how to attract butterflies: what do the butterflies like?

Butterflies make people happy. We can learn how to attract butterflies to our yard.

We will have happy butterflies in our yard, when they have food, sun, shelter, shade, water and caterpillar host plants.

Butterflies are also attracted to bright colored flowers such as yellow, orange, red, pink and purples.

Bright colors are one way to attract butterflies.

how to attract butterflies, the best way!

The best way to attract the butterflies is with food. Butterflies are just like us, they have to eat.

Butterflies eat flower nectar.

It is so important to provide nectar flowers to invite them to our yard.

Butterflies feed from short flowers. They can't reach deep into a long tubular flower like the hummingbirds.

Butterflies like to have flowers where they can land, so they can feed sitting down.

Daisies or a flat cluster of small flowers give the butterflies a place to land, as well as lots of butterfly food.

some butterflies eat pollen

Most butterflies eat flower nectar, but the Zebra Longwings and a few other butterflies eat pollen.

The very best way to attract butterflies is to provide the flowers they like!

Butterflies only eat in the sun, so plant their flowers in a sunny spot.

Butterflies need flowers spring, summer and fall. Plan on having your flowers blooming throughout the seasons for a continuous supply of butterfly food.

Plant some butterfly flowers.

more ways, how to attract butterflies

Butterfly houses were popular a few years ago. But there are other ways to make the butterflies happy in our yard.

Fruit

Butterflies enjoy cut fruit such as oranges, mangoes and watermelon.

If you have any old fruit, they would enjoy them also. So if the bananas start attracting fruit flies, put them out for the butterflies.

How-to-attract-butterflies-to-your-garden

Butterflies eat flower nectar and pollen.

provide landscape plants

Many of our regular landscape plants attract butterflies. Common Lilac bushes in the north and in the south the Crape Myrtle tree are both enjoyed by beautiful butterflies.

No matter where we live, we can use Daylilies, Sedum, Sweet Alyssum, Sunflowers, Lavender and Azaleas.

Butterflies also feed from our vegetable gardens and wildflowers.

Wild plants provide food and cover for the butterflies and their caterpillars.

Plants need pollinators and the butterflies need plants for nectar, pollen and caterpillar food. Many of our native plants and butterflies depend on each other.

provide a sunny area

Butterflies don't have the capability of warming their own bodies.

Butterflies like to warm up in the sun.

Butterflies need the sun to stay warm. They especially have to warm up in the mornings. In the morning they like to sit on a rock to absorb the sun’s warmth.

Provide some level places in the sun for the butterflies to warm themselves.

Mix a flat rock or two into the butterfly garden where the butterflies can land and sit to warm up.

provide shelter

Butterflies need some shade and protection from bad weather. Most of us probably already have shelter in our yards with trees, shrubs, or hedges.

Make sure the butterfly flowers are protected from the wind, so the butterflies don't blow away while they are feeding.

Butterflies use shade to cool themselves down from the hot summer sun.

Provide Water or Damp Soil

Butterflies don’t drink out of open water. They drink from shallow water or moist soil.

Swallowtail butterflies getting water and minerals

We see butterflies drinking on the edges of a pond where the soil is wet. This is called puddling.

Don’t have a pond? Dampen a spot of soil for the butterflies to puddle. Fill a potted plant saucer with sand and keep it damp for the butterflies.

provide caterpillar host plants; they are great for attracting butterflies

Another great way of how to attract butterflies is to give them a place to lay their eggs.

Butterflies like to lay their eggs on plants their caterpillars will eat. So when we have caterpillar host plants in our garden, the butterflies will come.

After the caterpillars metamorphosize into a butterfly, they can feed from the nectar flowers.

Black Swallowtails - dill, parsley, fennel and Queen Anne's lace
Giant Swallowtail - prickly ash, citrus, hoptree, gas plant, torchwood
Great Spangled Fritillary and Meadow Fritillary - violets
Gulf Fritillary - maypops, other passion vines
Monarch caterpillars feed on milkweeds.
Pearl Crescents - asters
Painted Ladies - daisies, hollyhocks and thistles
Red Admiral - wild cherries, black oaks, aspens, yellow and black birch
Spicebush Swallowtail - sassafras, spicebush
Sulphurs - legume plants, clover, alfalfa, peas, vetch, asters
Tiger Swallowtail eastern - aspen, ash, sweet bay, cherry, tulip trees
Tiger Swallowtail western - willow, plum, alder, sycamore, hoptree, ash
Viceroy - willows, cottonwood, aspen
Zebra Longwing - passion vines
Zebra Swallowtail - pawpaw

Check with your local extension service to find out what butterflies are native to your area. They can tell you which host plants are good for the local caterpillars.

Many native plants are also food sources for caterpillars.