Tips for a Successful Butterfly Garden
- Plant flowers in masses to attract the attention of passing butterflies.
- Select a combination of plants that bloom at different times of the year.
- Use both caterpillar food plants and nectar plants to lure adult butterflies.
Female butterflies look for a suitable food plant on which to lay their eggs.
- Offer pieces of overripe fruit. This lures butterflies such as the Empress Leilia
that are attracted to rotting fruit and tree sap but rarely flowers.
- Furnish windbreaks.
- Provide shade for hot days.
- Install flat rocks for resting places in both morning sun and all day shade.
- Supply damp soil from which butterflies can absorb salts and nutrients.
- If a plant seems to have too many caterpillars, either put in additional
plants of the same variety or pick off the excess caterpillars. These surplus
caterpillars can be dumped in a bucket of soapy water. Getting rid of
caterpillars, however, reduces the number of butterflies.
- Do not use Asian or Australian plants in place of native American plants.
Plants in the Senna and Aristolochia genera from Asia, for example, kill
our local caterpillars because they contain different poisons than those
the caterpillars are adapted to.
- Avoid using pesticides. They harm butterflies and hummingbirds.
Let birds remove the bugs, or spray them off with water.
Butterfly Plants Providing Nectar - Low Water
Aloysia gratissima: Whitebrush / Bee Brush
Aloysia wrightii: Oreganillo, Bee Brush
Antigonon leptopus: Coral Vine
Buddleja marrubiifolia: Woolly Butterfly Bush
Calliandra californica: Baja Fairy Duster
Conoclinium dissectum (Eupatorium greggii): Blue Mist
Coreopsis tinctoria: Calliopsis
Cosmos bipinnatus: Cosmos
Cosmos sulphureus: Yellow Cosmos
Dalea capitata: Lemon Dalea
Ericameria laricifolia: Turpentine Brush
Gaillardia aristata: Firewheel
Hymenoxys acaulis: Angelita Daisy
Hyptis emoryi: Desert Lavender
Lantana montevidensis: Trailing Lantana
Melampodium leucanthum: Black Foot Daisy
Merremia dissecta: Alamo Vine
Tagetes lemmonii: Mount Lemmon Marigold
Zinnia grandiflora: Prairie Zinnia
Butterfly Plants Providing Nectar - Moderate Water
Lantana camara:
Lantana
Rapidly grows to 3' high and 5' wide or more. Green
leaves to 3" long can irritate skin.
Small flowers clustered into multicolored hemispheres of yellow,
orange, red and other colors. Blooms summer through early fall.
Attracts butterflies.
Small, toxic, black or blue-black berries attract birds.
Native origin in tropical America.
Full sun improves bloom. Low to moderate water. Drought tolerant
once established. Fertilizer or amended soil improves performance.
Evergreen perennial. Dies to ground when temperature drops
below 28°F but usually recovers from root in spring.
USDA hardiness zones from 7,8,9 to 11 depending on cultivar.
Caterpillar Food Plants Providing Nectar
By allowing caterpillars to crawl on and consume these plants,
you are helping to produce the next generation of butterflies.
Acacia angustissima:
Fern Acacia
Grows to 3' high. Abundant, dark-green, tiny leaves on
thornless stems give fern-like appearance. Leaves fold up
when touched and at night. Sometimes used as livestock forage.
White puff-ball flowers, 0.5" wide, bloom May to September.
Attracts butterflies and insects. Food plant for
Acacia Skipper caterpillar.
Brown seed pods to 3" long. Seeds attract quail
and other birds. Deep taproot. Plant has woody rhizomes that
can form colonies and reduce soil erosion.
Native to Arizona through Louisiana, parts of the
Midwestern United States, Florida, Mexico and Central America.
Drought tolerant but does best with rain. Never fertilize -
this plant has nitrogen-fixing roots.
Perennial. Dies to ground with first hard frost.
USDA hardiness zones 6-10.
Anisacanthus thurberi: Desert Honeysuckle
Asclepias curasavica:
Blood Flower
Grows 3-4' high. Green elliptic leaves, to 5" long,
pointed at both ends.
Orange and red flowers, in clusters, bloom spring to fall.
Attracts butterflies.
Food plant for Monarch and Queen caterpillars.
Plant is poisonous. Sap is skin irritant.
Native to tropical and subtropical Americas.
Full sun to part shade. Moderate to regular water. Perennial.
USDA hardiness zones 8b-11; evergreen in zones 9b-11.
Dies to ground in zones 8b-9a but can recover in spring.
Asclepias linaria: Pineneedle Milkweed
Asclepias subulata: Desert Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa: Butterfly Weed
Dalea frutescens: Black Dalea
Dalea greggii: Trailing Indigo Bush
Dalea pulchra: Indigo Bush
Helianthus maximiliani:
Maxmillian's Sunflower
Depending on variety, these plants grow 3-8' high.
Summer bloom starting in second year from seed. Attracts
butterflies. Food plants for Elada Checkerspot and Painted Lady
caterpillars. Perennial.
Native to North American plains and Southwestern United States.
Low to moderate water. Needs well-drained soil. Full sun.
USDA hardiness zones 3-8.
Thymophylla pentachaeta:
Five-needle Pricklyleaf
A perennial growing up to 8" high. Thread-like
green leaves form dense feathery mound. Yellow daisy-like flowers
bloom intermittently spring to fall. Reseeds freely.
Attracts butterflies.
Food plant for Dainty Sulfur caterpillar.
Native to Southwestern United States and Mexico.
Full sun. Drought tolerant. Weekly water during hot weather
for best performance. USDA hardiness zones 9-10.
Verbesina encelioides: Golden Crownbeard
Caterpillar Food Plants with Flowers not Attracting Butterflies
By allowing caterpillars to crawl on and
consume these plants,
you are helping to produce the next generation of
butterflies.
Aristolochia watsonii:
Desert Pipevine
A trailing vine to 3' long. Small, green, arrowhead shaped
leaves turn purple in full sun, low water conditions.
Blooms late spring to early fall. A food plant of
Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar.
Plants are sometimes sold at desert native nurseries.
Native to Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico.
Very drought tolerant.
Full sun to part shade. Perennial. USDA hardiness zone 7-9.
Atriplex canescens: Four-Wing Saltbush
Pseudognaphalium Arizonicum:
Arizona Cudweed
Grows 7-20" inches high. Stems and linear
leaves are silver-green to silver depending on abundance of
whitish hairs. Tiny yellow flower clusters are bundled as
rods in whitish bracts. Food plant for the Painted Lady
caterpillar. Native to Arizona, Texas and Mexico.
Very drought tolerant. Full sun or part shade.
Needs no maintenance. Garden appearance is low silvery bush.
Blooms September to October. Annual with deep taproot.
Senna hirsuta v. glaberrima: Slimpod Senna
Senna wislizenii: Shrubby Senna
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