More about Ann >>

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