Creating a butterfly garden has many benefits, including enjoying their beauty while providing habitat. Butterflies are attracted to flat or clustered flowers in sunny, protected areas, and a variety of plants that bloom throughout the season keep them well-fed. In addition to nectar plants, butterflies need larval host plants, shelter, mud puddles, and careful pest management that protects beneficial insects. The document provides lists of common butterfly species in the Puget Sound region and their host plants, as well as many flower varieties that serve as nectar sources.

1. Community Horticultural Fact Sheet #84
Butterfly Gardening
In addition to being able to enjoy the beauty of butterflies, creating a habitat that will attract them
has many benefits. Other good insects, such as predators and parasites of garden pest insects also
utilize the flowers, feeding on nectar and pollen. Early flowers may attract bees and hold them in
the area until the fruit trees bloom.
Butterflies are attracted to all types of flowers. They prefer those with flat surfaces or large petals,
which make perching easier. Flowers with clustered florets attract more butterflies than single
flowers. You will find most butterflies in open sunny areas that are protected from the wind. To
keep butterflies well fed throughout the growing season, plant a variety of shrubs, trees, grasses
and flowers that bloom from early spring through late summer.
The butterfly gardener must become a wise pest manager. Identify pests accurately and select or
use pest management methods that will do the job with minimum damage to beneficial insects in
the garden. Below are some key points about butterfly gardening.
Needs of Butterflies
1. Nectar-producing flowers 4. Larval food plants
2. Shrubs for protection 5. Sunny spaces (large or small)
3. Rotting meat or fruit, tree sap, 6. Wet mud
or animal droppings
Nectar Sources
Yellow alyssum Lavender
Beebalm; wild bergamot; Oswego tea Lilac
Black-eyed Susan Marigold
Butterfly weed Mint and many other herbs
Butterfly bush Pincushion flower
Ceanothus Sneezeweed
Chrysanthemum (single-flowered) Blue spirea
Composites such as dandelion, aster Statice
Cow parsnip Thistles
Michaelmas daisy Toadflax
New England daisy Verbena
Fleabane ZinnIa
Honeysuckle
WSU Extension Master Gardener Program * 206-685-5104 * 206-221-2649, fax
elaine.anderson@wsu.edu * kingcountyMG.org
Center for Urban Horticulture * Box 354115 * Seattle WA 98195-4115
Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination.
Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office.

2. Butterflies of the Puget Sound Region
Anise or mountain Milbert's tortoiseshell Satyr anglewing
swallowtail Mourning cloak butterfly Spring azure
Brown elfin Mylitta crescent spot Silvery blue
Cabbage white Ochre ringlet Veined white
California tortoiseshell Painted lady Painted lady
Clodius Parnassian Pine white Western tiger swallowtail
Faunus anglewing Purplish copper West coast lady
Gray hairstreak Red admiral Woodland skipper
Lorquin's admiral Sara's orange tip
Larval Food Plants
Anise swallowtail: Lomatium *, fennel, caraway, dill, cow parsnip
Cabbage white: cabbage family*, nasturtium
California tortoiseshell: Ceanothus *
Lorquin’s admiral: apple, cottonwood, poplar, spiraea, and willow
Milbert’s tortoiseshell: aster*, helianthella, nettle and willow
Mourning cloak butterfly: birch, elm, hackberry, nettle, pear, poplar, rose, and willow
Painted lady: borage, centaurea, burdock, globe artichoke
Pine white: pine, Douglas-fir
Red admiral: nettle, false nettle (Boehmeria), hop
Spring azure: Black snakeroot, crowsbeard, dogwood, spiraea, vaccinium, viburnum and verbena
West Coast lady: hollyhock, groundsel, nettles, pearly everlasting, sagebrush, sunflower,
thistles*, and wormwood
Western tiger swallowtail: alder, cherry, cottonwood, elm, maple, poplar, and willow
*also a nectar plant
4/10
WSU Extension Master Gardener Program * 206-685-5104 * 206-221-2649, fax
elaine.anderson@wsu.edu * kingcountyMG.org
Center for Urban Horticulture * Box 354115 * Seattle WA 98195-4115
Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination.
Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office.