Steve,

There are a few of us who live in California. :) I live in SoCal myself.

I have a Willow tree. It isn't overly big although it HAS grown substantially since I purchased it. I have it in a big pot in my backyard. I do get a lot of Mourning Cloaks and have raised them on it although I've yet to FIND any eggs on it! I think the MCs utilize the various Elm trees in the neighborhood but prefer to hang in my yard for other purposes. :)

I've had Monkeyflowers but nary a Buckeye to speak of so I got rid of 'em. I never went with the California Fuchsia or Penstemons either. I did try the Penstemons but nary a butterfly was interested. Sorry. :( I do have a number of Buddleia, all in pots, in a sort of 'jungle' in one corner of the yard. DH wanted to see which ones HE liked so I got an assortment of colours. Now that they've grown into this rain forest jungle (almost scary how jungle-like it is over there!) he's decided which colours he thinks we should keep. Frankly, I didn't care one way or another since the butterflies seemed to like ALL of them! The ones we don't keep I will take to my school. So, it isn't like they will be 'wasted.'

I think it all depends on where you live in California and what types of lepidoptera are around. I've not seen any Buckeyes in my area but that isn't to say they aren't around. I saw my first Pale Swallowtail this summer in my backyard so anything is possible!

Good luck.

CalSherry aka tdogmom

PS: You can check out my website to see what I've raised and what I use in my garden. I don't have EVERYTHING listed but it will give you an idea, at least!
tdogmom's Butterfly Guide

Hi Steve,

I live up in Vallejo, CA and I have tried willows which I have in large pots, Salix lasiolepis, and it brought some Western Tiger Swallowtails this year which left me some neat caterpillars to raise. It also attracts some neat sphinx moths every year. I never see mourning cloaks up here in the yard but I have seen them elsewhere in town.

Mostly I plant for the Pipe Vine Swallowtails, West Coast Ladies, Painted Ladies, Monarchs and Anise Swallowtails because they are the most frequent visitors to my garden.

I have a few native plants which I planted when I first started but I must say that none of them has ever to my knowledge been used by the butterflies. In fact, since my yard is so small I may end up removing them to make more room for other plants and not let the space be wasted.

In my experience the penstamens are better for attracting hummers than butterflies.

This spring I intend to put in some native buckwheat plants because I have been told that they are preferred by the hairstreaks so I will give them a try. At the moment I have a whole lot of lantanas and buddleias and they seem to do the best job of attracting butterflies. Whatever you do , don't let anyone tell you to plant the native California goldenrod. It is INCREDIBLY INVASIVE and is as ugly as sin. It looks at first like milkweed and fooled me but what a nightmare to control. I got it at a native plant sale years ago because the guy told me it was a host plant for sulfurs and it didn't know any better. So beware.

Murray

I'm up a bit further north than those two (waving hi), and this year has been a real bust for most of the species here.

Hard to tell, but here's what I have out there, native or not:

Asclepias speciosa (very enthusiastic; now if I just had some Monarchs...) Showy Milkweed. Good grower, about four feet tall, easy to propagate.

Buddleia davidii--butterfly bush; dark, medium, light purple, yellow, pink and white. No real preference shown since bflies have been scarce. Popular, all of them. Susceptible to earwig infestation.

Red mallow; the native showier cousin of cheeseweed. Checkered skippers, buckeyes, and a few others like it and the cheeseweed both. Yes, I let cheeseweed grow, very attractive green in summer heat.

Urtica diabolica (dioica, really). Don't. Just...don't.
Admirals love it, but if you ever want to work comfortably in your yard...don't. Use false nettle or something else.

Bachelor button/cornflower. Don't know about the bflies, but the goldfinches go NUTS for the seeds.

Buckwheats: VERY VERY good for hairstreaks. Try the Giant St. Catherine's Lace/Weed; huge flowerheads. The smaller bucks can go in the front of the beds easily and don't gripe about low water.

Echinacea: Would you believe I've never seen a butterfly on it?

Erigeron daisy: Nice, the whites and skippers seem to like it.

Verbena bonariensis: Excellent, best draw in the yard. Don't know if it's native but it sure as heck spreads! Keep volunteers pulled up or you're sunk.

Willow: Lost mine in a storm from previous disease. Great attractor of Mourning Cloak and Western Tigers.

Scabiosa, Pincushion Flower. Wow. Native or not, plant those things, and lots of 'em. Pipevines go nuts.

Pipevine (Aristolochia californica); slow to start but takes off with a whoop and a holler. Pray that you have plenty of Pipevine Swallowtails to keep it in check.

CA fuschia seems to be more attractive to hummers than bflies; it would be interesting to watch at night to see what moths show up.

Ceanothus (wild lilac): excellent early nectar source, seems quite attractive before it died on me.

Blue Mist Spirea (Argh! Name escapes me!). Outstanding attractant and very popular.

Catnip and mints: Wow. TONS of bees and hairstreaks.

Tithonia: Hummers love it, have yet to see a bfly on it. Snobs. :)

Zinnias: Popular and effective.
Cosmos ditto.

California Native is in Chico, CA; plant their stuff FAST or it croaks, usually.

I'm trying to get tarweed (Madia elegans) established; not easy. It loves heat, hates water and any coddling at all.

Well, I looked up some stuff re: Mimulus, and depending on who you look at, it is sometimes considered only a larvae plant for the Buckeye, and is otherwise a plant for hummingbirds. Of course, some sources say otherwise. There's an amazing amount of discrepancy out there. !!

I _would_ however like to be attracting hummingbirds and butterflies and birds and bees. All of them. And I guess that's part of my problem.

It seems obvious by the shape and color of many of the flowers with Mimulus and Penstemmon and Ca Fuchsia, etc. that they would be attractive to hummingbirds. But book after book-- particularly the East Bay Municipal Utilities Department Book (EBMUD)... which, btw, is a fantastic book for xeric plantings, with wonderful photos, and good general info-- but book after book, and site after site recommend these plants....

I'm definitely going to be increasing the amount of Asclepias I have, and I'm going to use some Tithonia and some Verbena bonariensis (which I love, although its not a native). I've already got some Tagetes. So I've already got some plants, but I'd like to add more than just a million echinaceas and black eyed susans (although I love them).

Speaking of asclepias, I went to the Las Palitas Nursery website (which focuses on CA natives), and they actually warn people against using Asclepias tuberosa and the swamp milkweed if they're CA-- that essentially they don't provide the appropriate chemical protections for the butterflies that the native species do (which are, of course, less showy).... stuff like Asc. fasicularis and a few others.... and that essentially by feeding butterflies non-native species of Asclepias (although they'll eat them) that you're not giving them the protections that they need.

Has anyone else heard this before?

And I'd love to hear back from more who have tried using some natives.

Thanks all.

BTW, I'm also in Vallejo Murray. Small world. :)

I'm a few towns over in Walnut Creek. Gardening has been quite challenging this year as we're on mandatory water rationing.

I have raised Monarchs and Pipevine in my garden. May I suggest you look in to adding a CA. Pipevine in your garden. You are fortunate enough to have Pipevine Swallowtails in your neck of the woods.

As for wanting to attract bees .. build a mason bee house and they will come. It took a year before mine came around but now it's full of Mason and Leafcutter bee eggs.

Hummers will nectar on just about anything. They really love penstemon and salvia. My hummers use the fluff from the asclepias seeds to build their nests.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mason bee house

I can only imagine how hard it must be with the water rationing there. Phew!!

Per your recommendation, I'll be putting in a Pipevine-- it was on my list as a possibility, but now that I know that I have Pipevine Swallowtails in the area, it sounds like a really good idea.

And I guess that's one of my major problems-- I don't know what really shows up local, and thus what to attempt to attract. I've been to more than one website that tells you what butterflies appear, for example, in Solano County-- but frankly, there's million possible ones. Way too many. I need a smaller list of common, attractive butterflies that really would probably show up, and I'd love to be working on providing host and nectar plants for them.

You know, this all started about 4 years ago, when I planted a bunch of lavender, some yarrow, and a few black eyed susans and echinacea in my front yard. That Spring, in the morning, when I'd go out in to that 20' by 20' space, there would be, literally, atleast 50+ butterflies fluttering about when my shadow would brush them. Utterly magical. Since then, though, sadly, I've never been able to duplicate those 2 magical weeks. The echinacea and black eyed susans died, but there were never lots of them anyways-- though perhaps, now, I see how important they may have been. I had roses in the front then too, but they're not supposed to attract them either.

Anyways, my point is just that I want to bring butterflies to my home, but the subject seems too vast. More advice about which species really show up locally (Bay Area, Vallejo) would be great, and I'll really focus on them.

Thanks all again. This thread has been wonderfully helpful so far.

Hi Steve, it sure is a small world as you say. as far as the local butterflies are concerned I would have to say that you will probably see the Anise Swallowtails and the West Coast Ladies the most along with hundreds of skippers in the fall. Of course, the whites are all over the yard most of the time. I see Painted Ladies, Checkered Slippers and some Dusky Wings from time to time. And now the Monarchs have started showing up. I have also seen a few Pipe Vine Swallowtails in the past few weeks. The gray hairstreaks are around also and I really like those. You will also see some Red Admirals although I have never as yet had them use my hops vine for their eggs. In fact, I gave the two vines away and next year plan to use false nettles.

If you want to check out the yard sometime when you're out riding come by. I am on Central Avenue and you can't miss it because it is covered with plants most of which are in bloom. I am three blocks from Georgia Street and Solano Avenue. I might even have some plants and seeds I can give you to get you started. Murray

If you want Asclepias curassavica seeds, let me know. I doubt there's a person on this forum who hasn't had some of the seeds from my garden! ;P

CalSherry from Southern California
drop me a line at monarchfriend@yahoo.com

I'm not in CA, but one of the best things I did was to let some areas of my lawn return to its natural state. It was a new lawn on poor soil, so the grass didn't have a good hold on the soil. Natives to my area have established themselves in the area, and they are plants that I never would have thought of to plant, which brings in butterflies I never would have thought about either.

If it's possible, maybe consider letting some of your yard "go." Yesterday, one of those areas here was covered in Monarchs as they flitted from goldenrods and asters. A beautiful sight with no work from me!

onafixedincome:Echinacea: Would you believe I've never seen a butterfly on it?

No! :) Just kidding. :) But on the east coast, it's a huge draw: fritillarys, skippers, sulfurs, crescents, swallowtails all like it.

Just goes to show that nectaring plants are regional, too.

Jeff

Echinacea is a favorite nectar plant here in the middle of the country. I have seen Red Spotted Purples, Diana Fritillaries, Variegated Fritillaries, Great Spangled Fritillaries, Black Swallowtails, Tiger Swallowtails, Am Ladies, Painted Ladies, and all kinds of skippers. In fact, I don't think I can name a BF that I haven't seen on coneflower at one time or another.

Sandy

Hey Murray,
I zipped by your house today and its a very nice yard. I think I even saw you out on your stoop as I drove by!! I was going to stop and introduce myself (in a black volvo station wagon), but I was already running super late, and had already made a special, irresponsible detour just to see your garden. :) I'll try and swing by again next week and actually get out of my car! :P

As for the echinacea-- I've read that it needs to be in big groupings. I wonder if that's part of the problem. ALSO, I wonder if other Californians have had good luck with echinacea-- I had definitely planned on including it in my garden.

Oh, and for some of the butterflies that have been mentioned, beyond the Monarchs and Pipevine Swallowtails, are people actually using host plants for them, and if so, what are they. Some of the butterflies seen "locally" were-- West Coast Ladies, Painted Ladies, Checkered Slippers and some Dusky Wings, Red Admirals and Skippers.

The website I linked for you shows what type of moth, skippers and butterflies are common in your region. It also shows pictures, lists nectar and host plants. I found it to be resourceful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Butterflies and Moths of North America

Hi Steve,

Sorry I missed you but stop by some time and I will give you a tour of the tiny yard. It is amazing how many plants I have managed to squeeze into it. I have even crammed in a number of trees although I have to keep them cut back in the spring or I would have no room for any of the other guys.

Speaking of echinacea, I have never had a whole lot of it but it is because I NEVER saw a butterfly on the ones that I had and I didn't want to waste space which I have so little of. But last weekend I went to visit family in Belmont and they had a next-door neighbor who had several hundred of the purple ones all planted together and there were lots of skippers and lady butterflies on them so I guess number counts.

Anyway, at the moment what I see most of all is skippers, hairstreaks, ladies, painted and west coast and a monarch or two along with an occasional pipe vine swallowtail. I am a little concerned about not seeing more monarchs by now but I am hoping that will improve.

I have a variety of milkweed plants which have tons of seeds you are welcome to and I have started some pipe vine seedlings you can have also though they are not the CA variety. I have not had success getting the native vine seeds to germinate. The ones I have are Aristolochia durior which are native to the east but they grow much more rapidly so I have planted them as well out there.

Some of the butterfly species mentioned in other posts aren't native here which is sad because many of them are really beautiful but we do have some great ones that are very rewarding to see in the yard. Murray

Murray, I would love to come and get a little tour through your garden, pick your brain, etc. Perhaps take you up on you offer about the dutchman's pipe, etc.

Can you email me at stephenadamberry@yahoo.com ??

Thanks.

Steve

Hi Steve, just got your message and I will send you an email tomorrow so we can arrange a good time. I still have some pipevines for you although they are just tiny seedlings at this point. Murray