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Seldom does a sight of a butterfly go un-admired. There are several things you can do to attract butterflies to your garden: provide lots of nectar bearing flowers, food for caterpillars, sunshine, sheltering trees and shrubs and small mud puddles. Butterflies are out, but the coldest months and it is important to provide flowers from early spring until late autumn. These insects tastes with their feet, which have special receptors for sweetness, and the length of a butterfly's tongue determine the type of flower it can dine on.
If you supply a steady succession of colorful, nectar rich host plants, the lingering butterflies may even mate in your garden. Each species lays its eggs near a certain kind of "host"plant and its caterpillars are adapted to eat only this particular plant with only a few exceptions. At hatching, a tiny hungry larva emerges and begins feeding on the host plant. As it grows it will shed it skin several times, each time replacing it with a larger one. After about three weeks it turns into a chrysalis. This is when the transformation of an adult butterfly emerges, and begins searching for food and a mate. You can't have butterflies without caterpillars, and caterpillars eat plants! Plant a little extra for them and learn to live with their munching. Caterpillars watching can be fun, especially for children.
Butterflies are cold blooded creatures, and must warm their wings in the sun before they can fly. Adding flat stones to your garden will allow them to land and bask in the sun. Male butterflies engage in a behavior called "puddling" which transfers beneficial nutrients that enhance the viability of the female's eggs. You can create an artificial puddle by burying a shallow bucket of soil then placing a few sticks or rocks on top as butterfly perches. Be sure to add water when dry. Remember also that pesticides will kill not only targeted insects but also butterflies and caterpillars. Always use the least toxic pesticide necessary to control an insect infestation and use it in the infested area only.
Since many butterfly's over winter as chrysalis it is best to cut back your perennial garden in the spring. "A tidy garden is a dead butterfly garden".
Next I assemble a small list of plants that will help attract butterflies to your garden. All are available from the BLOSSOM FARM.
Butterfly Nectar Plants
Inula
Joe Pye Weed
Yarrow
Butterfly weed
Centaurea
Dianthus
Helen's Flower
Liatris
Oregano
Sages
Mint
Daisies
Malva
Obedient Plant
Sea Holly
Hollyhock
Anise Hyssop
Butterfly Bush
Jupiter's Beard
Cone flower
Inula
Statice
Painted Daisy
Thyme
Sweet Pea
Hollyhock
Scabiosa
Sedum
Bluemist
Sedum
Hyssop
Rosemary
Ammonium
Aster
Coreopsis
False Sunflower
Lavender
Bee balm
Rudbeckia
Garlic Chives
Chives
Artemisia Species
Pussytoes
Loosestrife
Globe Thistle
Valerian
Veronica
Rue
CATERPILLAR FOOD
Mints
Butterfly Weed
Malva
Parsley
Hops
Sorrels Aster
Viola
Rue
Tarragon
Goldenrod
Licorice
Dill
Hops Vine
Fennel
False Indigo (Baptisia)
Guide created: 10/07/05 (updated 03/27/09)
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