Butterfly Houses
Make Your Garden a Haven for Birds and Butterflies
Just as you can provide a safe haven for birds with bird houses, you can provide the optimal hibernation location for butterflies by incorporating a butterfly house into your garden. While butterflies do not live in houses the way birds do, they do need a safe location to hibernate. That’s where a butterfly house comes in. Give your backyard butterflies a home with a butterfly house from Ace.
Attracting Butterflies with Plants
Butterflies use two different types of plants – those that provide nectar for the adults to eat (nectar plant), and those that provide food for their offspring (host plant). It is best to find out which plant species are native to your area and plant those rather than exotic species.
Below are list of the more common butterflies with their host and nectar plants.
| Butterfly | Caterpillar Host Plant | Butterfly Nectar Source |
| American Painted Lady | Everlasting, Daisy, Burdock | Aster, Dogbane, Goldenrod, Mallow, Privet, Vetch |
| American Snout | Hackberry | Aster, Dogbane, Dogwood, Goldenrod, Pepperbush |
| Anise Swallowtail | Queen Anne’s Lace | Buddleia, Joe Pye Weed |
| Baltimore Checkerspot | Turtlehead, False Foxglove, Plantain | Milkweed, Viburnum, Wild Rose |
| Black Swallowtail | Parsley, Dill, Fennel | Aster, Buddleia, Joe Pye Weed, Alfalfa |
| Clouded Sulphur | Clover | Goldenrod, Grape Hyacinth, Marigold |
| Cloudless Sulphur | Cassia, Apple, Clover | Zinnia, Butterfly Bush, Cosmos, Cushion Mum |
| Comma | Elm, Hops, Nettle | Butterfly Bush, Dandelion |
| Common Buckeye | Snapdragon, Loosestrife | Carpetweed |
| Common Checkered Skipper | Mallow/Hollyhock | Shepherd’s needles, Fleabane, Aster, Red Clover |
| Common Sulphur | Vetch | Aster, Dogbane, Goldenrod |
| Common Wood-nymph | Purpletop Grass | Purple Coneflower |
| Eastern Pygmy Blue | Glasswort | Salt Bush |
| Eastern Tailed Blue | Clover, Peas | Dogbane |
| Falcate Orangetip | Rock Cress, Mustard | Mustard, Strawberry, Chickweed, Violet |
| Giant Swallowtail | Citrus | Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia |
| Gorgone Checkerspot | Sunflower | Sunflower, Goldenrod |
| Gray Hairstreak | Mallow/Hollyhock, Clover, Alfalfa | Thistle, Ice Plant |
| Great Spangled Fritillary | Violet | Thiste, Black-eyed Susan, Milkweed, Ironweed |
| Greater Fritillary | Violet | Joe Pye Weed |
| Gulf Fritillary | Pentas, Passion-vine | Joe Pye Weed |
| Hackberry Emperor | Hackberry | Sap, Rotting fruit, Dung, Carrion |
| Little Glassywing | Purpletop Grass | Dogbane, Zinnia |
| Little Yellow | Cassia, Clover | Clover |
| Monarch | Milkweed | Dogbane, Buddleia |
| Mourning Cloak | Willow, Elm, Poplar, Birch, Nettle, Wild Rose | Butterfly Bush, Milkweed, Shasta Daisy, Dogbane |
| Orange Sulphur | Vetch. Alfalfa, Clover | Alfalfa, Aster, Clover, Verbena |
| Orange-barred Sulphur | Cassia | Many plants |
| Painted Lady | Thistle, Daisy, Mallow/Hollyhock, Burdock | Aster, Zinnia |
| Pearl Crescent | Aster | Dogbane |
| Pipevine Swallowtail | Dutchman’s Pipe, Pipevine | Buddleia |
| Polydamus Swallowtail | Pipevine | Buddleia |
| Queen | Milkweed | Milkweed, Beggar-tick, Daisy |
| Question Mark | Hackberry, Elm, Nettle, Basswood | Aster, Milkweed, Sweet Pepperbush |
| Red Admiral | Nettle | Stonecrop, Clover, Aster, Dandelion, Goldenrod, Mallow |
| Red-spotted Purple | Black Cherry, Willow, Poplar | Privet, Poplar |
| Silver-spotted Skipper | Black Locust, Wisteria | Dogbane, Privet, Clover, Thistle, Winter Cress |
| Silvery Checkerspot | Sunflower | Cosmos, Blanket Flower, Marigold, Phlox, Zinnia |
| Sleepy Orange | Cassia, Clover | Blue Porter, Beggar Tick, Aster |
| Spicebush Swallowtail | Spicebush, Sassafras | Dogbane, Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia |
| Spring Azure | Dogwood, Viburnum, Blueberry, Spirea, Apple | Blackberry, Cherry, Dogwood, Forget-me-not, Holly |
| Tawny Emperor | Hackberry | Tree sap, Rotting fruit, Dung, Carrion |
| Tiger Swallowtail | Black Cherry, Birch, Poplar, Willow | Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia |
| Variegated Fritillary | Violet, Passion Vine | Joe Pye Weed |
| Viceroy | Willow, Poplar, Fruit Trees | Thistle, Beggar-tick, Goldenrod, Milkweed |
| Western Tailed Blue | Clover, Peas | Legumes |
| White Admiral | Birch, Willow, Poplar, Honeysuckle | Aphid Honeydew, Bramble Blossom |
| Zabulon Skipper | Purpletop Grass | Blackberry, Vetch, Milkweed, Buttonbush,Thistle |
| Zebra Longwing | Passion-vine | Verbena, Lantana, Shepard’s Needle |
| Zebra Swallowtail | Pawpaw | Dogbane, Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia, Privet, Blueberry |
