I live in the Houston area. I'm having great luck attracting butterflies with my Mexican or tropical milkweed, butterfly bush, Texas red lantana and zinnias.

Thanks! I have lantana and Aztec Gold milkweed. I guess I've caught the bug...
K

The North American Butterfly Association has their national headquarters and butterfly habitat in Texas. Now, I realize Texas is a big place, and their ecology may be very different from yours, but I would still check them out. They have a lot of info on their website, with suggestions for butterfly gardens for many different regions of the country. Happy butterflying!
Liz

I did a little digging and the North American Butterfly Association provided a great document. I'm fairly certain that they have these guidance documents for other regions as well.
K

Here is a link that might be useful: Butterfly Garden Guide for Central Gulf Coast

Have you been to Arbor Gate in Tomball? Buy your butterfly plants from sources that will not sell plants treated with pesticides.

Butterfly bush comes in an array of colors and different sizes. If you get the non-dwarf varieties, they can get very large, but they tolerate pruning.

I don't see verbena listed on that guide, but the butterflies seem to really go after it. A friend on mine says fennel for the swallowtails too.

How far north are you? Have you had a lot of butterflies this year? I have had fewer, but a friend of mine has had a lot -- helped by picking up a milkweed plant at a nursery that she said had about 50 eggs on it.

I would suggest adding a couple of Rue plants as they attract both Giant Swallowtails and Black Swallowtails and is the host plant for both. It is evergreen, can be pruned for shape and I even like the clean fragrance of the leaves. The small yellow blooms also help feed the wild bees. The Rue is a lovely plant, can take heavy pruning and makes a great background for smaller nectar plants. Occasionally, a person is sensitive to the leaves so be aware until you know whether the plant bothers you in this way. Rue is easily grown from seed.

Leaves of Rue with Giant Swallowtail egg:

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For nectar, you're already growing some wonderful plants but Penta's would grow beautifully in your area and might even be evergreen for you. I have to over winter in the greenhouse or purchase new plants each year as they are frost sensitive. They bloom continuously, especially if the old bloom heads are pinched off and many types of butterflies and hummingbird moths will nectar on this plant.

Here is a close up of the Penta bloom:

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And the Penta is a host plant for the Tersa Sphinx Caterpillar (Xylophanes tersa)

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These little cats are fun to raise, especially a lot of fun for small children to observe as they mature through the various stages of development. How can you not love those little cartoon faces! When they are ready to pupate they will crawl down into the leaf litter below the plant. This pupa can be collected to await it's emergence. That will generally happen sometime after midnight on or about day 10-12. Like the majority of moths, the Tersa Sphinx Moth is nocturnal. They can usually be observed nectaring / pollinating the deep flowers right after dusk.

~Mary

I love Arbor Gate and have given some presentations there on amaryllis to garden groups. I already have penta, but I see this Sunday as a busy day in the garden!!!
Thanks,
Kristi

Here's a site from Dallas but it has a lot of plant info as well as butterflies & host plant lists...www.dallasbutterflies.com
I've found that you need a lot of nectar as well as host plants! I'm gardening all in pots now that we've moved into the city. Just figure out what butterflies you want & offer them host & nectar plants.
You need to plant passion vines for Gulf Frittilaries as well as Zebra Longwings & Julias...in Houston you might get some tropicals that we don't have in North Texas!
Good Luck!