A:     You will need to plant at least two types of plants to encourage beautiful "flying flowers" to your garden. In the larva, or caterpillar stage, butterflies eat leaves from specific plants depending on the butterfly species. Adult butterflies require nectar from flowers for food. To attract butterflies to your garden throughout spring and summer, you will need to have both types of plants and at least some of the plants need to be flowering at all times.

Many California native plants provide nectar that will attract butterflies to your garden. Natives such as red columbine, yerba santa, wallflower, California mock-orange, coyote mint, California buckeye, wild buckwheat, and sunflowers are butterfly favorites. Common non-natives that attract butterflies are lantana, heliotrope, verbena, butterfly bush, valerian, yarrow, and mints.

If you want to establish a "bed and breakfast" for butterflies in the larva stage, you'll want to put plants in your garden where butterflies will lay their eggs and larvae will mature. Because they are choosey about where they lay their eggs (different species require different plants) you will need to plant accordingly. Arrabis spp., Astragalus spp., Ceanothus spp., and Viola spp., support many local butterflies species. Violets alone support over 10 different subspecies of butterflies. Asclepias spp. (milkweed) is the host plant to our beloved monarch larvae.

In addition to nectar, butterflies need water. They tend to gather around puddles to sip. Fill a shallow container with moist sand and a few rocks to provide a perch for thirsty visitors.

Making your garden attractive to butterflies will provide you with an ever-changing colorful display and activity for many month of the year.