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Butterfly Gardens for Your Region
I grew up in the city surrounded by asphalt and concrete sidewalks,
brick buildings and vacant lots – but there was no lack of
nature or butterflies in my life. Amid the sprawl of a decaying urban
landscape, the overgrown vacant lots choked with ‘weeds’
attracted so many butterflies that they would perch on my shoulders
and hands if I was still enough. These ‘accidental’
butterfly gardens provided all the ingredients that butterflies
require to congregate en masse. These same ingredients can turn your
garden into a fairy wonderland of fluttering wings and color.
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 that are indigenous to different
areas are attracted to different types of plants. In order to foster
butterflies, you’ll need to know the butterfly species that are
found in your area, and 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 larva.
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.
Butterfly gardens need to 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.
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 standing water.
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Regional Butterfly Species and Plants
Different species of butterflies frequent different parts of the
country. You can find more information about which plants are best
for your area at a local nursery, or the agricultural extension unit
at a local university. For quick reference, though, here’s a
short list of butterflies and plants that they love by region.
Northeastern N. America
From W. 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, Wiedemeyer’s 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
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