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BUTTERFLIES
 Tips to Help Attract Butterflies to Your Garden

 

Butterfly populations are declining worldwide due to loss of habitat.  Consequently, their food sources there are being lost.  Butterflies are a part of the web of life.  They help pollinate flowers, and are a source of food for amphibians, birds, etc.  Many species of California native and non-native plants provide food and nectar for butterflies and their larvae.  You can help conserve butterflies in your own backyard by providing the necessary nectar and larval plants they require to survive during all stages of their life cycle.Here are eight easy steps to follow in creating your own butterfly garden:
  1. Choose a sunny location.
  2. Shelter the garden from wind with a screen of shrubs or a fence.
  3. Add rocks to absorb the suns’ heat and serve as a perch for butterflies to warm their wings.
  4. Include a small pool of water or mud puddle as a source of mineral nutrients.
  5. Choose a diversity of plants that will create a long series of bloom as a food source and plant in large clumps.
  6. Include plants that provide both nectar for the adult butterfly and leaves, flowers and seeds for the larvae to feed.
  7. DO NOT SPRAY ANY PESTICIDES in your garden.
  8. Leave a corner unpruned and unweeded for additional habitat.

Common California Butterflies and Their Larval Plants

The female butterfly searches your garden for the specific larval food plants on which she must lay her eggs.  Some butterflies, like the Monarch, will lay a single egg on a leaf while other butterflies may lay clusters of eggs together.  Here is a sample list of Larval Plants and the butterflies they attract:

Aristolochia californica – Pipevine Swallowtail
Asclepias species – Monarch
Ceanothus sp. – Pale Tiger Swallowtail, California Hairstreak, California Tortoiseshell, Brown Elfin
Diascia – Common Buckeye
Eriogonum ‘Grande Rubsecens’ – Acmon Blue
Foeniculum vulgare ‘Smokey’ – Anise Swallowtail
Grasses including Festuca sp., Muhlenbergia sp., Stipa sp., Carex sp. and similar ornamental bunch grasses – California Ringlet and variety of skippers including Sachem, Fiery, Woodland, etc.
Lavatera & Mallow sp. – Painted Lady, West Coast Lady and Common Checkered Skipper
Penstemon heterophyllus – Chalcedon Checkerspot
Quercus sp. – California Sister, Gray Hairstreak, Great Purple Hairstreak and Mournful Duskywing
Salix sp. – Mourning Cloak, Lorquin’s Admiral and Western Tiger Swallowtail
Sidalcea malviflora – West Coast Lady
Spiraea sp. – Spring Azure

 

Common Nectar Plants for Adult Butterflies

Be sure to have plants in your garden that provide a food source to a variety of adult butterflies year-round.

Providing nectar plants in the early spring is important for the early emerging Pipevine Swallowtail while the Monarch and Skippers benefit from the late season bloomers.  Many larval plants perform double duty as great nectar plants for adults.

Achillea sp. (Yarrow) – Spring/Summer/Fall
Aster sp. (Aster) – Summer/Fall
Bidens sp. (Bur-Marigold) – Spring/Summer/Fall
Buddleia sp. (Butterfly Bush) – Summer
Convolvulus sabatius (Ground Morning Glory) – Summer
Erigeron karvinskianus (Mexican/Santa Barbara Daisy) – Spring/Summer
Lantana sp. (Lantana) – Spring/Summer/Fall
Lavandula sp. (Lavender) – Spring/Summer
Leucanthemum maximum (Shasta Daisy) – Summer/Fall
Nepeta sp (Catmint) – Summer/Fall
Origanum sp. (Oregano) – Summer
Salvia sp. (Sage) – Spring/Summer/Fall
Scabiosa sp. (Pincushion Flower) – Spring/Summer/Fall
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Stonecrop) – Summer/Fall
Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ (Goldenrod) – Summer/Fall
Verbena bonariensis (Verbena) – Spring/Summer/Fall

Field Resources

Book Guides:

Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions by Arthur M. Shapiro and Timothy D. Manolis
Butterflies through Binoculars:  The West by Jeffrey Glassberg
Butterfly Gardening in Southern California by Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Butterfly Gardener’s Guide by Brooklyn Botanic Garden – All Region Guides
Butterflies & their Favorite Flower Plants, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park & Environs by Lynn and Gene Monroe
Caterpillars in the Field and Garden by Thomas J. Allen, Jim P. Brock & Jeffrey Glassberg
Common Butterflies of California by Bob Stewart
How to Spot Butterflies by Patricia Taylor Sutton & Clay Sutton
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies by Robert Michael Pyle
Southern California Butterflies by Fred Heath

Websites:

www.naba.org – North American Butterfly Association
     Increase public enjoyment and conservation of butterflies
www.monarchprogram.org – Monarch Program
     Research and education of Monarch butterflies
www.butterfliesandmoths.org – Butterflies & Moths of North America
     Occurrence maps, species accounts, checklists and photographs
Occurrence maps, species accounts, checklists and photographs
http://www.thebutterflysite.com/california-butterflies.shtml- Butterflies of California list
http://www.nwf.org/backyard/butterflies.cfm - National Wildlife Federation

 

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