skip to main content

Butterfly Garden

Butterflies and their host plants

16 years ago

Is there a thread here anywhere in which people have posted the butterflies they get in their yard and what plants each particular type of butterfly lays it eggs on where they're located? I'd like to see people from various areas of the country post and tell us what kinds of butterflies they get in their yards and what host plants they've found eggs or cats on. If there is already such a thread, I'd appreciate someone telling me how to find it. I can hardly wait for the butterflies and am trying to provide as many host plants as I can! As I learn more, I'll probably add more next year, but I think I'm already well under way.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

jmcat
16 years ago
Last year, Njbiology started several posts on that subject. Here is one for Fritillaries; she also did them for: Viceroys, Painted Ladies, Baltimore Checkerspots, Sulphurs, White Admirals, Pearl Crescents, Spicebush Swallowtails, American Ladies, Buckeyes, Mourning Cloaks, Harris' Checkerspots, Hairstreaks and Blues, and ETSs. I think all of this info was put into this page of the FAQ.
-Jmcat
ambbutterfly
Original Author
16 years ago
Jmcat, Thanks very much for that info! I'll take a look at that. Maybe I can get an idea for a few of them. I was curious how much the butterflies' preferences are from one place to another.
Related Discussions
yellow swallow tails host plants
Q
Comments (6)
I just now came to the forum to ask this very question. I watched what I believe was an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail BF deposit eggs on my large Rue plant this afternoon! Is this possible? I've found two eggs; one is pictured below. Does this look like one of their eggs? Most of the time, she was laying on the blooms and I've not been able to spot the eggs because the blooms are various shades of yellow and with rough surfaces. I took photos of the two eggs I found and I pinched off the leaves and put them in a container, as I don't want the wasps to get them. I so hope this is what they are as the little cats are so cute. I've only seen one little cat at a native plant nursery and at that time, I didn't know what the mature butterfly looked like. Most of the host plants mentioned are the trees and I don't know as I've ever seen it mentioned that this butterfly would use Rue. She was huge and so graceful. I watched her checking out plants in our neighbors yard, then she came to our yard, testing the plants until all of a sudden, she began laying eggs on the Rue. Mary Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Egg on Rue?
...See More
Silly question I think?
Q
Comments (3)
Nothing is a silly question. :) When I first started out, I didn't know anything about butterfly gardening and I made every wrong mistake, I think, in the book(s)! It is better to have GROUPS of the same host plant all in the same area. Don't scatter the plants around the yard. Butterflies prefer to go to the location where, say the Milkweed patch is. I now have my 'herb' patch where Fennel, Parsley, Rue, and Dill are all planted together. Just yesterday, after FIVE years (!!!) I was out watering when an Anise Swallowtail fluttered by and oviposted nine eggs on the Fennel. I was so shocked I almost fell over. Yep, FIVE years!!! Hubby kept saying, "I don't know why you keep Fennel around, hon." Hey, it only took five years but the butterflies found it. :) I've also found that butterflies are very routine oriented and creatures of habit. Despite my having three large Milkweed patches and one smaller one plus a large Milkweed growing where it shouldn't, there was a mama who LOVED ovipositing on that one oddball plant. She also loved to oviposit ONLY on the teeniest of the seedlings. She ignored every other Milkweed in the garden. Good grief. Day after day, I'd find eggs in the same place. I'd still look in other places, of course, but in vain. Oh, and it took THREE years before the Monarchs found my garden. Patience is a virtue. I'm a patient woman. Sometimes.
...See More
Butterfly Nectar/Host plants & Asclepias
Q
Comments (0)
Hello everyone, I used to be very active around 2008-2010, but I had to put my passion for gardening in butterflies aside in order to focus on highschool. I have now graduated highschool, enrolled in college, and I am in the process of restoring my backyard gardens to their former beauty before they were ruined by drought and choked out by weedy grasses that grew after many heavy rainfalls. This time around, I am going to mix potting soil with the natural soil to help keep in moisture and use gardening mats to keep the weeds to a minimum. I was wondering if anyone had some plants (or roots, rooted cuttings, tubers, dormant clumps or roots) to spare for a trade or some type of sasbe or box. I am especially interested in natives (accross the USA) and Asclepias (other than Tropical Milkweed) to grow for Monarchs. I do have the proper tools and outdoor conditions to all types of Milkweeds even northern varieties. (I can go into detail upon request.) I have spent my free time researching the special growing conditions for many plants that are not native to the Rio Grande Valley, Texas (southern most tip of Texas) and have had success growing several northern varieties of Blackberries, which are extremely picky down here due to our humidity, heat, and soil. I have also grown Pears, Apples, and Plums, all of which are not native and should not be easy to grow here, yet here they are. If anyone is willing to work out a trade or something, please let me know! I am also interested in hearing about you all's gardens and what plants are most successful as nectar and host plants. Thank you all for your time, Danny (I also posted this in the Seed Exchange section, since this is only for plants)
...See More
Do you have a salt lick for your butterflies?
Q
Comments (13)
mkx3 growing up I had a horse too.... never notice the butterflies going to the horse dung.... however, they use to visit cow dung all the time.... I went to Butterfly World in Pompano Florida along time ago. They recommend that people put out a saltlick.... or minerals... I don't remember too much about how to do it. I just remember that the butterflies were all over it.... so thank you for posting this and reminding me about it.... I do have a question for those who do it. How do you keep the salt from getting on your plants so the salt doesn't kill everything. Thanks Sharon
...See More
texaspuddyprint
16 years ago
There are several websites that list butterfly larval hosts. A good one is www.butterfliesandmoths.org You can do a species search or narrow it down to your state or county and it will show you what leps can be found.

That site lists a descriptive identification, life history, flight periods, wing span, caterpillars hosts, adult food, habitat and range.

Another website is my local NABA (North American Butterfly Association) website.
http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabast/index.html
Click on the gardening link then the 'nectar and foodplants' link. From there you will see a .pdf list of butterfly plants and caterpillar food plants. Both are excellent reference sources that are geared for the lower Rio Grande Valley but we get about 320 species here most are the same as from other states so it will be a useful guide to print and keep handy. (I xeroxed and reduced the page size of this list and keep a copy of it inside my Kaufamn Focus Guide - Butterflies of North America) - That is also one of the best butterfly guide books on the market.

Another good sight with photos and great larval lists is the Dallas Butterfly site. www.dallasbutterflies.com Click on the 'butterfly gardening' link on that one and you can see a list of Host Plants listed by Butterfly, Host Plants listed by Common Plant Name, Host Plants listed by Botanical Name and Nectar Plants listed by Botanical Name. Excellent printable resources indeed!!!

Hope those help you out :o)

~ Cat
christie_sw_mo
16 years ago
I've used the first one that Cat mentioned many times. Click on "Map Search" then click your state, then click your county for a list of butterflies in your area. When you click on the butterfly you want to look up, it shows which counties it has been confirmed in. What state are you in?
ambbutterfly
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks everyone for your help. This is so much fun! Oh, I guess I forgot to mention I'm in PA, Christie.

Related Stories

GARDENING FOR BUTTERFLIES 7 Native Wildflowers to Make You an Awesome Butterfly Host

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Offer the leaves of these and you’ll get more butterflies than with flower nectar alone

FLOWERS AND PLANTS Help Monarchs and Other Butterflies by Planting Common Milkweed

By Pollination Press LLC

Summer-blooming Asclepias syriaca is an important larval host plant for the monarch butterfly and attracts a number of pollinating insects

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Butterfly Milkweed, a Beacon in the Prairie

By Pollination Press LLC

Vivacious orange flowers for you, nectar for the butterflies and bees. Asclepias tuberosa is worth planting for more reasons than one

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Asclepias Incarnata for a Butterfly Garden

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Beautiful swamp milkweed makes it easy to help monarchs and other pollinators in eastern U.S. gardens

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Plants That Beat Butterfly Bush for the Wildlife Draw

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

It's invasive, a nonnative and a poor insect magnet. Check out these better alternatives to butterfly bush in the garden

CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS Great Design Plant: Asclepias Is Attractive to Monarch Butterflies

By Debbie Ballentine

Increase monarch butterfly populations in California by planting stunning native milkweeds

GARDENING GUIDES American Lady Butterflies Add Delight to Summer Gardens

By Pollination Press LLC

Provide native nectar and larval host plants to welcome these migratory butterflies

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Steps to Creating Your Butterfly Garden

By Debbie Ballentine

Encourage these fanciful winged beauties to visit your garden while helping restore their fragmented habitat

FLOWERS 15 Native Flowers That Attract Butterflies

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

By picking plants from this list that are right for your location, you’ll get colorful blooms and support pretty pollinators

GARDENING GUIDES Mourning Cloak Butterflies Herald Spring

By Pollination Press LLC

These butterflies feed at tree-sap flows in spring and visit native plant flowers for nectar in early summer

Sponsored

More Discussions

?what to do with this little guy?

3