Attracting beautiful butterflies to your garden can be as simple adding a few of their favorite plants. Butterflies like a warm sunny area, so most butterfly garden plants are sun-lovers.
Nectar Plants
Nectar-producing flowers provide food for adult butterflies. It is important to have nectar sources blooming throughout the growing season, but especially in mid- to late summer, when most butterflies are active.
Annual Flowers
Annuals are good choices because they bloom throughout the entire summer and offer a steady supply of nectar. Some annuals that attract butterflies are ageratum, cosmos, heliotrope, lantana, marigold, nicotiana, scabiosa, verbena and zinnia.
Perennial Flowers
A number of perennials are also good sources of nectar, including aster, beebalm, black-eyed Susan, butterfly weed, coneflower, liatris, phlox, Joe-Pye weed and sedum.
Host Plants
A true butterfly habitat must offer not just nectar but host plants which will feed the developing butterfly caterpillars. Swallowtails use carrots, parsley, dill and fennel as larval food; monarchs seek out milkweed and butterfly weed; and the buckeye butterfly uses the snapdragon. Many others butterflies choose common trees such as birch, poplar, ash and willow on which to lay their eggs.
More Tips
Keep flowers of similar colors grouped together to attract butterflies. Flowers with multiple florets offer more nectar. Butterflies prefer to feed and lay eggs where they will not be buffeted by the wind, so if possible plant your butterfly garden in a sheltered spot. Avoid using pesticides in the garden to avoid destroying butterfly eggs and caterpillars.
