Butterfly Gardens

ANR-1290 New March 2006. Kerry Smith, Extension Home Horticulture Associate and Alabama Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Auburn University.

utterflies have long fascinated humans. The ancient Egyptians, and later the Romans, believed they were symbols of the human soul. To make a wish come true, Native Americans suggested whispering it to a butterfly. They were messengers of the Great Spirit. Some native cultures of Mexico and the western United States believed butterflies were symbols of fertile ground. Today tourists flock to the Monterey peninsula and central Mexico’s Transvolcanic Belt to see the monarch masses overwintering there.

To invite butterflies to your garden, you will first need to understand their life cycle. Butterflies have four stages of development: egg, caterpillar (or larva), chrysalis, and winged adult. Accommodate the needs of each stage for greatest success.

Adult butterflies lay eggs on host plants so the larvae will have the necessary food to mature. At the end of this larval stage, they need a sturdy, protected place to attach and form the chrysalis. Adults survive eating sweet flower nectar.

Accommodating Each Stage

Host Plants

Most butterfly caterpillars have specific food preferences. Monarchs, for example, only lay eggs on milkweed. Black swallowtails lay eggs on any member of the carrot family, such as parsley, fennel, and dill, but no other plants. Once a caterpillar eats its first plant meal, it cannot survive on any other plant. See the chart below of host plants for different butterfly species.

Suggested Larval Food Plants Adult Butterfly
Aster (Aster species) Pearly crescentspot

Cherry laurel, black cherry, wild plum
(Prunus species) Tiger swallowtail

Clover (Trifolium species) and other legumes Sulfur and gray hairstreak

Dill, carrot, parsley, fennel, Queen Anne’s lace
(Umbelliferae, parsley family) Black swallowtail

Dogwood (Cornus species) and viburnum Spring azure

Elm (Ulmus species) and willow Morning cloak, viceroy, and question mark

Hackberry (Celtis species) Hackberry butterfly

Milkweed (Asclepias species) Monarch

Mustard family Cabbage and checkered white

Native grasses Various skippers

Oak (Quercus species) Banded hairstreak

Passion flower (Passiflora species) Gulf fritillary and zebra longwing

Paw paw (Asimina species) Zebra swallowtail

Pearly everlasting
(Antennaria, Anaphalis, and Gnaphalium) American painted lady

Pipevine (Aristolochia species) Pipevine swallowtail

Plantain (Plantago species) and snapdragon Buckeye

Sassafrass (Sassafrass occidentalis) Palamedes swallowtail

Senna and coffeeweed (Cassia species) Cloudless giant sulfur

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) Spicebush swallowtail

Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) Red-spotted purple

Use a good reference book to identify which caterpillars become which butterflies. For example, by learning that parsley worms become black swallowtails, you will know not to kill those caterpillars. Plant extra host plants if you need any for your own use.

Pesticides

To avoid harming butterflies, which are insects, be careful when applying chemicals on or near plants. Spot treating pest insects with insecticidal soaps or oils leaves no chemical residue to harm caterpillars. You can handpick some pests, such as beetles. A regular, hard blast of water can remove other plant pests, such as aphids, that cause unplanned plant damage.

Another advantage of decreased garden chemical use is the presence of other garden helpers, which pesticides can kill. These are beneficial critters, such as spiders, lacewings, ladybugs, and ground beetles that eat the plant pests. There are also other pollinators, such as honey bees, that benefit from reduced chemical use.

Location

Butterfly gardens should be in full sun. All insects are cold-blooded. Their body temperature is dependent on the environmental temperature. Enhance the suns warming energy with stepping stones or a gravel path. Butterfly adults will bask in these areas to warm themselves from the radiant heat. Your garden will also benefit, because most of the plants used by butterflies grow best in full sun.

Shelters

Include a few blooming shrubs in your butterfly garden or have evergreens nearby for shelter. Butterflies will hide in these areas on cloudy days or at night and find protection from the rain and wind when needed. Your garden might even be located near the garage, gazebo, or garden shed. These permanent structures also give shelter and protection.

Chrysalids also benefit from these places. After a couple weeks (varies by butterfly species), the caterpillars seek something sturdy for chrysalid attachment. If the host plant is sturdy, such as fennel, they’ll likely just use a rigid, inner stem. However, not all host plants satisfy this need. If you plan accordingly, woody stems, benches, arbors, or other solid supports will be ornamented with various chrysalids by July.

Puddles

Male butterfly adults need to puddle. They obtain water and minerals from the shallows of these wet places. To make a permanent puddle, bury a shallow pan of wet gravel or sand to its rim. Fill it with liquids, such as fruit drinks or plain tap water. You might even sprinkle it periodically with liquid fertilizer when boosting the garden plants. Some butterflies, such as the viceroy, like to drink from rotten fruit. Locate the compost pile nearby and allow rotting fruit to occasionally stay on top.

Flowers

Flowers provide the nectar food adult butterflies need. Butterfly season in Alabama is early spring to late fall. Choose a variety of plants, including annuals, perennials, and woody shrubs, to have flowers continuously through the seasons. This plant diversity also attracts a greater variety of butterfly visitors. Many of our native butterflies more often visit purple, red, orange, and yellow flowers.

How many insects have you noticed flying in a straight line? Remember, butterflies are insects. Their compound eyes have poor vision for distinguishing tiny details. Large sweeps of each flower are most attractive to these near-sighted creatures.

Also, consider their mouth parts. Butterflies suck liquid food with a straw-like mouth. Tubular-shaped flowers are ideally suited. Butterflies prefer clusters of tubular or flat-topped flowers, but remember to have variety. Different species have different preferences for flower size. Compound flowers, such as verbena, daisies, and butterfly bushes, offer numerous nectar containers for sipping in a single stop.

Nectar

Butterflies have a highly developed sense of smell in their antennae. They seek flowers with rich nectar. Surprisingly, some of our newer plant varieties have little sugary nectar due to the breeding and selection process for other plant traits. Choose open-pollinated, fragrant, flowering plants with a single petal row rather than double. Fragrance is sometimes a nectar signal that you can easily detect.

Keys to choosing flowers in your butterfly garden are long bloom time, a variety of plants, large areas of a single color, tubular-shaped and compound flowers, and rich nectar. See the chart below for recommended flowering plants.

Nectar Sources for Adult Butterflies

Shrubs
Plant Flower Color Bloom Period

Azalea variable spring

Buddleia variable summer to fall

Sumac white spring

Vaccinium spp. white, light pink spring to early summer

Viburnum white spring

Abelia white, lavender summer

Lantana variable summer (this plant may be invasive in south Alabama)

Annuals
Plant Flower Color Bloom Period

Alyssum violet, white summer to fall

Candytuft white, pink spring to summer

Cosmos white, pink, red, yellow summer

Gaillardia yellow, orange summer to fall

Impatiens variable summer to fall

Marigold yellow, orange summer to fall

Scabiosa blue, rose, white summer to fall

Verbena variable summer to fall (some annual, some perennial)

Zinnia variable summer to fall

Pansy, viola, and pinnola variable fall to spring

Pentas pink, purple, white, red summer

Perennials
Aster white, lavender, yellow summer to fall

Bee balm red, white, pink summer

Butterfly weed (milkweed) orange, pink, red, yellow summer

Salvias variable summer to fall

Catmint lavender summer

Phlox pink, lavender, white spring, summer to fall

Primrose variable spring

Purple coneflower purple, white midsummer

Sedum spectabile pink late summer

Boneset white, purple late summer

Black-eyed susan yellow summer

Blazing star purple summer

Dandelion yellow spring to fall

Goldenrod yellow late summer

Joe-Pye-Weed lavender late summer

Yarrow variable spring to early summer

References

Any time you are learning something new, it is best to have some references. For greater success in your butterfly garden, learn more about butterflies. Identify the adults and caterpillars, their food preferences, and where they live.

Brock, Jim P. and Kenn Kaufman. 2003. Butterflies of North America. Kaufman Focus Guides.

Glassberg, Jeffrey. 1999. Butterflies Through Binoculars: The East.

Potter-Springer, Wendy. 1990. “Grow a Butterfly Garden.” Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin A-114.

Pyle, Robert Michael. 1981. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies.

Tekulsky, Mathew. 1986. The Butterfly Garden: Turning Your Garden, Window Box, or Backyard into a Beautiful Home for Butterflies.

Wagner, David L. 2005. Caterpillars of Eastern North America: A Guide to Identification and Natural History. Princeton Field Guides.

Wright, Amy Bartlett, and Roger Tory Peterson. 1998. Peterson First Guide to Caterpillars of North America.

For more information, contact your county Extension office. Visit http://www.aces.edu/counties or look in your telephone directory under your county's name to find contact information.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.

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