How to Attract Butterflies: 6 Essential Tips for Your Garden

We love seeing all the varieties of butterflies in our Sow Right Seeds gardens. It feels like a thank you from nature to be greeted by a fluttering display of gentle wings. These delicate pollinators bring beauty and life to any outdoor space, but attracting them takes more than just planting a few flowers. By creating a habitat that meets their needs—offering food, shelter, and water—you can turn your garden into a thriving butterfly sanctuary. This guide will show you exactly how to attract butterflies and keep them coming back season after season.

swallowtail butterfly on marigold flower

One of the most popular pollinators is the butterfly! These colorful insects delight home gardeners. They are delicate and gentle as they help pollinate the garden. They are beneficial to your plants and the entire ecosystem, and they also bring joy and color to the garden.

Designing a Butterfly-Friendly Garden

You can create a dedicated butterfly garden or just make your garden more attractive to these gorgeous insects. Either way, if you want to attract butterflies, you’ll need to create a butterfly-friendly habitat.

Choose a Sunny Location

Butterflies are solar-powered! What this means is that butterflies are cold-blooded and rely on the sun to warm their bodies. They can only fly when their body temperature is 85°F or higher. They like to perch on rocks and spread their wings to collect warmth from the sun. Adding stones or decorative garden features in the sunshine where butterflies can stay warm will encourage them to visit.

Provide Wind Protection

No one likes a drafty home, but butterflies especially need protection from being blown about. Strong winds can make it difficult for butterflies to land and feed. Using hedges and fences as windscreens will ensure a more comfortable environment.

Create a Water Source for Butterflies

Male butterflies like mud puddles. They collect minerals from these puddles to give as a gift to the female butterflies during mating. Also, butterflies don’t drink from open water like birds do. Instead, they gather moisture and minerals from damp soil and shallow puddles. Create a simple butterfly watering station by filling a shallow dish with wet sand or placing a flat stone in a birdbath.

Spangled Fritillary Butterfly on pink zinnia flower

Best Plants to Attract Butterflies

Flowering trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals all have a place in the butterfly garden both as host plants and as food.

Annuals with bright sunny flowers can provide nectar throughout the warm season with their continuous blooms. Zinnias and marigolds are a favorite!
Perennials like coneflowers, butterfly weed, and asters are also great favorites of butterflies.
Wildflower mixes designed for your area contain a wonderful variety of flowers that can attract your local pollinators.
Butterflies also love flowering herbs, especially those in the mint family.

Grow Butterfly Host Plants

Each butterfly species has particular needs for host plants. For example, the Monarch butterfly will only use milkweeds as a host plant. Black Swallowtail butterflies gravitate to dill. You’ll need to do a little research to find out what butterflies are native to your area and what host plants they prefer. These may be trees or shrubs. Remember that caterpillars will live and feed on these plants. If all goes well, they’ll form their chrysalis and emerge as a butterfly on this host plant.

Eastern Swallowtail Butterfly on bright flowers

Include Nectar Rich Plants for Butterflies

Adult butterflies rely on nectar as their primary food source. Plant a variety of brightly colored, tubular flowers that bloom throughout the growing season. Butterflies love bright colors, and groups of plants with similar colors will attract more butterflies. A large grouping of orange or red flowers is easier for the butterfly to see.

Top nectar plants for butterflies include zinnias, coneflowers, verbena, milkweed, and blazing star.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Queen Anne

Caring for Your Butterfly Garden

Avoid Using Pesticides

Chemical pesticides and herbicides can be deadly to butterflies and caterpillars. Try to avoid using any pesticides, especially insecticides. If you must do so, be sparing in your use and make sure to choose something that isn’t harmful to butterflies. Instead, use natural pest control methods like companion planting and introducing beneficial insects such as ladybugs and praying mantises. Remember that caterpillars will chew up the host plants. So, if you want butterflies, you will need to plan on having some plants that are just for them.

Common Buckeye Butterfly on Blanket Flower

Leave Some Habitat for Overwintering Butterflies

Be careful when clearing out your butterfly garden. Don’t sweep everything completely clean! Dead flower heads and foliage on plants can contain eggs or pupating butterflies. You’ve already decided that you’re willing to sacrifice some plants to the very hungry caterpillars, right? This is the same idea. Leave some habitat behind for the butterflies. By leaving some dead foliage and plant debris through the fall and winter, you’re providing essential shelter for the next generation of butterflies.

If you want a truly butterfly-friendly garden, be prepared to accept that everything won’t be perfectly pristine. Think of it as an extension of the sacrifice you already make by allowing caterpillars to nibble on your plants. A little garden “mess” can mean the difference between a thriving butterfly population and an empty garden come spring! When you see butterflies flock to your garden, you’ll agree that a little bit of messiness is worth it.

Creating a butterfly-friendly garden is such a rewarding garden endeavor. By providing the right plants and a safe habitat, you’ll enjoy the sight of butterflies fluttering through your garden all season long.

Ready to get started? Sow Right Seeds offers a variety of nectar-rich flowers and essential host plants to attract and support butterflies. Browse our selection today and plant a garden that both you and these delicate pollinators will love!