Why Plant a Butterfly Garden?
Increasing urban sprawl has been causing butterfly populations to decrease. Open fields and meadows (homes to butterflies) have been destroyed and developed at an alarming rate. Planting a butterfly garden is a small step in re-creating an environment for these fragile insects. Butterfly gardens can be a integral part of your landscapes.
Elements of a Butterfly Garden
- A sunny location is a must.
- Must provide food for caterpillars.
- Must provide nectar for adults.
- Needs to provide flowers from spring through fall.
- Should be sheltered from the wind.
- Rocks or evergreen plants should be included in the design since they absorb heat. Butterflies can not fly if their body temperature is too low.
- Pesticides cannot be used.
Garden bed with Russian sage, butterfly weed and Black-eyed Susan.
Maintaining a Butterfly Garden
Proper care of a butterfly garden is just as important as choosing appropriate plants to attract butterflies. Perennials should not be cut down in fall since hibernating adults or egg masses may be removed. Weeding in gardens can be done, but many weed species will attract butterflies. Weeds can provide food for many species. No pesticides should ever be used on a butterfly garden. This also includes drift from applying pesticides to nearby trees, shrubs, or lawns.
- Several Painted Lady butterflies feeding on the nectar of Sedum flowers in fall.
Other Helpful Ideas
Butterflies are also attracted to areas of water, especially small puddles and areas that flood after rain. Using bird baths or bowls of wet can serve this purpose. Not all butterflies feed on nectar. Putting out rotting fruit can help attract these ones. Also, butterfly feeders (with sugar water) can be put out to help attract butterflies. Butterflies also need places to hibernate. These places include rocks, log piles, tree trunks, and other crevasses.
Favorite Nectar Plants
Trees
Aesculus sp. (buckeye)
Prunus sp. (plum, cherry)
Salix (willow)
Syringa (lilac)
Shrubs
Buddleia (butterfly bush)
Ceonothus (New Jersey tea)
Clethra (summer sweet)
Ligustrum (privet)
Syringa (lilac)
Perennials
Achillea (yarrow)
Allium (chives)
Asclepsias (butterfly weed)
Asclepsias (milkweed)
Aster species
Chrysanthemum (daisy)
Coreopsis (Tickseed)
Echinacea (coneflower)
Eupatorium maculatum (Joe-pye weed)
Gaillardia (blanket flower)
Helenium (sneezeweed)
Hemerocallis (daylily)
Lavandula (lavender)
Liartis (blazing star)
Lillium (lily)
Mentha (mint)
Monarda (bee balm)
Nepeta (catmint)
Phlox (phlox)
Physostegia (obedient plant)
Rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan)
Veronica (veronica)
Vernonia (ironweed)
Annuals
Cosmos
Lantanas
Marigolds
Zinnias
Pincushion flower
Petunias
Favorite Food for Larvae
Trees
Betula (birch)
Celtis (hackberry)
Populus (poplar species)
Quercus (oak)
Robinia (locust)
Salix (willow)
Shrubs
Cornus (dogwood)
Spiraea (spirea)
Perennials
Aster (aster)
Amorpha (false indigo)
Astragalus (milk vetch)
Asclepsias (milkweed)
Chelone (turtlehead)
Cirsium (thistle)
Lupinus (lupine)
Malva (mallow)
Poa (grass species)
Polygonum (knotweed)
Sedum (stonecrop)
Vicia (vetch)
Viola (violet)
Butterflies to Attract
Swallowtails
Whites
Sulphurs
Coppers & Metalmarks
Satyrs
Skippers
Milkweed butterflies
Blues
Longwings
Hairstreaks
Anglewings & Tortoisseshells
Painted Laidies, Red Admiral, Buckeye
Cresents & Checkerspots
Admirals
Fritillaries