Attracting  Butterflies Starts with Selecting Native Plants

By Donna Schuld

You may have heard a lot of buzz lately about protecting pollinators – butterflies, bees, and birds. But did you know that building a little slice of pollinator heaven in your own yard can be easy and fun to do?  With the right plants and tactics, you can start growing a blooming, buzzing garden that attracts and feeds pollinators with minimal cost and effort. 

Monarch butterfly. Photo: Pixabay.

Think you won’t have the time for such an outdoor endeavor?  Keep reading – I’ll share time-saving tips to help start your garden the smart way. 

Why It’s a Good Idea

Planting native plants such as common milkweed will greatly improve your chance of having monarch butterflies and other beautiful pollinators visit your yard. With a staggering 80 percent decline in population in the past 20 years, monarch butterflies are being watched very carefully by scientists and gardening enthusiasts alike. And we need those pollinators to keep our food crops growing properly. Humans can’t do this work- only butterflies, bees, and birds. 

Anyone with a yard or garden is being encouraged to put native plants in the ground in the hoe of turning the decline around. But, you don’t even have to dig up your yard to do this. Planter containers can also support the plants that monarchs find attractive so you really have a lot of options here.

Your Pollinator Garden Makes a Difference

By creating even a small area of butterfly habitat in your yard, you can support butterflies from June through October and help prepare them for their migration to Central Mexico. According to the Wisconsin Monarch Collaborative, individuals and organizations have created hundreds of thousands of acres of monarch habitat in the years between 2018 and 2021.  Pollinator gardens are popping up on school grounds, city parks, and even ditches. It’s suddenly cool to care for butterflies.

What Do They Eat?

While monarchs seek nectar from a variety of plants (mostly native species), caterpillars are completely dependent on milkweed as their sole food source. 

Why Do Native Plants Matter?

In a word: availability. 

Native plants evolved along with the insects and birds that use them for food and habitat so they’re well adapted to each other. 

According to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, “Providing milkweeds and other nectar-rich flowers that bloom where and when monarchs need them is one of the most significant actions you can take to support monarch butterfly populations.” 

So think of your pollinator garden as a buffet table for hungry monarchs and other pollinators, that feeds them the high calorie food they need, when they need it. Don’t forget their long-distance migration coming up at the end of the season. They’ll need to store up a lot of energy to make a 2,000 – 3,000 mile trip.

Milkweed plant blossom. Photo: Pixabay.

Here Are the Native Plants That Attract Monarchs

• Common milkweed
• Swamp milkweed
• Asters
• Goldenrod
• Coneflower
• Prairie blazing star

Where To Buy Native Plants

This is where you may need to do a little research. Keep in mind that Northeast Wisconsin is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Five. Look for that detail when selecting plants. 

You may be wasting your time if you just go to the large nursery centers and big box retailers. They tend not to focus on native species, but they may carry some. You’ll have better luck when you Google businesses that go in for native species specifically, like Stone Silo Prairie Gardens in De Pere, Wisconsin, which only sells native plants. 

What’s the Best Approach to Planting?

Consistency is key. Picture yourself as a hungry monarch butterfly. You found a tasty array of blossoms at a pollinator garden in June, but then July rolls around and those blooms have faded out and there’s nothing to eat. You’re getting hungrier and hungrier. Finally, you move off to another area with better selection. 

This is where you, the butterfly buffet provider, need to plan ahead. By offering plants that bloom at different times of the season you are inviting pollinators to stay with your garden. Select at least one plant (preferably three or four) for each month from June through September. Here is a suggested bloom cycle:

June

Butterfly Milkweed

Wild Lupine

Lanceleaf Coreopsis 

July

Purple coneflower

Black-eyed Susan

Swamp Milkweed

August

Goldenrod

Prairie Blazing Star

New England Aster

September

Cup plant

Showy Goldenrod

Ironweed

Avoid at All Costs

Insecticides and herbicides can be harmful or deadly to monarch butterflies, and most insects. This includes any chemicals used in your yard to control mosquitoes. And watch out for nursery or garden center plants that may have been pre-treated with systemic insecticides, as these may harm butterflies. 

Here’s How to Save Time

1. Start with native plants. Use Milkweed, Purple Coneflower, and the like to attract those pollinators. These plants adapt well to your environment and will need less watering and fertilizer down the road. 
2. Go small at first. If you’re unsure how much time you want to invest this year, start with a 4×4 space in a sunny location (this is key), or even work with a couple of planter containers. 
3. Plant in clusters, not singles. Butterflies will find the food faster when you group several nectar-rich plants together. And, it looks nicer.
4. Choose perennials, not annuals. Perennials grow back every year, while annuals need to be purchased every spring. 
5. Water deeply, not as often. Think of it as drinking larger glasses of water less frequently. This helps plants develop good roots.
6. Resist the need for a neat look. Don’t cut back everything in the fall.  Leave seed heads for birds. It’s less work for you and improves habitat and food sources. 

Have fun planting native plants in your pollinator garden this year!  And check back for more tips on attracting butterflies!