Cultivate A Butterfly Garden
Over the past thirty years, butterfly gardening has become popular, both to attract the beautiful travelers and to help preserve species of butterflies that were dwindling due to human encroachment into their natural habitats. If you’re planning a butterfly garden, it’s important to keep in mind that there is no one recipe for a successful garden. Butterfly species indigenous to different areas are attracted to different types of plants. In order to foster butterflies, you’ll want to know what butterfly species that are found in your area, then provide them with plants that are favored food sources for adult butterflies as well as those plants that they prefer for laying their eggs and nourishing larvae.
There are, however, some standards that apply to all butterfly gardens. Wherever you live and whatever butterflies you hope to attract, you’ll attract more of them if you follow a few simple basics:
Plant flowers in clumps and drifts. Butterflies will flock to large expanses of flowers in similar colors that bloom at the same time, rather than to single plants with just a few blooms. A carpet of violets, a sea of buttercups or a wide open field full of Queen Anne’s Lace is sure to be visited by dozens of butterflies.
Provide both sun and shade. Like all insects, butterflies are cold-blooded creatures. They thrive on warm sun, and will bask on flat rocks or perch for long minutes on the branches of a high bush in the sunlight. At the same time, they need shade and shelter when the sun is too hot, or on cool, cloudy days. An area that gets bright sun for at least 4-6 hours per day is the best spot for a butterfly garden, but don’t forget to include landscaping details that offer shade.
Provide standing water. Butterflies love puddles! Add a sunken birdbath to your garden, or provide a cluster of rocks that traps rain water to give butterflies a cool spot where they can indulge their love of water.
Regional Butterfly Species and Plants
Different species of butterflies frequent different parts of the country. For quick reference, here’s a short list of butterflies and plants that they love by region. You can find more information about which plants are best for your area at a local nursery, or the agricultural extension service at a local university.
Northeastern North America (from West Virginia up through Quebec and as far west as Indiana and Ohio)
Butterflies: Swallowtails (black, spicebush and tiger), Cabbage White, Pearl Crescent, Monarch, Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Great Spangled Fritillary
Plants: Milkweed (monarchs), fennel, parsley, carrot and dill (black swallowtails), spicebush (spicebush swallowtails), nasturtium (cabbage white), violets (great spangled fritillary), willow, birch, beech, aspen, wild cherry (many species)
Nectar Flowers: Buddleia, Heliotrope, Lantana, Milkweed, Mint, Pentas, Porterweed, Verbena and Zinnias.
Southeastern U.S.
Butterflies: Swallowtails (black, spicebush, tiger and pipevine), Buckeye, Pearl Crescent, Monarch, Cloudless Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary, Red-spotted purple
Plants: Fennel, carrot, spicebush, dill, parsley, pipevine (swallowtails), wild cherry, poplar, sassafras, passiflora, wild senna, asters, milkweed
Nectar Flowers: Same as northeast
Southern Florida
Butterflies: Polydamas swallowtail, giant swallowtail, zebra longwing, Julia, gulf fritillary, orange-barred sulphur, cloudless sulphur, monarch, queen
Plants: Milkweed, wild senna, passiflora, wild lime, citrus, dutchman’s pipe
Midwest
Butterflies: Swallowtails, Buckeye, Cloudless Sulphur, Pearl Crescent, Cabbage White, Monarch, Viceroy
Plants: Pipevines, fennel, carrot, dill, parsley, violets, nasturtium, wild senna, asters, snapdragon, verbena, cabbage, milkweed
New Mexico, Texas
Butterflies: Patch, Hackberry, Monarch, Pearl Crescent, Question Mark, Buckeye, Cloudless Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary
Plants: sunflowers, passiflora, hackberry, wild senna, milkweed, nettles, asters
Arizona, California, Nevada
Butterflies: Western tiger swallowtail, anise swallowtail, two-tailed swallowtail, black swallowtail, pale swallowtail, pipevine swallowtail, cloudless sulphur, west coast lady, Monarch, gulf fritillary
Plants: Fennel, carrots, parsley, dill, wild senna, wild plums, buckthorns, wild cherries, wild lilacs, hollyhocks, ashes, willows, aspens, poplars
Western States and Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta
Butterflies: Western tiger swallowtail, pale swallowtail, cabbage white, striped hairstreak, Wiedemeyerís Admiral, mourning cloak, monarch, great spangled fritillary, painted lady
Plants: Wild plums and cherries, aspen, willow, poplar, sunflowers, buckthorns, wild lilacs, nasturtium, blueberries, ashes, violet, chokecherry