Growing Flowers That Attract Butterflies

, written by Barbara Pleasant us flag

Black swallowtail butterfly

One of the things that brings pleasure to time spent outdoors in the summer garden is the company of butterflies, often referred to as "flowers that fly." Every temperate or tropical climate hosts numerous species of these colourful winged insects, regarded as gentle because they cannot bite or sting. Yet butterfly larvae are another matter altogether, because all butterflies spend their larval period as leaf-eating caterpillars.

Fortunately, only a few butterfly species use fruits and veggies as their larval host plants. The larvae of cabbage white butterflies are green cabbageworms, and tomato hornworms are the larvae of a large, showy moth. Both of these pest species are easy to control by hand-picking or spraying with a Bt insecticide. A third type of butterfly larvae found in veggie gardens, parsleyworms, mature into beautiful black swallowtail butterflies, so they are worth tolerating in small numbers. Last summer, I left an almost-mature parsleyworm on a bulb fennel plant, and a few days later noticed a cocoon attached to an upright grass.

Butterfly on echinacea

I checked on it when I remembered, and got lucky one morning when the newly emerged black swallowtail basked in the sun, preparing for its first flight. Now that’s a great garden moment.

Encouraging butterflies to visit your garden is a simple matter of growing butterfly-friendly flowers. Flowers that attract butterflies provide nutritious nectar that can be sipped through the proboscis, an organ resembling a telescoping drinking straw. Operating a proboscis while balancing a pair of huge wings on one’s back is easiest when firm footing is available, so most flowers that attract butterflies also provide flat petals or leaves for standing (echinacea, monarda, zinnia) or the flowers are borne in dense clusters on stiff stems (butterfly bush, lantana, verbena).

Butterflies crave nectar from many native plants that we consider weeds, and some species are worth tolerating in the name of butterfly conservation.

Swallowtail butterfly on a thistle

For example, the flowers of many thistles are potent butterfly magnets, but you must remember to chop down the plants before the seeds can ripen. I also allow milkweed to grow in patches, because no butterfly can pass without stopping when the milkweed blossoms are pumping out nectar. More importantly, milkweed is the preferred larval host plant for increasingly threatened monarch butterflies. Urbanisation and industrial agriculture have led to a critical shortage of available milkweed, so my little plots could actually be lifesavers to desperate monarchs.

Butterfly Plants for Baby Butterflies

Willows and poplar trees are host plants to several butterfly species, and most trees are not weakened by leaves lost to hungry caterpillars. And, though the digestive systems of butterfly larvae are usually equipped to handle only one type of plant tissue, in some cases butterflies have been able to adapt to change.

Monarch butterfly on butterfly bush flowers /><noscript><img class=Barbara Pleasant

Bugs, Beneficial Insects and Plant Diseases

< All Guides

Garden Planning Apps

If you need help designing your vegetable garden, try our Vegetable Garden Planner.
Garden Planning Apps and Software

Vegetable Garden Pest Warnings

Want to Receive Alerts When Pests are Heading Your Way?

If you've seen any pests or beneficial insects in your garden in the past few days please report them to The Big Bug Hunt and help create a warning system to alert you when bugs are heading your way.

Show Comments



Comments

 

Add a Comment

Add your own thoughts on the subject of this article:
(If you have difficulty using this form, please use our Contact Form to send us your comment, along with the title of this article.)



(We won't display this on the website or use it for marketing)



Captcha


(Please enter the code above to help prevent spam on this article)



By clicking 'Add Comment' you agree to our Terms and Conditions