Dear Avant Gardener

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10 Butterflies to Host

Heather Evans

Butterfly gardens need host plants; these are the best for your yard.

Dear Avant Gardener, I love butterflies! I’d like to fill my yard with them. What should I plant? Is milkweed the best? — IRL, Not a Tattoo



Do you want to give them a meal or a home? Adult butterflies flock to many flowering plants to feed on their nectar, but their caterpillars are picky eaters — often only able to survive on the leaves of a few specific native host plants. Milkweeds are a must-have because they both provide nectar for many butterflies (and bees) and host monarchs, an endangered species.

Many spectacular butterflies rely on host plants without the pretty flowers usually planted in pollinator gardens. For example, great spangled fritillaries won’t survive without modest violets and giant swallowtails require native poplar (Populus spp.) or ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees.

To invite butterflies for a meal, plant nectar plants. If you want to give butterflies a home, then also plant the hosts that feed their caterpillars. Below in “Wow!” are more large, showy, wide-ranging butterflies with hosts to plant to make your yard a butterfly habitat.

— The Avant Gardener

Why, How, Wow!

Why?

Warming climates — plus pesticides and development — are decimating butterflies. Populations in the American west have been hardest hit. According to one study of 450 butterfly species, western monarchs have declined 99.9% since the 1980s. And other species have fared even worse.

The authors suggest fall temperature increases may not only induce physiological stress on butterflies but may influence development and hibernation preparation. Warmer fall temperatures can also reduce the availability of food or host plants, and extend the length of time butterflies' natural enemies are active. — Science Daily

How

You can help reverse the decline of butterflies by creating habitat in your yard:

  1. Site your garden in a sunny area, sheltered from the wind, with rocks or stepping stones for sunning.

  2. Plant a variety of host plants — see suggestions below.

  3. Plant locally native nectar plants in groups (butterflies are nearsighted).

  4. Provide a container of moist mud or sand for “puddling.”

  5. Don’t plant invasive “butterfly bush”; do plant “butterfly weed,” a species of milkweed.

  6. No pesticides! Butterflies are insects (duh).

Rejoice when caterpillars eat your plants’ leaves. That’s the point!

Wow!

Here (and above) are my personal host plant recommendations for 10 showy butterflies found throughout the United States. As always, make sure to plant native species.

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