Butterflies Are Not Free - They Take Some Work

White peacock on Coreopsis

Cloudless sulfur

Monarch on Sky blue Salvia
With all the attention (deservedly so, I might add) on bees and pollinator gardens these days, the plight of butterflies seems to be taking a back seat. I regret that as butterflies are not just beautiful creatures, they are an integral part of any well-designed pollinator garden. Bees are integrally tied to native wildflowers for their nectar needs and different species require different habitat conditions to produce their offspring. Butterflies are no different except they also need host plants for their caterpillars. That requires us to not only provide the proper nectar plants, but to add their host plants as well and that takes some planning. Butterflies are not a "freebie" that simply comes about by planting a pollinator garden.
A few common lawn weeds serve that purpose for a few species, but to do things right means we have to also purposely add the plants that don't just pop up in a neglected former lawn. As I plant my new landscape here in Holiday, I am especially cognizant of what I need to add - and it is paying off. When I first moved here, there were precious few butterflies in my landscape. It was a rare occasion to have one fly by and an even rarer one to have one of them linger. I've learned over the past years to appreciate the diversity of native bees present in the world around me, but I've loved butterflies for as long as I've been alive. I don't know of anyone that isn't drawn to them.
Butterfly host plants range from trees and shrubs to grasses and wildflowers. To minimize competition for the leaves of their host plants, they are extremely selective about what they will lay their eggs on. This, of course, makes it easy to decide what to plant. You simply choose the butterflies you wish to have near you and plant their host plant. This takes planning and a bit of work. It doesn't happen by chance or by simply letting an area of your landscape go "wild."
Today, as I sat a while in my developing yard, I was witness to a bit of what I've accomplished. A white peacock fluttered near the ground, resting on various plants and seemingly not interested in laying eggs on the bacopa (Bacopa monnieri) I've planted in my wetland. They did, however, last year. A monarch hovered among the flowers in my backyard, nectaring a bit on my red salvia (Salvia coccinea) waiting for the reappearance of the milkweeds I've added. A tiny cassius blue seems to have taken up residence and an orange-barred sulfur laid eggs on my privet cassia (Senna ligustrina). Yesterday, a giant swallowtail did the same on my key lime. Gulf fritillaries are a common visitor as my winged maypop (Passiflora suberosa) are actively growing and providing new shoots for their caterpillars.
Throughput my yard, front and back, are larval host plants for butterflies. There is no better way to attract them to your landscape. They are not nearly as interested in the pollen and nectar produced  by my wildflowers as they are in the plants their caterpillars require. Many of my host plants have not yet served that purpose, but I am patient. I have yet to get some of the grass skippers that I hope will use my native bluestems and Indiangrasses and I have not yet seen the crescents that should lay their eggs on my asters. I have several species of pawpaws in case a zebra swallowtail decides to visit. If you plant it, however, they may come.
A landscape full of butterflies is a goal I wish to eventually attain. Today was a good day because it would seem that I'm on my way. 

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