Attracting butterflies to your garden can be a rewarding experience. Not only are butterflies beautiful to observe, but they are also beneficial pollinators for many flowers and plants. With some planning and the right habitat, you can create an environment that will draw in many different species of butterflies. In this article, we’ll go over the key factors for attracting butterflies and provide tips to help you design the ideal butterfly garden.
Provide Food Sources
The most important thing you can do to attract butterflies is provide the food sources they rely on. Adult butterflies need nectar, so planting flowers that produce ample nectar will bring them in. Some top nectar-producing plants include:
- Lantana
- Verbena
- Pentas
- Zinnias
- Coneflowers
- Salvia
- Butterfly bush
- Milkweed
Aim for clusters of the same plants, as butterflies are drawn to big patches of color. Mass plantings will attract more butterflies than individual specimens scattered about. In addition to flowering plants, butterflies will feed on the juices of ripe fruit. Allow some fruit to fully ripen on trees or bushes. Oranges, peaches, prunes, and watermelon are excellent fruit sources.
Caterpillars, the larval stage of butterflies, have more specific food requirements. They feed on the leaves of certain host plants. Be sure to include host plants like fennel, dill and parsley for swallowtail caterpillars. Milkweed is a must to support monarch caterpillars. Do some research to learn the host plants for common butterflies in your area.
Provide Water Sources
In addition to food sources, butterflies need access to water. They don’t drink from open water sources like bird baths. Instead, they get water from mud puddles, wet sand or damp soil. You can create watering stations for butterflies by placing a shallow dish filled with wet sand or stones in your garden. Make sure to keep it freshly damp. Overripe or rotting fruit also provides butterflies with needed moisture.
Choose the Right Flowers
When selecting flowers and plants for your butterfly garden, keep these tips in mind:
- Emphasize nectar-producing native plants.
- Include plants that bloom at different times to provide nectar all season.
- Plant flowers of various colors to attract more species.
- Choose both annuals and perennials to include short and long-blooming flowers.
- Avoid modern hybrid flowers as they often have less nectar.
- Plant flowers in clumps or clusters rather than singly.
Some top-rated annual flowers for butterflies include zinnias, pentas, lantana, salvia, petunias, verbena and cosmos. Excellent perennial flowers include coneflowers, asters, sedum, phlox, bee balm and butterly bush.
Provide Shelter
Butterflies need protection from predators and harsh weather as they flutter through your garden. You can provide shelter for them by including various landscape features:
- Plant flowers among and around trees and shrubs, which provide protective cover.
- Leave leaf litter and dead wood to serve as shelter spots.
- Set out large flat rocks for basking and roosting.
- Avoid pruning all vegetation back severely.
- Leave safe hideaways for overnight, like brush piles.
Butterflies are cold-blooded and rely on external heat sources to warm themselves. Positioning flower beds, nectar plants and basking rocks in sunny spots will help attract more butterflies.
Choose the Right Location
When establishing your butterfly garden, consider these factors:
- Butterflies prefer sunny locations protected from strong winds.
- Caterpillars rely on very specific host plants, so ensure you can grow them.
- Damp earth areas provide butterflies with needed minerals.
- Southerly exposures offer warmth and protection.
Position your garden in a warm, relatively sheltered spot adjacent to woods, hedgerows or flowering meadows. This allows butterflies to migrate in and take shelter as needed.
Avoid Pesticides
Butterflies are quite sensitive to many common pesticides and herbicides. These chemicals can poison butterflies and caterpillars when they ingest nectar and leaves. Avoid using any pesticides, fertilizers, or other chemicals in your butterfly garden spaces. Stick to organic gardening practices to keep your plants healthy. Introduce natural predators like ladybugs instead of chemical pest control.
Provide Overwintering Sites
While most butterflies only live for a few weeks, some species overwinter as adults or caterpillars. You can provide vital overwintering sites for them by leaving certain vegetation and deadwood intact in your garden. Don’t cut back all plants and clean up the entire garden each fall. Here are some key overwintering sites to leave:
- Dead leaves, especially oak leaves, for leafwing butterflies.
- Hollow plant stems, wood piles and leaf litter for some adult butterflies.
- Standing dead trees for mourning cloak caterpillars.
- Milkweed stalks for monarchs.
Keeping your garden somewhat untidy over winter will help conserve butterflies for the next season.
Butterfly Gardening Tips
Here are some additional tips to help you design, plant and maintain an optimal butterfly garden:
- Group nectar plants together in “butterfly banquet stations.”
- Include flat rocks for basking spots.
- Provide damp soil or sand for “butterfly drinking stations.”
- Mix annuals and perennials to ensure season-long blooms.
- Limit pesticide and herbicide use throughout your yard.
- Include native grasses and sedges for shelter.
- Don’t remove all vegetation in fall. Leave overwintering sites.
- Plant in drifts of multiples to attract more butterflies.
- Position plants where they’ll get plenty of sun.
- Include shrubs and trees to provide shelter from wind and rain.
By incorporating these various elements into your garden design, you’ll have a space that meets all the habitat needs of visiting butterflies.
Plants to Attract Common Butterflies
Certain plants are especially effective for attracting popular backyard butterfly species. Here are some top plant choices based on the butterflies you want to see:
Butterfly | Favorite Nectar Plants | Caterpillar Host Plants |
---|---|---|
Monarch | Milkweed, Lantana, Verbena, Zinnias, Asters | Milkweed |
Swallowtail | Lilac, Viburnum, Buddleia, Asclepias | Carrot, Fennel, Parsley, Dill |
Painted Lady | Aster, Cosmos, Yarrow, Zinnias | Hollyhock, Mallow |
Red Admiral | Buddleia, Rotting Fruit | Nettles, Hops |
Buckeye | Verbena, Milkweed, Asters, Dogbane | Plantain, Snapdragon |
Tiger Swallowtail | Butterfly Bush, Lilac, Phlox | Birch, Cherry, Ash |
Match the plants to butterflies you’ve observed in your area. Consulting a field guide can help you identify common species.
Conclusion
Creating the ideal habitat for butterflies takes some planning, but the reward of seeing many fluttering visitors is well worth the effort. By providing key food sources, shelter, overwintering sites and choosing the right flowers and layout, you can convert your garden into a butterfly paradise. Observing the beauty and delicate activity of butterflies among the blooms will add life and magic to any outdoor space. With a diversity of plants and welcoming habitat features, you’ll be able to attract a number of different butterfly species to enjoy.