What To Plant For A Butterfly Garden
There is something about butterflies lighting on flowers that is simultaneously calming and exciting. Anyone who thinks you can’t have these delightful moments in a desert Southwest garden is mistaken. We can help by growing perennials that are in bloom and full of nectar when most butterflies are active in Summer. There are plenty of native and xeric or low-water choices for Southwest gardeners.
Why Plant A Butterfly Garden?
These delicate visitors in the garden perform important work as pollinators amongst your plants.
The larva needs food, lots of it, and many are particular about the food plant type. Pupae need a place to form in peace and hide as they develop. Adults need food plants and suitable areas to lay eggs for the next generation.
What Plants For A Butterfly Garden
Having butterflies means feeding them while they are caterpillars. Most are picky eaters at this stage, feeding only off one or a few host plants. The Monarch butterfly, for instance, only feeds off milkweed (Asclepsias), which is why people around the world are planting more milkweed or supporting growth of native milkweeds to help the Monarchs survive. There are plenty of other host plants for various butterflies. And it might be hard to step outside and find your dill plant decimated, but you’re happy to see a swallowtail caterpillar was the cause.
I’ve listed many plants below that grow in the Southwest, grouped by type of plant and cooler or hotter zones common varieties grow in. This list includes just some of the many flowers, herbs and shrubs that attract adult butterflies or their larvae. You can always supplement perennial plants for your zone with a few annuals in containers or a bed to increase butterfly activity. Look for annuals with red, yellow, orange, pink or purple blossoms. Flowers with flat tops or growing in clusters are easier to land on, and if a flower is tubular, butterflies will go for ones with shorter tubes.
Some of the plants listed are perennial, some are annual in many zones, and some bloom at much different times throughout the Southwest. If you live in one of the hottest zones of the low desert, you might be able to grow a plant in an earlier or later time of year than most plant information suggests. That’s good though, since providing plants for butterflies and other pollinators throughout their active seasons helps attract them and support their habitat.
Butterfly Garden Plants – Zones 5 through 9
Herbs: Lavender (Lavandula); dill (summer), fennel, Echinacea (coneflower), rosemary (Arp); yarrow (Achillea millefolium); bee balm; thyme; sage; mint.
Bulbs and Flowers: Coreopsis, foxglove (Digitalis); plumbago; phlox; milkweed (Asclepsias); butterfly weed (A. tuberosa); Allium (ornamental, garlic chives); sunflowers; marigolds; catmint (Nepeta); desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata); poppy (Papaver); penstemon varieties, especially natives; Bowles mauve wallflower (Erysium); salvias; Blanket flower (Gaillardia); Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta); lupine; verbena.
Shrubs and Vines: Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia); Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii); fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens); fernbush (Chamaebatiaria millefolium); Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa); honeysuckle; black dalea (Dalea frutescens); currant; roses.
Butterfly Garden Plants – Zones 10 and 11
Herbs: Lavender (some varieties, including Sunset’s Meerlo for zones 9 and 10); dill (winter); rosemary; sage; mint.
Bulbs and Flowers: Larkspur (some varieties); Saphhire showers (Duranta erecta); tall red pentas (Pentas lanceolata); Sunflowers; catmint (Nepeta x faassenii); Lantana; Salvias such as Mexican red sage; Penstemon varieties such as rock or Parry’s; Bowles mauve wallflower (Erysium); Sandpaper verbena.
Shrubs and Vines: Wooly butterfly bush (Buddleia marrubiifolia); Bottlebrush (Callistemon); Fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens); black dalea (Dalea frutescens); Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa); Passion vine (Passiflora) bougainvillea; roses.
In addition, many native trees support butterflies, along with citrus trees, vitex, willow, hackberry, madrone, poplar and pine trees. Again, this is not a complete list by any means. Check with your local nursery, master gardeners or native plant society for more information on growing times and heat hardiness of plants to attract butterflies.
Don’t Forget Water and Food
Butterflies need nectar and liquids they get from other sources such as tree sap or rotting fruit. Offering a few puddle spots also helps butterflies get enough liquid and minerals. These often are made from shallow plates with rocks, sand or sponges for consistent but shallow moisture. This is a little trickier to maintain in the dry Southwest because water evaporates so quickly.