Your Butterfly Habitat
1. Southern Exposure - You should try to position your habitat on the south side of your house in full sun if possible. Butterflies prefer temperatures of 70 to 85 degrees. They need warm temperatures in order to fly. Near sunset, if you watch closely you will see your butterflies fly away in a ray of sun into the trees where they will spend the night. The preferred butterfly flowers all like full sun, except purple coneflower which can be grown in partial shade.
2. You will attract more butterflies if your plants are close together. You can always thin your plants out if you notice that they are too close to each other. Planting them close together will help with depth of field if you are taking pictures in your garden.
3. Butterfly season is July 1 through September 30 in our area. Planning is very important, since butterfly populations have decreased over the years. Prime time for seeing butterflies is the month of August.
4. Frequency - You can expect to see the same butterfly in your habitat for 2 to 3 days. Then you will see new butterflies in your habitat. The fruit eaters will come back each day if you keep a good supply of rotting bananas, unsulphured molasses, and beer in a pie pan. Apples are good too but watermelon is the best. Red Admirals, Red Spotted Purples, Mourning Cloaks, Commas, Question Marks, and Hackberry butterflies love fruit.
5. Host Plants - The more trees and weeds you have around your house, the more butterflies you will have. Butterflies lay their eggs on certain trees and weeds. These are called host plants.
6. Preferred Plants - This is crucial to an effective habitat. If you do not plant the preferred plants (high nectar high sugar), you will not see any butterflies. Butterflies love gourmet, and will pick one flower over another. This is fun to watch, and is fascinating.
7. Your key to success - RON'S RANKINGS - Flower preferences
Host Plants for your Butterfly Habitat
Host Plants are plants that butterflies lay eggs on. After the eggs transform into caterpillars, the caterpillars eat the leaves of the host plant. Then the caterpillar spins a chrysalis, from which the butterfly eventually emerges.
HOST PLANT |
BUTTERFLY |
| 1. Milkweed | Monarch |
| 2. Parsley | Eastern Black Swallowtail |
| 3. Hackberry Tree | Question Mark, Hackberry, & Mourning Cloak |
| 4. Thistle, Mallow, Hollyhock | Painted Lady |
| 5. Nettles | Red Admiral |
| 6. Dutchman's Pipevine | Pipevine Swallowtail |
| 7. Paw Paw Tree | Zebra Swallowtail |
| 8. Spicebush | Spicebush Swallowtail |
| 9. Willow, Birch, Cherry, & Poplar Trees | Tiger Swallowtail |
| 10. Hops | Comma |
 1. Day Lily - perennial |
 2. Joe Pye Weed - perennial |
 3. Aster - perennial |
 4. Late Flowering Boneset - perennial |
