Butterfly Garden.pdf

To attract butterflies, provide food plants for caterpillars and adults, and create a suitable physical environment. Most butterflies prefer shelter from high winds and open, sunny areas. Windbreak plantings or sheltered areas can help.

Food Sources

Adult butterflies feed on sweet liquids like nectar from flowers, honeydew, plant sap, and rotting fruit.
Caterpillars require specific host plants, such as milkweed for monarch butterflies and parsley for black swallowtails.
Include a variety of nectar-bearing plants, like asters, bee balm, and butterfly bush, to attract different species.

Common Butterflies and Food Sources

Black swallowtail: dill, parsley, fennel, carrot; nectar from butterfly weed, alfalfa, and thistle.
Monarch: milkweed; nectar from cosmos, Canada thistle, and rabbitbrush.
Clouded sulfur: alfalfa, clover; nectar from alfalfa, phlox, and rabbitbrush.

Gardening Practices

Use insecticides sparingly, as they can kill caterpillars and adult butterflies.
Create a large patch of a single flower species to attract and retain butterflies.
Consider flowers that bloom in sequence to provide a constant nectar source.

References

A Field Guide to Western Butterflies
Butterflies of North America
Butterfly Gardening: Creating Summer Magic in Your Garden
Florissant Butterflies: A Guide to the Fossil and Present Day Species of Central Colorado

Tables

Table 1: Nectar-bearing plants commonly visited by butterflies
* Table 2: Food used by common Eastern Colorado butterflies and skippers