How to Design a Butterfly Garden with Specific Butterflies in Mind

Butterflies are not all that different from humans when searching out a place to settle down and live. They look for a comfortable area to rest, eat, drink and, most importantly, a good place to raise their children. By designing a butterfly garden that provides for all their needs, you can go from having a yard where butterflies merely stop in for a visit to a place where they will want to hang their chrysalis and call home.

What Butterflies Look For In a Garden
Butterflies require two types of plants during their lifetime: a host plant for laying their eggs and feeding the caterpillars and nectar plants for feeding the adults. Different types of butterflies are attracted to different types of host plants and nectar plants. Plant an assortment of butterfly friendly plants to attract a wide variety of butterflies or choose specific plants to attract your favorite type of butterfly.

Butterflies need sunshine to warm themselves. Plant your butterfly garden in an area that receives at least 5-6 hours of sunlight each day. Provide a few flat stones mixed in with the plants to give the butterflies an area to spread their wings and rest in the sun. Make sure the area you choose has protection from the wind to make it easier for the butterflies to feed and sunbathe.

Butterflies require water in addition to their nectar. Keep a damp mud puddle somewhere in your butterfly garden. A bucket or bird feeder filled with sand and water will also suit their needs. Use enough water to moisten the sand without making the bucket version of a pond.

Choosing Your Butterfly Garden Plants
There are over 17,500 species of butterflies in the world. Approximately 750 of those live in the United States. Those numbers are further broken down by region, state and even county. Before planting your butterfly garden, it is important to know which butterflies are in your area. This will allow you to plant flowers and shrubs that are of interest to your local varieties. The website Butterfliesandmoths.org offers an online map that you can use to learn which butterflies are living around you.

Butterfly season generally starts in April and goes through October. When planning your butterfly garden, choose a variety of plants that will bloom at different times throughout these months. If everything blooms in the spring, your butterflies will pack up and move on by summer.

A standard butterfly garden includes a mix of annuals, perennials, herbs and shrubs. Plants that are considered butterfly friendly include: Alyssum, Anise, Aster, Bee Balm, Butterfly Bush, Butterfly Weed, Catnip, Chives, Clover, Columbine, Coreopsis, Cornflower, Cosmos, Day Lily, Delphinium, Dianthus, Digitalis (Foxglove), Dill, Echinacea (Purple Coneflower), Fennel, Honeysuckle, Hollyhock, Impatiens, Lavender, Lilac, Lobelia, Lupine, Marigold, Milkweed, Mint, Nasturtium, Parsley, Petunia, Phlox, Queen Anne's Lace, Salvia, Sage, Shasta Daisy, Snapdragon, Sunflower, Sweet Peas, Sweet William, Thistle, Trumpet Vine, Verbena, Veronica, Yarrow, Zinnia.

Attracting Specific Types of Butterflies
You can attract your favorite type of butterfly to your garden by choosing plants that are appealing to that particular variety. Some butterflies like several types of plants. Other butterflies have a more refined palate and look for one or two specific flowers.

Below is a list of common butterflies, most of which are found throughout the entire United States, and their preferred host and nectar plants. Check Butterfly guidebooks or online sites, such as Butterfliesandmoths.org, for information on the host and nectar plants of butterflies specific to your area.

Monarch - The Monarch is one of the most commonly known butterflies in North America. It has large orange and black wings. The Monarch prefers Milkweed as a host plant. For nectar, it feeds on such plants as Milkweed, Aster, Cosmos, Daisy, Red Clover, and Zinnia.

Viceroy - Though smaller, this butterfly is often mistaken for a Monarch. It prefers trees as its host plants, including Aspen, Apple, Cherry, Plum and Poplar. It has a similar nectar diet to the Monarch, searching out Milkweed, Aster, Cosmos, Daisy, Red Clover, Golden Rod and Zinnia.

Painted Lady - This is one of the most common butterflies in North America. Its orange wings have brown spots and are tipped in black with white spots. The Painted Lady prefers Thistle, Daisy, Hollyhock, Mallow and Burdock as host plants and Aster, Zinnia, Thistle, Cosmos, and Blazing Star for nectar plants.

Pipevine Swallowtail - This black and blue butterfly looks for Dutchman's pipe, Knotweed, Pipevines, and Wild Ginger as host plants. It likes Azalea, Honeysuckle, and Butterfly Bushes as nectar plants.

Eastern Black Swallow Tail - This butterfly has black and blue wings with orange and white spots. It looks for vegetables and herbs as host plants, including Carrots, Celery, Parsley, Rue and Dill. Adults feed on Phlox and Milkweed. The Easter Black Swallow Tail is primarily found in the Midwest and Eastern North America.

Mourning Cloak - The Mourning Cloak has brownish-maroon wings that are edged with blue dots and a cream stripe. This butterfly is communal and lays their eggs in large groups. They seek out trees, such as Elm, Poplar, Birch and Willow, as their host plants. The adults feed on the nectar of Milkweed, Shasta Daisy, Butterfly Bush and other meadow flowers. They are also very fond of rotting fruit.

Red Admiral - The Red Admiral has black wings with red patches and white spots. They prefer Nettle as a host plant and use Clover, Aster, Dandelion, Goldenrod, Mallow and Cosmos as nectar plants.

Buckeye - The Buckeye has brownish wings with bars of orange, white blotches and ocelli (spots that look like eyes). They are fond of Snapdragons, Stonecrop, and Verbena as host plants, though they will also use other common garden flowers. They like Lantana, Cosmos and Clover for nectar plants.

Pearly Crescentspot - 'Old Pearly' is a small, but aggressive, meadow butterfly. It has orange wings with black patches, spots and lines. It sticks to Asters as host plants and Zinnia, Daisy, Clover and Goldenrod for nectar plants.

Tailed Blue - The Tailed Blue is a small, but beautiful, butterfly. It has purple wings with black and orange spots. Its host plants are Clover, Peas, and Beans. Its preferred nectar plants are Daisy, Dandelion, Clover and Milkweed.

Spring Azure - The Spring Azure, also called the Common Blue, is one of the first butterflies to appear in the spring. Its host plants include Blueberry, Dogwood, Spirea and Apple. For nectar, it enjoys meadow flowers such as Daisy, Clover, Dandelion, Forget-Me-Not and Milkweed.

Clouded Sulphur - The Clouded Sulphur has lemon-yellow wings that are edged in black and have a single black spot on each forewing. Their host plant is Clover and they enjoy Goldenrod, Grape Hyacinth, Marigold, Dandelion, Daisy and Milkweed for nectar plants.