Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden

To attract the greatest number of butterflies and have them as residents in your yard you will need to have plants that serve the needs of all life stages of the butterfly. They need a place to lay eggs, food plants for the larva, a place to form a chrysalis and nectar sources for the adult.

Adults searching for nectar are most attracted to orange, purple, yellow or red blossoms. Flowers which are flat-topped or clustered have short flower tubes which allow the butterflies to reach the nectar with their proboscis. Nectar producing plants should be grown in open, sunny areas, as adults rarely feed on plants in the shade.

Many of these plants you will already have in your garden. To increase your success, plant in groups, in a sunny and sheltere location. Butterfly weed, asters, cosmos, butterfly bush and hollyhock would be my "TOP FIVE" selection of the list.

	Shrubs & Trees	Perennials	Annuals
Nectar Plants	Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) Lilac	Aster Beebalm Butterfly Weed Joe Pye Weed Purple Coneflower Primrose Yarrow Goldenrod	Zinnia Cosmos Calendula Lantana Nasturtioums Heliotrpoe Snapdragons
Larval Plants	Willow Wild Cherry Poplar Apple	Butterfly Weed Goldenrod Hollyhock Lupines Clover Trefoil Violets	Parsley (Biennial) Dill Carrots Queen Anne's Lace Indian Paintbrush

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