Architecture for a Butterfly Garden

Butterflies

• Understanding a butterfly's growth habits and needs is essential to constructing a garden to entice it. Butterflies start as eggs laid on the leaves or twigs of a host, or larva, plant. Usually the egg hatches into a tiny caterpillar, called larva, which then feeds on the larva plants. The full-grown larva will create an enveloping sac, called a papal sac, and transform itself into a butterfly. Well-known butterflies include the monarch, swallowtail and viceroy.

Host (Larva) Plants

• Larva plants, or hosts for young caterpillars, are a key feature of a butterfly garden; female butterflies place eggs on the leaves and caterpillars feed on them. Many butterflies feed only on specific plants, like the monarch, which only eats milkweed; the spicebush swallowtail, which likes spicebush and sassafras; and the viceroy butterfly, which enjoys poplars. Research is necessary to determine the preferred plants of local butterflies. Larva plants include annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees. Very tall plants, like ironweed and Joe-pye, should be placed to prevent sun blockage to shorter plants.

Nectar Plants

• Nectar plants, such as butterfly bushes and zinnias, produce a sugary liquid, nectar, that is food for butterflies. Especially attractive to butterflies are mass plantings of the same cultivar and those which provide continuous nectar, like lantana and butterfly weed. The perennials that attract the most butterflies, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden, include liatris, asters and Joe-pye weeds. Annuals include Egyptian star-clusters and black-eyed Susans. Other good nectar plants are milkweeds, pincushions, ironweed and rose verbena.

Hardscape Elements

• Rocks set in the sun is a hardscape feature that should be included in a butterfly garden. Butterflies are drawn to sun-warmed rocks for perching and sunning. A water feature like a fountain, shallow bath or even a puddle provides butterflies with minerals and nutrients and a place where young male butterflies seek mates. Another feature is a fence or corner nook built as shelter against summer winds and heavy rains. A windscreen of nectar shrubs, such as mock orange or lilacs, can also offer shelter.