Butterfly Gardening Part III

Queen
Courtesy of Butterfly Pictures

In Part II of my last blog on Butterfly Gardening I listed six butterfly families common to the Southwest Desert along with a few attractant plants.  This week’s blog list is in addition to the Butterfly Mist and Fern Acacia Plants.   You can find these in your local plant nurseries.  These plants are lovely to any garden and do especially well here in the hot desert heat.

Baja Fairy Duster, Calliandra californica attracts the Ceraunus Blue, lycaenid for a larval food plant. The caterpillars are usually red like the flowers of the plant and are tended by ants.  This plant also attracts other butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to its nectar.

Bee Bush, Aloysia gratissima attracts small and large butterflies alike to their nectar as well as birds to their seeds.  The most common butterflies that are attracted to this plant are the Gray Hairstreak.

Black Dalea, Dalea frutescens attracts the Southern Dogface butterfly as a larval food plant.

Butterfly Bush, Buddleia davidii is not native to the Southwestern Desert but attracts all types of butterflies including the Brushfoots to its lilac flowers for a nectar source.

Catclaw, Acacia greggii is a native plant that attracts small butterflies during its flowering season. 

Desert Broom, Baccharis sarothroides attracts the brilliant Great Purple Hairstreak and other butterflies to its nectar.

Desert Lavender, Hyptis emoryi attracts all types of butterflies to its nectar.  The plant is drought tolerant and attracts hummingbirds as well as bees.

Desert Senna, Senna covesii is a native plant that attracts the medium size Sleepy Orange and the large plain yellow male and white or yellow Cloudless Sulphur butterflies. 

Dill, Anethum graveolens, is a member of the parsley family and is a particular larval food plant for the Black Swallowtails.   Expect plant damage.

Feather Tree, Lysiloma microphylla or watsoni/thornberi is a small rare native tree

That is a larval food plant to the large Orange Sulphur.

Golden Dyssodia, Dyssodia pentachaeta is a native plant that provides nectar and food for the pale yellow Dainty Sulphur. 

Kidneywood, Eysenhardtia, orthodcarpa provides nectar and larval food for the Marine Blue and an attractant for other butterflies.

Passion Flower, Passiflora foetida is a native vine and the leaves are the primary food for the extraordinary orange red Gulf Fritillary.  Daily butterfly visits in late summer.

Monarch on Lantana
Courtesy of Butterfly Pictures

Pine-leaf Milkweed, Asclepias linaria provides nectar for butterflies of all shapes and sizes.  The Monarch butterfly is prominent of all butterflies and a rarity in the southwest, but occasionally this plant will attract them in the fall weather.

Rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus nauseosus is a native shrub and attracts the small Reaksirt’s Blue butterfly to its nectar.

Red Bird of Paradise, Caesalpinia pulcherrima attracts the beautiful larger swallowtails such as the iridescent blue Pipevine Swallowtail.

Side-Oats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula is a native grass that enhances any garden and is a larval food plant for skippers.  

Verbena, Verbena gooddingii is a native desert flower and blooms in spring.  Many different butterflies as well as various Brushfoots visit the flowers for nectar.

Using a variety of the plants listed on this page will ensure daily butterfly visits.  You can also use these plants in pots on decks or balconies if space is limited.

Happy Gardening,

Courtesy of Butterfly Pictures

Bev