Butterflies at Home



Butterfly Gardening

Yellow Zinnia with Buckeye Butterfly in a backyard garden
Yellow Zinnia with Buckeye Butterfly in a backyard garden

We love watching butterflies wherever our travels take us across the country. When at home, we enjoy butterfly gardening in the backyard, and designing our landscape to provide food and shelter for a variety of butterflies.

The Needs of the Butterfly

Butterflies, like birds and other animals, need food, water, and shelter, the basic necessities of life. In addition, butterflies like direct sunlight, and heat. They are cold blooded creatures, and thus need warm resting places such as flat stones, or bricks.

Butterflies use sunlight to regulate their body temperature. They need sunlight to keep themselves warm, but the outside temperature can also become too hot for them.

A good butterfly garden should provide both sunny places and shady places where butterflies can cool off while they eat. They also need shelter from wind, and inclement weather.

Butterfly Gardening Blog 2023 ... what we are growing in our gardens this year

We often provide a shallow pan or plate filled with sand, small rocks, soil and water, and perhaps manure. Butterflies won't typically get their bodies wet in the water, but don't mind getting their feet wet! This process is called "puddling". Butterflies can extract dissolved salts from the mud.

Food Sources

There are two different functions that plants serve for butterflies. Nectar plants, and host plants on which butterflies can lay their eggs on. Different species of butterfly prefer different flowers. 

Butterflies only lay eggs on the plant that the caterpillar will eventually eat, usually on the underside of leaves. When planning your backyard butterfly garden, consider providing both nectar plants and host plants.

Overripe Fruit

Rocks set among nectar plants provide a great place for butterflies to rest, and warm up!

Rocks set among nectar plants provide a great place for butterflies to rest, and warm up!

While most butterflies prefer flowers, some don't. Overripe, even fermenting fruit will also draw many butterflies.  We use a shallow pan filled with slices of melon, overripe bananas, peaches, or grapes. Just make sure that you relocate the pan to a safe place at night to avoid curiosity seekers such as raccoons.

We often have Mourning Cloaks, Red Admirals, Question Marks, Red Admirals, Red-Spotted Purples, Zebra Longwings and others enjoying our leftover fruit.

Puddles and Stones

Male butterflies sometimes gather together at mud puddles. This "puddling" process is a way to sip needed amino acids and salt. We dig shallow depressions in our beds, sink a small saucer or pan, fill it with sand, dirt or small pebbles, and keep it moist and wet.

Our backyard landscape also includes a generous supply of stones and flat rocks. These absorb energy from the sun, and provide a warm basking place for butterflies.

Our Home Landscape

Our landscape features a number of different ecological environments. It is in the country, and backs up to hundreds of acres of forest and wetlands, with nearby fields and pastures.

The gardens of Butterflies at Home!
View of part of our home butterfly gardens!

We've included in our landscape several types of Lantana (45 plants at last count!), Zinnias, Pentas, Salvia, Batface Cuphea, Verbena, Coreopsis, Fire Bush and other butterfly-friendly plants, annuals and perennials.

We also plant lots of dill and fennel seeds to provide food sources for black swallowtails. The woods nearby provide additional butterfly host plants such as Sassafras, Spicebush, Hercules' Club, Sweet Bay and others.

Other landing and feeding spots include (depending on the season) dozens of Azaleas, Pansies, Impatiens, Knockout Roses, Creeping Phlox, Daffodils, Hydrangeas, Portulaca and Gladiolas.

Our landscape also caters to hummingbirds. We often have over 40 Ruby-throated hummingbirds on our feeders at one time during the fall migration southward.

At times we are also blessed with several brightly colored Baltimore Orioles on our feeders!

We are proud to be a Certified Monarch Waystation. By creating a Monarch Waystation you can assist in Monarch butterfly conservation and help the preservation of the species.

What We Grow in Our Butterfly Garden ... and Some Suggestions for You!

Included below is a discussion and photos of our favorite butterfly plants in our home landscape! Hopefully, some of these will work for you in your butterfly garden, or stimulate some ideas that you might pursue.

Variegated Fritillary
Variegated Fritillary
American Lady
American Lady


Lantana

Colorul pink and yellow Lantana ... a butterfly favorite!

We love lantana, as evidenced by the fact that we have over 45 plants growing now, consisting of several varieties, from yellow to white to red to orange.

Lantana is super heat tolerant, and are typically pest and disease free. It does best in a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun a day. 

Lantanas are perennials in warmer climates, and will flower in full sun or light shade, preferably in well-drained soil. As semi-desert natives, they bloom best when not overfed or over watered. Lantanas are frost proof to about 25 degrees F; when they do freeze, in milder climates they will spout from their base in the spring.

Julia Heliconian
Julia Heliconian on Lantana
Lantana ... and One Ant!
American Lady
Sulphur on Lantana
Sulphur Butterfly nectaring on Lantana
Pearl Crescent
Pearl Crescent nectaring on Lantana

 

 

Zinnias

Beautiful orange California Giant Zinnia

Zinnias are among the favorite flowers in our landscape. They are easy to grow from seed, provide all sorts of colors in the landscape, make perfect long-term cut flowers for inside .... and butterflies love them!

We grow California Giants from seed each year for those areas that are suited for these big 3-4 foot plants ... their blooms are spectacular, up to 4-5 inches in diameter! And we buy Dreamland Hybrid Zinnias seeds every year from Park Seed Company. These germinate quickly, and produce 2" blossoms on short, compact 12" plants ... ideal for spaces where we don't want height.

A large variety of butterflies enjoy our zinnias ... we have included several photos below.

Budding California Giant Zinnia
Budding California Giant Zinnia
Painted Lady on Giant Zinnia
Painted Lady on Giant Zinnia
Gulf Fritillary
Gulf Fritillary nectaring on a pink Zinnia
Long-tailed Skipper
Long-tailed Skipper on a pink Zinnia
Giant Swallowtail
Close-up view of a Giant Swallowtail enjoying nectar from a Zinnia flower
Silver-spotted Skipper
Silver-spotted Skipper on a dark pink Zinnia flower
Female Tiger Swallowtail
Female Tiger Swallowtail on a pink Zinnia flower
Fiery Skipper on Zinnia
Fiery Skipper on Zinnia
Pipevine Swallowtail
Pipevine Swallowtail in a garden of colorful Zinnias
Giant Swallowtail Couple
Two Giant Swallowtail butterflies enjoying nectar on pink Zinnia flowers in the spring in Texas

 

Verbena

Verbena is a part of our home landscape every year, and the butterflies love it!

We use several different colors, including orange (shown below), red, purple and pink. They are fairly cold tolerate and most years return after winter.

Orange Verbena
Orange Verbena
Purple Verbena
Pink Verbena
Tiger Swallowtail on Verbena
Male Tiger Swallowtail on Purple Verbena

 

Dianthus

Dianthus is easy to grow, and comes in many colors and varieties, some sold colors like the red shown below, and mixed shades. They are also known as "pinks", and "Sweet William" due to their spicy fragrance. The plants are compact, typically 6"-12" in height.

Depending on location, Dianthus may be grown as a hardy annual, biennial or perennial. They can bloom all year, are fairly cold tolerant and come back quickly in the spring from last year's growth.

Brilliant red Dianthus in the landscape
Red Dianthus
Dianthus
Pink and white Dianthus
Silver-spotted Skipper
American Lady

 

 

Pentas

Pentas are a favorite of butterflies, and we make sure we plant various colors each spring: red, pinks and solid whites!

These star-shaped flowers feature five petals, and are sun lovers. Sometimes they are known as the “Egyptian Star Flower”.

Gray Hairstreak on Pentas
Gray Hairstreak on Pentas
Red Admiral
Red Admiral butterfly nectaring on Pentas

 

Passion Flower Vine (Passiflora)

Gulf Fritillary caterpillar on Passion Vine
Gulf Fritillary caterpillar on Passion Vine

The Passion Flower is a perennial vine producing delicate 3-5" flowers, and a host to a number of butterfly species. They are typically light blue or lavender in color, and a great climber on fences or trellises.

There are nearly 500 varieties of Passiflora in the world, with a common variety being Passiflora incarnata, often called Maypop. Unfortunately, a couple of species (the tropical red-flowered and even some of blue-flowered) are actually toxic and deadly to caterpillars. So do your research before purchasing your passion vine!

The Passion flower species are revered by many for their extraordinarily intricate blooms, which have become symbols of the Passion of Christ's crucifixion. Its name orginates from Roman Catholic priests of the late 1500s when they realized the flower told the story of Christ's passion, suffering and death. The flower's five petals and five petallike sepals represented the 10 apostles who remained faithful to Jesus throughout the Passion. The circle of hairlike rays above the petals suggested the crown of thorns that Jesus wore on the day of His death.

The vines are a host for a number of butterflies, including the Gulf Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary, Julia and Zebra Longwing.

The native Passion Vine here in Texas is agressive, putting up shoots from underground roots several feet from the original vine. The vines will produce a hollow, green egg-shaped fruit that produces a loud popping noise when crushed, hence the common name of "Maypop". 

Purple Passion Vine
Passion Vine ... host plant for a number of butterflies
Red Passion Flower (non-toxic variety)
Red Passion Flower (non-toxic variety)
Native Texas Passion Vine Flowers
Native Texas Passion Vine Flowers
The Maypop ... fruit of the Native Passion Vine
The Maypop ... fruit of the Native Passion Vine ... when stepped on, it may pop!

 

Salvia and Sage

Pink Salvia
Pink Salvia
Black & Blue Salvia
Black and Blue Salvia
Hot Lips Salvia
Hot Lips Salvia
Scarlet Sage
Scarlet Sage

 

Hibiscus

We have grown hibiscus for years, actually decades! Their giant 6-8" blooms provide huge amounts of various summer color. Here in Upper East Texas, the winters are too harsh for their suvival, so we grow them more like an annual, replacing them with new plants each year.

Yellow Hibiscus with Red Throat
Yellow Hibiscus with Red Throat
Delicate Pink Hibiscus
Delicate Pink Hibiscus

 

Hydrangea

Hydrangea
Hydrangea
Buckeye on Hydrangea
Buckeye Butterfly on a white Hydrangea

 

Pansies

Pansies have been a favorite of ours for decades! We plant them in mid-October, they survive even brutal winters and snow, and last until May when the heat returns. They add valuable color to the landscape through drab, dark winter days, and provide joy as cut flowers inside!

Happy White Pansy
Happy White Pansy
Black Swallowtail on Pansies
Black Swallowtail on Pansies

 

Portulaca

Portulaca
Yellow Portulaca blossom
Skipper Enjoying Portulaca
Skipper Enjoying Portulaca

 

Roses

Pink Rose Bud in Morning Dew
Pink Rose Bud in Morning Dew
Yellow Rose Bud Waiting to Open
Yellow Rose Bud Waiting to Open
Delicate Pink Roses
Delicate Pink Roses
Pair of Skippers on Roses
A pair of Skipper Butterflies in the rose garden


 

More Flowers in our Landscape!

Batface Cuphea
Batface Cuphea
Azaleas & butterfly yard art!
Dozens of brilliant pink Azaleas in the spring ... along with some butterfly art work!
Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea
Crepe Myrtle
Crepe Myrtle
Dill ... with Swallowtail Eggs!
Dill ... with Black Swallowtail Eggs!
Firecracker
Firecracker plant blooms ... their tubular flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds and butterflies
Geraniums
A fun pot of red Geraniums
Marigolds ... an American favorite
Marigolds ... a favorite in the American home landscape
A bright, frilly Tulip in Spring
A bright, frilly Tulip in Spring
Easy to grow Periwinkles
Easy to grow Periwinkles ... seen here with a pair of beautiful swallowtail butterflies


 

A Few More Flowers That We Enjoy in our Home Gardens!

An old favorite ... Flowering Almond
An old favorite ... Flowering Almond
Agapanthus ... a lovely perennial
Agapanthus ... a lovely perennial
Pollinators & butterflies love Bee Balm
Pollinators & butterflies love Bee Balm
Four o'clocks ... in the afternoon!
Four o'clocks ... in the afternoon!
St. Francis of Assisi ... garden guardian!
St. Francis of Assisi ... guardian of our gardens!
Pink Torenia ... in a hanging basket
Pink Torenia ... in a hanging basket
Not just butterflies in the garden!
Green Anole in the ButterfliesAtHome garden
Ornamental Peppers
Ornamental Peppers
Spotted Bee Balm
Native Spotted Bee Balm ... grows in the forests behind our home landscape ... a favorite of butterflies
Butterfly Weed
Butterfly Weed


Hercules Club, or Devil's Walkingstick, a host plant for
the Giant Swallowtail, growing in our woods

Hercules Club or Devil's Walkingstick growing in the East Texas woods

 

A pollinator's dream! Vitex (Chaste Tree, Vitex agnus-castus) in full bloom in our landscape ...
attracts lots of butterflies, bees and hummingbirds!

Hercules Club or Devil's Walkingstick growing in the East Texas woods

 

Be sure to check out our other website ...
HummingbirdCentral.com

HummingbirdCentral.com ... species, migration, feeders, photos and more!
Hummingbirds love our garden too!
Hummingbirds love our garden too!

 

Butterfly Garden at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas
Butterfly Garden at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Learning from Public Butterfly Gardens

Another way to learn about gardening is to visit public butterfly gardens, parks and nurseries in your area.

Seeing what attracts butterflies at various gardens can help you plan and execute your butterfly garden. Be sure to read plant tags and identification markers for information about sun and shade requirements, soil, bloom times and other environmental needs of the plant.

Often docents or volunteers are available to give you their personal experiences and knowledge about various species that grow best in your local area.

View of the gardens at the Charlotte Rhoades Park Butterfly Garden in Southwest Harbor, Maine
View of the gardens at the Charlotte Rhoades Park Butterfly Garden

Square-bud Primrose flowers and identification sign. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Square-bud Primrose flowers and identification sign. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

All Passion Vines are not purple ... here is a beautiful red Passiflora at Butterfly World in Florida
Red Passion Vine