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| Monarch butterfly on a coral-pink zinnia blossom |
Five Easy Steps for Your Best Butterfly Habitat
1) Grow your butterfly garden in a sunny, wind-protected site.
Butterflies need warm temperatures to enable them to stay active, as they are cold-blooded and cannot internally regulate their body temperature. They will bask in the sun to keep their bodies warm. A sunny garden will provide nesting sites as well. It is a good idea to have partly shady areas as well, like trees or shrubs, so they can hide when it's cloudy or cool off if it is very hot.
2) Grow a wide variety of nectar plants.
Different species of butterflies have different preferences of nectar, in both colors and tastes. A wide variety of food plants will give the greatest diversity of visitors. Try staggering wild and cultivated plants, as well as blooming times of the day and year. Groups of the same plants will be easier for butterflies to see than singly planted flowers.
3) Grow larval food sources.
Another way to attract adult butterflies to your yard is to offer places (food plants) for females to lay their eggs. Some females are pickier about which host to lay their eggs on than others. We have noted some flowers that butterflies seek out, below.
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| A Monarch caterpillar feeding on Asclepias tuberosa |
4) Provide muddy puddles.
Butterflies also like puddles. Males of several species congregate at small rain pools, forming puddle clubs. Permanent puddles are very easy to make by burying a bucket to the rim, filling it with gravel or sand, and then pouring in liquids such as stale beer, sweet drinks or water. Overripe fruit, allowed to sit for a few days is a very attractive substance (to them!) as well. This puddling activity may boost the reproductive capability of male butterflies as the mineral and amino acid content of the muddy puddles is significant, especially in sodium. Some butterflies like rotting fruit, dung or even carrion.
5) Do not use pesticides!
A simple concoction of Ivory soap and water will suffocate most soft-bodied pests, such as aphids. Remember, the butterfly larvae will eat the leaves of your host plants. This damage is one way to find the caterpillars, and the damaged plants should never be treated for "pests".
Nectar Sources: Must-Have Flowers
- Coneflower (Native)
- Coreopsis (Native)
- Lantana
- Rudbeckia (Native)
- Verbena
- Zinnia
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| White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae) butterfly, a southern butterfly, landing on Lantana camara flowers |
5 Star Favorites
- Ageratum
- Catmint
- Cosmos
- Dame's Rocket
- Flowering Tobacco
- Lavender
- Petunia
- Phlox
- Sweet Scabious
- Tithonia
- Wild bergamot (Native)
- Joe Pye Weed (Native)
- Scabiosa
- Sunflowers
- Yarrow
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| An Eastern Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) butterfly on Tithonia rotundifolia 'Torch' |
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Eupatorium dubium or Joe-pye Weed is a great native plant for butterfly gardens.
Try cultivars 'Little Joe' or 'Baby Joe' for a more manageable size plant! |
Larval Food Sources
More Info About Butterflies
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