A butterfly garden is a garden planted to attract and support butterflies — not just the colourful adults that visit flowers, but the caterpillars, chrysalises and eggs that are the rest of their lives. Butterflies are a pleasure to watch, and they are also pollinators and a sign of a healthy garden. Yet many gardens offer butterflies nectar but nothing else, so they visit and leave, and no new butterflies are raised there.
A good butterfly garden provides for the whole life cycle: nectar flowers for adults, food plants for caterpillars, sunny sheltered spots for basking, and undisturbed corners for overwintering. It also avoids pesticides, which kill caterpillars as well as pests. You do not need a large garden — a sunny border, a few pots, or a wild corner can all work. If you are unsure which butterflies and food plants are local to you, check your local extension service for a list suited to your area.
How butterflies use a garden
A butterfly's life has four stages — egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult — and a garden that supports all four will have butterflies all season. Adults need nectar from flowers, and they need sun to warm their wings before they can fly, so they bask on stones, walls and bare earth in the morning. Females lay eggs on particular food plants, and the caterpillars that hatch eat only those plants — a monarch caterpillar eats milkweed, a cabbage white caterpillar eats brassicas, and many others are just as specific. The chrysalis needs a safe, undisturbed place to hang or hide, often on a stem, a fence or under a leaf. In autumn, some species overwinter as adults in sheds and log piles, others as caterpillars or chrysalises in leaf litter. A garden that provides all of these — nectar, food plants, sun, shelter and undisturbed corners — will not just attract butterflies, it will raise them.
Best nectar plants for butterflies
Butterflies prefer flat, open flowers they can land on, with plenty of nectar, in a sunny, sheltered spot. Buddleia is the classic butterfly bush: its long purple flowers attract many species, and it is easy to grow, though it needs pruning each spring to keep it in shape. Other good choices include lavender, marjoram, verbena, sedum, asters, coneflowers, zinnias, cosmos and single dahlias. See growing lavender, growing zinnias and growing asters. Herbs such as marjoram, thyme and oregano are excellent when allowed to flower. Plant in large drifts in full sun, because butterflies find a mass of flowers more easily than single plants, and they prefer a sheltered spot out of the wind. Aim for flowers from spring to autumn, with sedums and asters providing late nectar and buddleia and lavender providing the summer peak. Avoid double flowers, which offer little nectar, and avoid spraying — see our pollinator garden guide for the wider picture.
Caterpillar food plants: the part most gardens miss
Nectar alone is not enough: without food plants, no caterpillars can grow, and no new butterflies will appear. The food plants are specific to each species, so the best approach is to grow a variety and accept that caterpillars will eat them. Nettles are the food plant for several common butterflies, including small tortoiseshells and peacocks — leave a patch of nettles in a wild corner, away from paths. Brassicas such as cabbage, broccoli and nasturtiums feed cabbage whites, so expect some holes in your cabbages if you welcome them — see growing cabbage and growing nasturtiums. Milkweed feeds monarch caterpillars where monarchs occur. Grasses feed many brown butterflies, so leave a strip of long grass. Holly and ivy feed holly blues, and buckthorn feeds brimstones. Do not remove caterpillars from these plants, and do not spray them: a few eaten leaves are the price of butterflies, and the plants will recover. Your local extension service can tell you which food plants matter most for the butterflies in your area.
Sun, shelter and water
Butterflies need sun and shelter. Choose the sunniest, most sheltered part of the garden for your butterfly border, ideally facing south and protected from wind by a hedge, fence or wall. Put flat stones or a patch of bare earth in the sun where butterflies can bask and warm up. Provide water in a shallow dish with stones in it, or a damp patch of earth, because butterflies drink from damp ground as well as from flowers. Leave a log pile, a hedge and some long grass for shelter, and leave leaf litter and hollow stems over winter for overwintering insects. Do not cut everything back in autumn: many chrysalises and caterpillars spend the winter on stems and in litter, and a hard autumn tidy can destroy them. Cut back in spring instead, when the new growth starts. A pond with shallow, sunny edges helps too, and it brings in other wildlife as well.
Butterflies through the seasons
Plan for butterflies through the whole year, not just in summer. In spring, early flowers such as aubrieta, wallflowers, bluebells and flowering currant feed the first butterflies, and nettles and grasses are already growing for caterpillars. In summer, the garden should be at its peak, with buddleia, lavender, marjoram and zinnias in flower and caterpillars feeding on their food plants. In autumn, sedums, asters, ivy and single dahlias provide late nectar, and fallen fruit can feed butterflies too — leave a few windfall apples or pears on the ground. In winter, do as little as possible: leave stems, leaves and log piles undisturbed, and do not dig over wild corners. Keep a simple record of which butterflies you see and when, because it will help you plan next year — if you see a species once, find out what its caterpillars eat and grow more of it. Our bird friendly garden guide shows how a wildlife garden can support birds as well as butterflies.
Butterfly gardening in small spaces
A butterfly garden does not need to be large. A sunny balcony with pots of lavender, marjoram, zinnias and nasturtiums will attract butterflies — see our balcony gardening guide. A small yard can hold a buddleia in a large pot, a patch of nettles in a corner, and a drift of sedums. A windowsill with flowering herbs helps too. Even a single buddleia or a pot of lavender on a doorstep will be visited. The key is the same at any size: sunny, sheltered, nectar-rich flowers, some caterpillar food plants, water, and no pesticides. Start with a buddleia and a few nectar plants, watch which butterflies come, and add the food plants for those species next. Children love butterfly gardens, and a school garden with a butterfly corner is a wonderful way to teach about life cycles — see our school gardening guide.
Common mistakes to avoid
The biggest mistake is planting nectar flowers but no caterpillar food plants, so butterflies visit but never breed in your garden. The second is spraying insecticides, which kill caterpillars and butterflies alike. The third is tidying too hard in autumn, destroying chrysalises and overwintering insects in stems and leaf litter. The fourth is planting only double flowers, which offer little nectar. The fifth is putting the butterfly border in shade or in a windy spot, where butterflies will not linger. The sixth is removing nettles and long grass entirely, which removes food and shelter for several species. Finally, do not expect instant results: a new butterfly garden may take a year or two to be found and colonised, so be patient, keep the plants growing, and check your local extension service for local species and food plants if butterflies are slow to arrive.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best plant for attracting butterflies?
Buddleia, often called the butterfly bush, attracts the widest range of species with its long, nectar-rich flower spikes. Lavender, marjoram, sedum, asters, zinnias and verbena are also excellent. Plant them in large drifts in a sunny, sheltered spot.
Why do I need caterpillar food plants?
Because adult butterflies lay eggs only on particular plants, and their caterpillars can eat only those plants. Without food plants, no caterpillars can grow and no new butterflies will be raised in your garden. Nettles, brassicas, grasses and milkweed are important food plants, depending on your area.
Should I remove caterpillars from my cabbages?
If you want butterflies, leave some. Cabbage white caterpillars eat brassicas, and a few eaten leaves are the price of butterflies. Protect the cabbages you most want to eat with fine netting, and leave a few unprotected plants, or nasturtiums as a sacrifice crop, for the butterflies.
Do butterflies need water?
Yes. They drink from shallow water, damp earth and even wet sand. Put out a shallow dish with stones in it, keep a damp patch of bare earth, or let a pond have shallow, sunny edges. Top up water in dry weather.
When should I cut back a butterfly garden?
In spring, not autumn. Many chrysalises and caterpillars overwinter on stems and in leaf litter, so a hard autumn tidy can destroy them. Leave stems standing over winter, and cut back in spring when new growth starts.