Butterflyman, 1. Thanks for telling me about it needing support. I'll either plant it in the middle of my other plants or buy something to support it. I think that first will be my choice because I sure have enough plants going in the garden this year. 2. Um, because I can? :) I wasn't really sure if the clover in people's yards, being that it's mowed, would be sufficient. I guess I have it in my head that since it gets mowed, the caterpillars wouldn't be able to be on it without being chopped up. So I was going to plant the bush clover in an unmown area. 3. I wasn't sure when the Polemonium blooms, but that's a good point. If it blooms that early, the butterflies would mostly not be around anyway. I know the tiger swallowtails are here when our lilacs are blooming, which is about the first two weeks of May. 4. Uh oh, I think I'll cross the Hh off my list! Your saying that it can be invasive is a good enough reason for me not to plant it. 5. I'm trying Sweet Peas this year, so I'll see if I have any luck with them. I started them inside because of them liking a cool climate. I am hoping that they will have their "day in the sun" before it gets too hot here. I think that they are a lovely looking flower so thought I'd at least try them. They have tendrils on already but I'm not sure if I should plant them out this soon, as it still gets below freezing at night here and will for about a month yet. Wow, you really have the butterfly plants! And here I thought I had a lot. I figure the more the better. Sherry, 1. I just ordered the gnaphalium from PM and pearly everlasting from J.L. Hudson. With those two and the Antennaria plantaginifolia that I also ordered, I'm hoping that I'll have enough bases covered that I'll get some AL cats this year. The butterflies were here last year but I didn't have anything for them to lay their eggs on except three sad looking Antennarias that I think I managed to keep alive through the drought. I think I'm going to make a bed of just that kind of plant since I'll be receiving the seed in the mail within the next week or two. I hope I don't have my plant names mixed up. I was thinking that gnaphalium is sweet everlasting. 4. I didn't realize that the PL might not be a frequent visitor in eastern gardeners but what you say makes sense. I don't know why I had been under the assumption that it would be easy for me to get them. I didn't see any last year, only the AL. I have mallow planted for them, but if I don't get them, maybe the Common Checkered Skippers will lay their eggs on it. I saw the butterflies here last year but no eggs. Anyway, after what you and Butterflyman have said, I think I'm going to skip the sunflowers. You're right about them taking up a lot of space. I had grown them years ago, long before I became interested in butterflies, and I remember thinking that they used up a lot of space. I think I'd be best to plant something...

Easiest answer to Salix nigra is a stroll down to the Rio Grande to collect a wild start of it there. Grows all along that waterway, so why buy it? "I want to attract the Viceroy and Red Spotted Purple butterflies. There has only been one record of each in my area making them RARE. I really want to get one in my garden and raise them." You obviously have high hopes of turning your place into the butterfly magnet of the world, but IMO the reality is you'll have less disappointments if you set your sights a little more reasonably and work into all of this slower instead of trying to do it all at once. IOW, if it is true that there is only one record of L. archippus in your area it was most likely a stray. So imagine the odds against attracting and getting a gravid female to even fly through your tiny speck of real estate (just because you planted some S. nigra), or the even higher odds against it laying eggs on your plants. (BTW, L. a. hoffmanni has county records recorded for it from several counties in your immediate area. But with my data packed away for the move I can't confirm how many records that is.)

bernergrrl, This is a GREAT post. Many butterfly gardeners are not aware of the needs of butterflies beyond nectar and host plants. Many of my suggestions will not be usable for some/many butterfly gardeners because we have a one-acre butterfly sanctuary in a wooded area, but here goes: provide water source(s) leave brush piles and wood piles for protection from rain and for overwintering. leave as many trees around your garden as possible to protect butterflies from strong winds/rain/etc. provide stones, boulders, gravel in places that get good sun for warming spots for butterflies. clear spider webs from your garden to prevent butterflies from being caught and release butterflies that are caught in webs. try for multiple planting levels as various species seek out different levels. consider planting various grasses suitable to some butterflies as host plants. leave some trees IN your garden, if possible. In addition to the tree uses mentioned above, some butterflies like emperors, angle wings, wood nymphs, etc. use the bark as hiding places, places to bask in the sun, and lookout spots. provide feeder plates of rotting fruit, etc. to attract butterflies that don't nectar or don't nectar exclusively.

I'm itching to plant, but I'm not doing any fall planting in my tiny patch, since I have to have the fence and gate replaced this fall and the workers need somewhere to stand while doing it - mostly that area has annuals right now, plus a few ferns I need to move & a bunch of Liriope that's going to a new home. But I have planted a native violet that I poached, er, "wildcrafted" from a nearby natural area, in the hopes of eventually getting a lot of violets, and maybe some fritillaries. Definitely planned for Spring: Zizia aurea Agastache Aristolochia Honeyvine milkweed and maybe Cleome (I would flip out if I could get some Baltimore Checkerspots!), and some other native nectar plants - Asters, goldenrods etc. Not much sunny area to work with, unfortunately.