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Designing a Dream Butterfly Garden

Valerie Albarda

By Valerie Albarda
Updated May 14, 2021

Nourish nature, amuse the kids or just watch as your garden comes alive with colorful winged creatures.

An illustration with blue sky, blue butterflies and blue flowers in a field with green grass.

Create a Butterfly Haven

Butterflies don’t just show up without an invitation. Select the right plants, and put out the welcome mat with these ideas.  

Discover Flower Power

An illustration of a blue sky, one blue butterfly, red and yellow flowers with green leaves.

Plant in drifts. Butterflies are more likely to notice large swaths of color, like these yellow yarrow and rudbeckia. Also, go for bright colors. Red flowers attract more butterflies than white flowers.

Include Host Plants

An illustration of a blue sky, pink house, blue butterflies and yellow flowers in a field.

Plants, such as fennel (shown), dill and parsley, are popular food sources for caterpillars that'll later turn into butterflies. If you’re worried about nibbled foliage, hide the plants in an inconspicuous spot.

Supply Nectar Plants

An illustration of two blue butterflies, purple flowers, yellow and orange flowers and a blue sky.

The flowers of these plants are a food source for butterflies. Examples include butterfly bush (shown) and daylily. Plant flowers with different but overlapping bloom times, such as bachelor’s buttons and coneflowers.

Make Them Comfortable

An illustration of blue butterflies, yellow and orange flowers, white flowers and blue sky.

Flowers aren’t the only things butterflies like. They’ll also appreciate a sunbaked surface to warm their wings in the morning and a shallow saucer of water with a sandy bottom where they can drink any time of day.

Keep Them Safe

An illustration of a blue house, blue butterflies, trees, flowers and a pink winding walkway.

Limit the use of pesticides and apply only on calm days. Also consider planting a windbreak, such as the trees and evergreens shown here, to calm the air for safe landings.

Welcoming Pollinators to Your Garden

An illustration of a pink house, yellow, orange and pink flowers, blue butterflies and a blue sky.

Here’s a butterfly garden at peak in August, overflowing with a bounty of flowers that'll tempt not only butterflies but other valuable pollinators such as bees. This garden features ‘Moonbeam’ coreopsis (C. verticillata), Gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta), black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’), Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ and purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).

Annuals

An illustration of a blue sky, yellow and orange flowers with a brown center and a bee on a flower.

Perennials aren’t pollinators’ only friends. Flowering trees and shrubs also play a role, especially in spring when many perennials have yet to bloom. But the best partners, due to their long season of bloom, are annuals. Here are a dozen annuals that'll attract their share of pollinators.

  • Angelonia
  • Bachelor’s buttons (Centaurea cyanus)
  • Butterfly flower (Asclepias curassavica)
  • Calendula
  • Cleome
  • Cosmos
  • Gazania
  • Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
  • Salvia
  • Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
  • Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
  • Zinnia

Butterfly Stages

Once you’ve got your butterfly garden ready, look for these stages of butterfly metamorphosis and these beautiful butterflies to emerge.

  • A close-up of a butterfly egg on a leaf.
    Eggs: Eggs come in many shapes and colors, and are usually laid on leaves, providing a food source for the tiny caterpillars that emerge.
  • A black, white and yellow caterpillar on a stem eating.
    Larva: The larval stage lasts up to a month, during which time the caterpillar continues to eat, grow and molt (shed its outer skin).
  • A chrysalis hanging from a stem by silk.
    Chrysalis: Once mature, the caterpillar hangs from a support, then molts a final time to produce a chrysalis.
  • A black and yellow adult butterfly on a pink flower.
    Adult: Eventually, a beautiful butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. In a few days, it'll be ready to mate. Most butterflies live for only a few weeks.

Types of Butterflies

  • An orange, black and white Painted Lady butterfly on tiny pink flowers.
    Painted Lady: One of the most widespread butterflies, it features orange wings that appear painted black with white tips.
  • A blue Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly with black, white and orange wings on top of blue flowers.
    Pipevine Swallowtail: These dramatic-looking butterflies with large black and iridescent blue wings are poisonous to predators.
  • A black and orange monarch butterfly on top of pink flowers.
    Monarch: Perhaps the most well-known butterfly of all, the monarch features an easily recognizable orange and black wing pattern. It’s famous for its late-season migration south.
  • Two black and white zebra butterflies on top of pink flowers.
    Zebra Longwing: Found throughout the South, these zebra-striped butterflies can be seen in woodlands and along forest edges.