San Antonio Natural Area Parks
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Karl Price with butterflies on his mind.

Best Plants to Attract Butterflies
(and easy to grow):

Most butterflies must land on the flower in order to feed on the nectar. Some of the larger swallowtail butterflies can feed from tubular flowers. Planting a variety of shapes and sizes of flowers will bring a diversity of butterflies. Be sure to plant several of each species of plants as large masses of color will help to attract butterflies to your garden.

Remember the caterpillars.  Be aware of the different life cycles of butterflies. Many people forget that butterflies come from caterpillars. To help increase butterfly populations, plant some larval food plants in the landscape:

Fennel, Dill, Parsley, and Rue provide food for the Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar. Passionvine is a treat for the Gulf Fritillary. Citrus for the Giant Swallowtails love Citrus, Hop Tree and Toothache Tree. Milkweed plants are good for Monarch and Queen while Pipevine is great for Pipevine Swallowtail. Hackberry butterflies, of course like hackberry. Hairstreaks like oaks. for Hackberry butterfly and others. The Skippers prefer native grasses for the Skippers.

Other considerations:

• Butterflies also need water and shelter.
  To provide water you may use a shallow dish with sand and pebbles.
• Using sprinklers can wash away nectar. If you must use them, water early in the morning     a couple of hours before the butterflies come out to feed.
• Butterflies need shelter from wind and inclement weather. Plant evergreen trees and shrubs near the butterfly garden. Some examples of evergreens are Cedar, Evergreen Sumac, Mountain Laurel, Arizona Cypress, Live Oak, Yaupon Holly, and native grasses.
• Place decorative rocks or logs in the garden as butterflies need to warm up before they can fly.
• Plan your garden to have flowers blooming throughout the season.
  
• Some butterflies prefer rotten fruit. Provide native plants that drop fruit such as grapes, dewberries, Mexican Plum, Texas Persimmon, and Blanco Crabapples.

Reasons for attracting butterflies.
When we gaze upon the beautiful butterflies lazily flitting from flower to flower, we think about their beauty and how relaxed they make us feel.  What we don’t realize is that they are busily doing a very important job. Butterflies are second only to bees as important pollinators whose hard work pays off in the production of seeds and fruits for  our enjoyment, for food for wildlife, and for future plants.  By providing space in our landscapes for the plants and habitat they need we can do a lot to help protect our native butterflies.

Some common native butterflies found in the San Antonio area:

Gulf Fritillary 
Eastern Black Swallowtail
Giant Swallowtail 
Pipevine Swallowtail
Tiger Swallowtail 
Sulphur butterflies
Hairstreaks
American Snout
Hackberry butterfly
Red Admiral
Bordered Patch 
Checkerspot butterflies
Painted Lady
Monarch
Buckeye
Queen
White Checkered Skipper
Brazilian Skipper
And other Skipper butterflies

Bibliography

Butterfly Gardening for the South. 1990. Geyeta Ajilvsgi

Peterson’s Field Guide: A Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies: 1992. Paul A. Opler and Vichai Malikul.

Butterflies and Moths. Golden Press. Robert Mitchell and Herbert Zim.

See also:

• Bexar County Butterflies
• Butterflies of Friedrich Park

Janis Merritt is Native Plant Specialist and Senior Crew Leader for the City of San Antonio Natural Areas.

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