berner, that "eye-opener" is just that for me! I would never have thought that the BFs were actually still here in those various forms! I stupidly assumed that, like Monarchs, they "left" for the season and then came back- that they were 'seasonal' visitors.
WOW..that was truly an invaluable lesson. Too bad I got antsy and cleaned up my gardens. Will know better from now on.

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.

Wow, Jeff--Forgot about all of those! Re: trees that provide shelter: One night I was outside with the dog, and I happened to look at one of our dwarf apple trees, and there was a beautiful American Lady nestled up against the trunk.

Another thing we avoid are herbicides and pesticides--even the organic kind.

I am in total agreement with all of the above and have implemented most.

My backyard is totally wild and thus provides much shelter for the overwintering butterflies like Goatweed Leafwings for instance. I leave the leaves (cool huh?) for hibernating butterflies and especially the sumac leaves for the Red Banded Hairstreak because that is their host, rotting, fallen leaves of sumac.

I quit use chemicals about 5 years ago.

I leave all my plant stalks up over winter. Some are borderline hardy and this helps to better protect the root systems. Also allows seeds to mature and fall for reseeding, e.g., Verbena bonariensis, False Nettle, sennas, zinnias, Mexican sunflowers, cleomes, etc.

Trees such as the hackberries contain hibernaculums for Hackberry and Tawny Emperors that overwinter as caterpillars and emerge in spring to complete their cycle as larvae. So be careful when brushing up against dangling, errant branches, that may be harboring the caterpillars. Don't trim those trees too early in spring without inspecting before trimming.

That's all I can think of for now.

So when would be the most opportune time to clean up the gardens, if one were so inclined? I do like to do the cleanup, but I suppose if I were going to do it, I'd want to do it at a time that would be the least disturbing to their life cycle.

Hi, I do some on late November--stuff that it's easy to tell there's not caterpillar or chrysalide hanging on to a stem or wrapped up in a leaf.

By the time late November rolls around, many of the leaves have fallen to the ground, so it's easy to do some trimming and cutting dead stems away too. Today, I just started pulling up some grass that infiltrated a bed, and I give it a semi-thorough inspection. Sometimes I may just leave the stuff that I pulled up in the area and compost in place; that way, if there happen to be any butterfly larvae/pupae, they have an okay chance of making it.

I may do more thorough clean up in the very late winter--nice thing to do on those warmish winter days.

It's not easy when dealing with all of the overwintering butterflies and moths. There really are many different kinds that stick around here. Amazing really.

If you have any willow in the area, look for hibernaculums, rolled up leaves that remain attached to the tree, that house butterfly larvae like the Red-Spotted Purple, Viceroy, and White Admirals. Look for them as young caterpillars in the early spring when they come out to feed on the new green growth of the willows (salix).

Hope this helps a little.

I have plans to build wooden BF houses, maybe they will use them to over winter, What do you think??

Unfortunately BF houses are basically useless. I have heard they do possibly attract bees and wasps. Brush piles, grass and plant stalks, and wood piles offer the best places for overwintering butterflies. I let the weeds and plants stand in the back yard over winter. On warm winter days I often disturb or see an overwintering BF like the Goatweed Leafwing, flying around. These BFs don't nectar on flowers anyway, but use tree sap, rotting fruit and dung as a source of food.

A good idea during the butterfly season, is to use a fruit plate instead for butterflies that prefer rotten fruit. Some use a nectar recipe, but I just use a hanging suet feeder that I put my black bananas, rotting peaches, oranges, watermelon, etc., in and the butterflies love it. The ones I get are Hackberry Emperors, Tawny Emperors, Question Marks, Red Admirals, and Mourning Cloaks. I also get a few hummingbird moths, like the Nessus Sphinx I had this last summer in the garden. They are one of a few sphinx moths that fly during the day and they are so pretty!

Susan