There are as many as 40 butterfly species, each of which has its own habits and preferences. With some understanding of the butterfly’s life cycle and needs, you can easily attract these beauties to your container garden.
Life Cycle
The cycle begins when the female butterfly leaves an egg on the leaf of a host plant. When the tiny caterpillars, called larvae, hatch, they go on an eating spree, increasing their size by 1000 times or more in just a few days. To enable this rapid growth, they molt or shed their outer skin five times. The fully grown larva then pupates or gets rid of its skin for the last time and becomes a chrysalis. During this inactive stage, it attaches itself with silk to a branch, usually over-wintering like this, waiting for warmer weather. Magically the butterfly knows when to emerge from the chrysalis in all its graceful beauty.
Feeding
Although the adult butterfly may feed on many plants, the caterpillar or juvenile butterfly prefers only a few, or in some cases, just one. Thus the eggs are laid on the preferred host plant for that species. One of the best known and most loved butterflies, the monarch, lays her eggs only on milkweed (Asclepias spp.), while the pipevine swallowtail’s choice is Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochi spp.)
Host plants are frequently weeds like thistles, clover and chickweed. Other common host plants include sunflower, hollyhocks, dogwood, willow, dill, fennel and alfalfa. Good thing they’re not usually your prize specimens, because the young caterpillars can defoliate a plant pretty quickly with their enormous appetites.
Nectar plants produce the sugary fluid that provides the adult butterfly with nourishment. Many have tubular-shaped flowers that are colorful and conspicuous. One of the most popular nectar plants is the butterfly bush (Buddleia spp.), favored by the American painted lady, the red admiral, the mourning cloak, the monarch, and the pipevine and tiger swallowtails. Lantana (Lantana camara and L. montevidensis) is also favored by many species.
What To Plant
Good butterfly plants have shape, color and fragrance.
Shape Plants shaped so that the butterfly can easily access their nectar are the ones that will be most attractive. Members of the Compositae family, which includes flowers with a center surrounded by a ray of petals, are a good choice. Aster, black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower and cosmos are all part of this family. Another shape of flower attractive to butterflies is one that has clusters of small blossoms on stems, such as butterfly bush, lantana and lavender. Different butterflies do prefer different flowers, so if you want to attract a particular type of butterfly, be sure to research what its favorites are.
Go To Page: 1 2
