utilize them in the landscape.
Mel Garber, Extension Horticulturist
Ornamental plants provide homeowners the means to improve their local
environment in many ways. Generally, all that is required is a knowledge
of appropriate plant varieties and how to utilize them in the landscape.
Butterfly populations can be greatly enhanced by devoting a portion of the landscape to butterfly habitat. In addition, to their natural beauty, butterflies serve as valuable plant pollinators. The three necessary ingredients to attract and maintain butterfly populations all summer are:
Nectar producing plants provide food for the adults (the butterfly) and are necessary to attract and establish a butterfly population. Characteristics of good butterfly attracting plants include:
Flowers that are deep-throated or enclosed are not conducive to nectar
collection. Most of the plants recommended as nectar food plants are
herbaceous or wood perennials. Plant them in a sunny border area of your
landscape. The following plants are good nectar sources and are listed
below.
| Trees and Shrubs | Wildflowers and Perennials | Annuals |
| Butterfly bush (Buddleia) | Dwarf lantana | Pentas |
| Bottlebrush | Queen Anne's Lace | Cosmos |
| Dogwood | Purple coneflower | Impatiens |
| Mountain Ash | Hollyhock | Salvia |
| Hawthorne | Milkweed | Marigold (singles) |
| Crabapple | Coreopsis | Petunia |
| Sumac | Sunflowers | Verbena |
| Blueberry | Red clover | Zinnia |
| Viburnum | Vetches | Black-eyed Susan |
| Raspberry | Goldenrod | Aster |
| Azalea | Phlox |
If you have a limited area to landscape or to redesign, three plants most recommended for butterfly gardens are pentas, lantana, and butterfly bush (Buddleia). Pentas, particularly in Atlanta, should be grown as an annual. With mild winters and heavy mulching, Pentas in south Georgia will sometime survive as a perennial. Lantana and Buddleia are excellent perennial shrubs that flower through the spring, summer, and fall. Both plants should be cut back in February or March since flowers occur on new growth. To attract the swallow tail butterfly, you can include Fennel in your border plants.
Although nectar producing plants are necessary to attract adult butterflies,
the ideal butterfly garden requires food plants and habitat for the larvae
(caterpillars). The suggested plant material should be in an undisturbed
area that is free of pesticides (in this case, we want the caterpillars to
flourish!). Start with an unmowed area of the lawn that receives lots of
sun. Many of the grasses and wildflowers native to Georgia are suitable
for larvae food. These meadow areas should only be mowed at the end of
the butterfly season, October to November, to avoid harming the larvae.
The larvae of each butterfly have a fairly strong preference when it comes
to their diet. However, groups of plants that are desirable to a fairly wide
range of butterfly larvae include willow, wild cherry, milk weeds, sweet bay, passion vine,
legumes, crucifers, and asters. Many of the wildflowers that perform well in the southeast
provide excellent nectar and larvae food.
Wildflower seed mixes, developed by The University of Georgia, are commercially available and can be sown in the sunny meadow areas. This is an easy, low-cost way to enhance the food source for butterfly and larvae. Wildflowers also provide natural areas that are low-maintenance and water efficient.
Another necessary ingredient for a sustained butterfly population is a source of water. Butterflies will not drink from open, deep water areas. Therefore, it is necessary to provide one or more shallow water sources. Wet sand or mud provide excellent watering holes. The saucer designed to fit beneath clay or plastic pots makes an excellent water source -- just add sand to make the water source shallow. A rock or other object in the center of the saucer provides a resting spot for the butterfly.
A large colorful butterfly population can be maintained in your landscape if you provide an undisturbed meadow area with, (1) nectar producing plants, (2) larvae food plants, and (3) a shallow source of water.
The University of Georgia and Ft. Valley State College, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and counties of the state cooperating. The Cooperative Extension Service offers educational programs, assistance and materials to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability.
An Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Organization Committed to a Diverse Work Force
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.
Gale A. Buchanan, Dean and Director