Butterflies are like bright jewels that decorate the garden. They are passing visitors to a garden and gardeners can only encourage them to linger by planting the appropriate plants. Successful butterfly gardening requires four key components; a sunny location, nectar plants, a damp site, and larval plants. Many of the plants listed are native.

1. A Sunny Location

Butterflies are cold-blooded organisms requiring a sunny location to maintain the high body temperatures required for metabolic activity. Using dark stones in the garden that will hold latent heat will also provide butterflies with a place to gather for heat on partly cloudy days. It is also a good idea to provide protection from strong winds to encourage butterflies to linger. Since female butterflies generally lay eggs in sunny locations, proper garden sighting can help encourage future butterfly generations in an area.

2. Nectar Plants

One of the easiest ways to encourage butterflies to visit a garden is to introduce the correct nectar plants. Butterflies prefer brightly colored single flowers with short corolla tubes and flowers that are large enough for the butterfly to rest on while gathering nectar. Most nectar plants require full sun and will do best in well-drained sites. By providing early spring and late fall nectar plants, gardeners can lengthen the feeding season. A mixture of woody, herbaceous perennial and annual plants can make
a great four-season garden.

Nectar Plants

Annuals:
Ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum)
Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata)
Cosmos (Cosmos sp.)
Liatris (Liatris sp.)
Marigold (Tagetes sp.)
Pentas (Pentas lanceolata)
Verbena (Verbena bonariensis)
Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)

Perennials:
Bee Balm (Monarda didyma)
Butterfly weed (Asclepias sp.)
Coreopsis (Coreopsis sp.)
Joepyeweed (Eupatoria sp.)

Phlox (Phlox sp.)
Veronica (Veronica sp.)
Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana)
Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa olumbaria)
Purple Coneflower (Echinaceae urpurea)
Salvias (Salvia sp.; most kinds)
Stone crop (Sedum spectabile)
Lavender (Lavandula sp.)

Woody Plants:
Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)
Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis)
Lilac (Syringa sp.)
Summersweet (Clethra alternafolia )

3. A Damp Site

Since butterflies do not gather water from standing water sources, an important part of successful butterfly gardening is the addition of a damp, sandy site. An easy way to create such a site in a sunny spot is to bury a small plastic water tub and fill it with a mixture of sand and soil. The plastic tub will help retain moisture by keeping it from leeching out into surrounding soil. Providing butterflies with a moist site will help create more viewing opportunities since some species gather in mass at such sites.

4. Larval Plants

The final important aspect of successful butterfly gardening is the use of larval plants. Plants such as Queen Ann's lace (Dacus carota) are great larval food sources. Hackberry (Celtis sp.) and willow (Salix sp.) are excellent plants which are cut back every three or so years to maintain a small size and provide lush growth
for larvae. Remember, though, that by providing larval plants, gardeners invite larvae (caterpillars) to come
and feed. Luckily, most butterflies are food-source specific and will not feed indiscriminately when proper
larval food sources are available.

Larval Plants:
Annuals and Biennials:
Cleome (Cleome hasslerana)
Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana alata)
Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota)
Snapdragon (Antirrhinum sp.)
Sneezeweed (Helenium sp.)
Mallow (Malva sp.)

Perennials:
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) - Monarch
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Rue (Ruta graveolens) - Black Swallowtail
Silver Brocade' Artemisia (Artemisia stellariana 'Silver Brocade') - Painted Ladies
Swamp Milkweed - (Asclepias incarnata) - Monarch
Violets (Viola) - Fritillary

Woody Plants:
Willow (Salix sp.)
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) - Spicebush Swallowtail
Paw Paw (Asimina triloba)
Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)
Spiraea (Spiraea sp.)
Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) - Grey Hairstreak, Painted Ladies

Butterfly GardenDesign Basics

Butterfly garden design, as with most garden design, is a planning process. Before any plant selections are made, it is always best to observe the garden space. Look for things such as poorly drained areas, sun/shade relations and soil type. A thorough site evaluation is the first step in successful garden planning. The next step in the process is developing a scaled drawing of the site. Measure the garden space accurately so proper amounts of soil amendments and plant material can be purchased for the space.
The third step in butterfly garden design is to research what types of butterflies are native to the area where the garden is being constructed. As a general rule of thumb, it is a good idea to place large plants in the back of the garden with a descending plant height succession to the front of the garden.

References
Internet
Butterflies of North America - USGS Map
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm

Books
Noah's Garden: Restoring the Ecology of our Own Back Yards, by Sara Stein, Houghton Mifflin, New York, 1993.
Where Butterflies Grow (a picture book), by Joanne Ryder and Lynne Cherry, Dutton, New York, 1989.
Handbook for Butterfly Watchers, by Robert Michael Pyle, Houghton Migglin, New York, 1992
Butterfly Gardening - Creating Summer Magic in Your Garden, by Xerces Society, Smithsonian Institution, Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1990.

Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati|2715 Reading Road|Cincinnati, OH 45206|513.221.0981.
www.civicgardencenter.org


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