Question: What should I plant to attract butterflies?

When most gardeners think of plants that attract butterflies we think of attractive flowering plants that adult butterflies especially like to feed on. However, butterflies are not only attracted to pretty nectar-rich flowers, but they also want other plants for laying their eggs and for their young to feed on.

Butterflies go through a life cycle that takes them from egg to larvae (caterpillar) to pupa (chrysalis) to adult. The caterpillar begins to eat as soon as it hatches from the egg.

Unlike adult butterflies, caterpillars eat the leaves of plants, rather than nectar from the blooms. Once the caterpillar matures, it needs a safe place to change into a chrysalis and wait to transform into an adult.

If you have spent much time watching butterflies feed you probably know some of their favorite flowering plants. Butterfly bush and butterfly weed are obvious choices because of their names, but other favorites include bee balm, aster, coneflower, verbena, lilac, lantana, phlox, yarrow and goldenrod.

Plants that butterflies search out to lay their eggs include milkweed (butterfly weed is one of many types of milkweed), anise, aster, mints, nasturtium, and tansy. Many plants commonly grown as herbs are appetizing to butterflies or their larvae.

Like other animals, butterflies need water and shelter in addition to food. Shelter can be provided by allowing some thickets to develop in your garden (vines, dense shrubbery, wooden fences or other areas that offer protection from wind and rain).

Butterflies’ water needs can be met by providing shallow water or damp areas that they can depend on being available. A birdbath can be converted into a butterfly watering hole by placing a flat rock in it so that it slopes gradually into the water.

Moisture can also be provided with a pan of wet sand. The best sand for this purpose is said to be beach sand that has salt and other nutrients that butterflies benefit from.

Since butterflies and their larvae feed on plants be careful about pesticide use in your garden. Avoid using pesticides on flower blooms and on the leaves of plants that you know will be used by the larvae.

Question: How do butterflies spend the winter?

In areas where winter temperatures drop below freezing at least one stage of a butterfly’s life cycle must be resistant to freezing if it is to survive. Most butterflies that live in cold climates spend the winter as either caterpillars or pupae.

A few butterfly species spend the winter as adults, hibernating in hollow places in trees or logs or crevices in buildings. Eggs of some species that are laid late in the fall may pass the winter before they hatch.

Some butterflies migrate to escape freezing temperatures. Our best known butterfly migrant is the monarch, which spends winters in central Mexico, along the California coast, and perhaps other yet-undiscovered sites in Central America.

Other butterfly species commonly seen in our area that seem to migrate considerable distances include the common sulphur, cloudless sulphur, gulf fritillary, common buckeye and painted lady.

Question: How can I attract insects to my garden that eat undesirable insects?

Plants with umbrella-shaped flowers, such as Queen Anne’s lace, yarrow, parsley and dill, attract ladybugs, parasitic wasps and lacewings. Spearmint, lemon balm, parsley and pennyroyal will attract tachinid flies and hoverflies.

Tachinid flies look a lot like hairy house flies. They lay their eggs on various caterpillars, many of which are destructive, especially in the vegetable garden.

Russ England is a Master Gardener trained and certified in horticulture and related areas by the Georgia Cooperative Extension Service.