Extension Service Garden Hints

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Gardening for butterflies

CORVALLIS - Oregon is blessed with more than 150 species of butterflies. A little more than half of them are found only in eastern Oregon and about 30 species are found only in western Oregon.

Home gardeners don't need a large yard to provide the basics for butterfly survival. All they need are nectar plants, larval host plants, resting areas, sun and water, explained Gail Gredler, home horticulturist with the Oregon State University Extension Service.

Grow nectar plants for butterflies in anything from window boxes to wildflower meadows. Nectar-rich wildflowers include aster, bleeding heart, butterfly weed (Asclepias or milkweed), clarkia, columbine, coreopsis, goldenrod, Indian paintbrush, iris, larkspur, lupine, nettle, owl clover, sedum, thistle and yarrow.

Non-native flowers including bee balm, dahlias, cosmos, dianthus, day lilies, geraniums, heliotrope, impatiens, lavender, marigolds, shasta daisy, snapdragon, statice, sweet alyssum, sweet pea, sweet william, zinnias and many members of the mint family are also great nectar sources for butterflies.

Flowering trees and shrubs including manzanita, ceanothus, rhododendron, elderberry, wild roses, red flowering current, butterfly bush (Buddleia) twin berry Oregon honeysuckle, Piper's willow and snowberry also provide nectar for butterflies.

Caterpillars, the voracious larvae of butterflies, must also have food. Plants that provide caterpillars food include alfalfa, anise, clover, fennel, hollyhock, mallow, lupine, milkweed, nasturtium, snapdragon, sunflower, violet, cottonwood, poplar, willow, oak and horse chestnut. In particular, Western tiger swallowtail caterpillars love alder, cherry, elm, maple, poplar and willows. Anise swallowtail larvae love members of the parsley family such as fennel, dill and cow parsnip. Nettles and hops are favorites of the red admiral. And painted lady caterpillars love borage, burdock and centaurea.

For resting and sunning, shrubs provide a safe place out of the wind for butterflies. Rocks placed in the sun or sunny bare patches out of the way of foot traffic are also great resting spots.

Butterflies cannot drink from open water. The best way to provide drinking water is to have some wet mud somewhere in the yard where butterflies can land safely and sip. Or mist your plants early in the morning and they will sip from the water droplets. Misting plants later in the day may cause fungus problems.

Avoid the indiscriminate use of pesticides in the yard. Butterflies have become increasingly uncommon in urban and suburban areas because of pesticides and habitat loss.

For more information on creating a healthy habitat for butterflies, consult "The Audubon Society Handbook for Butterfly Watchers," by Robert Michael Pyle, published by Charles Scribner's Sons or "Butterfly Gardening," Sierra Club Books and the National Wildlife Federation.

By: Carol Savonen
Source: Gail Gredler

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