You know butterflies like a mixed environment really, don't need all flowers. I'd just throw in a whole bunch of colorful flowers around what is already there for the butterfly garden. I have a lot of butterfly plants planted around in bed after bed, and I find the messier the bed, the more they like it! As for the side, some large perennials like hosta or heuchera would look OK between the spirea. Hard to say what to do because the question is, what do you want to do? Looks fine as is. Picture of whole house would help folks figure out how garden relates to architectural features of the house.

Cannot imagine that spireas would be happy with only 2-3 hours of sun. And the bed is too shallow back to front and the spireas much too close too the house. Remove and replace with plants for shade.

Thank you. What does the bed being too shallow mean? Sorry, I am a complete beginner. Do the spireas grow beyond 2-3 feet? (saw that in a web site) I think there is some space between them and the house. I will take better pics and post after we are done with this rain! I will also need to think about what exactly I want and remeasure how much sun this area gets because the spirea did bloom in June.

In general, how much space should be left next to the house when planting. For example, if a plant's spread is given as 2-3 feet by the seller, how far away from the home must we plant this? 3 feet away, so that it touches the house when mature or 4 feet away, so that there is room. (from a 'don't destroy the home' perspective)

For me, the picture of side of your house is not meaningful. It would be better if you backed up with the camera, found a position in line with the CENTER of the scene, squared up with the house, and then photographed some extra space beyond immediately left and right of where you are thinking of planting. This might mean taking more than one slightly overlapping shot.

The large blank wall space indicates you might want a larger shrub. But such a shrub would not fit into your shallow (front to back depth ... not depth of soil) bed.

I will post better pictures over the weekend. Thanks!

An explanation of a shallow bed: stand at the edge of the bed, facing the house. Measure from the house out to where you are standing. If that distance is less than 3 feet, it's a shallow bed. Four to six feet is preferred.

Edited to add: it is preferable that plants not touch the house for several reasons. Large plantings can hide intruders lurking near the house. Heavy foliage can retain moisture on the side of the house, which leads to rot and mildew. Plantings so close to the house as to be placed under the eaves tend to receive little sun and rain.

The side of your house with the spirea that receives only a few hours of sun looks like an ideal spot for low-maintenance shade lovers such as ferns, astilbes, hostas, brunneras, etc.

There are many varieties of spirea, which grow to varying heights. I have no idea what kind you have but they look like they might be magic carpet, which is a fairly ubiquitous type of spirea. They don't do well in shade but will grow in shade, but they don't bloom as much in shade, which is really what spirea have going for them.

Better pics:

Front view: This faces east but at an angle (north east). The front gets 6+ hours of sun.

The front-left side bit where chair frames can be seen is 84x110 inches. This is blank right now. I would like to add some perennials like Echinacea (pow wow wild berry) and annuals in varying heights. But undecided on which side the tall plants should face.

The right side bit is 147x165 inches. Currently there are two knockout roses, a Coreopsis, Sedum kamtschaticum on this side (As seen in the original post's 2nd pic). I want to remove them and add a bench under the window. Maybe have a little walking path to the magnolia with the rest being a little butterfly garden. (There is a little park and some shops in front of this so its nice to sit and people watch)

There is a bit of 15 inches space in front of the fence. In this space, I was wondering if I can add perennials likes Shasta daisy (snow lady), Sage (Merleau Blue), Coreopsis (Sunfire, Rising sun or Moonbean) or I might just add annuals like petunia.

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Side view:

The sun to side yard is blocked a little by the magnolia on the side. It gets about 2-3 hours of sun.

I measured the side bed, it looks small in this angle, but it is 72 inches (where it tapers) The front bit where it looks wider is 100inches)

The spireas are 15 to 30 inches away from the wall of the home. Is that too close?

I guess I was seduced by the lush side yard photos of houzz :) so want to plant a lot more even if it is not visible from front. If I remove spireas, was thinking a mix of hydrangeas, shade perennials and annuals.

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Cannot really see much from the front because the magnolia blocks the view.

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These are probably all very foolish ideas. I am so embarrassed as I type this. Please talk some sense into me!

It isn't a foolish idea. You will love the butterflies and the hummingbirds that will visit--hang out a hummingbird feeder. You will want to plant some caterpillar food sources with your flowers. There are mini sized varieties of butterfly bushes that would work in your little garden.

Your little area is neat and well maintained. If you take the lower limbs off the magnolia it will look better and open up that corner a little.

You can also add a bird feeder--sunflower kernels are the least messy and most loved by a variety of birds and you won't have messy hulls. It can be hung on one of those shepherds hooks. Add a bird bath and watch the birds bathe and drink. I had 9 bluebirds in my bird bath yesterday and they were having a pool party--water everywhere.

I hope you will go for it and enjoy the nature around you

Beautiful little yard with lots of potential. I had spirea growing in partial shade and they looked anemic but did bloom a little bit and did attract butterflies. Clethera is a similar shrub that does better in the shade. Another is spicebush, which is known for attracting swallowtailed butterflies. You will be able to plant a lovely garden even in shade, but I have one more 60K question--are there deer grazing around your neighborhood? If so, all bets are off and we may need to go in a different direction with the advice.

I'm not sure, but I think hydrangeas need more sun than your side yard. There are lots of viburnum shrub varieties that do well in shade though. Here's a photo of one of ours, (Blackhaw viburnum) from the side of a building. You might want to go with something smaller, but it does give you an idea of some of the possibilities. I've heard of one viburnum called "Blue Muffin" that was bred smaller. I'm sure there are many other dwarf varieties.

Edited to add that is not much of a butterfly attracting shrub. For that you probably want something like clethera or sweetspire. The key to having a lot of butterflies though, is having larval food nearby.

Thank you all for the ideas! I would love for my daughter to grow up with some butterflies and birds! I will check the plants suggested.

There is no chance of deer in my area.

For your butterfly garden I recommend looking up some plants native to your area. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website is fantastic for this. If you use plants that the native butterflies prefer you'll likely get more activity than with plants like Butterfly Bush. I've never seen much activity at the one at my mom's house but I had lots of activity on the salvia in my front yard. Another (non-native) option is catmint.

The smaller shrub abelia (several have variegation and colorful leaves), lantana and the butterfly bushes in my garden stay covered up with butterflies. A garden with anchor shrubs, perennials, bulbs and annuals would have all season interest.