9 Ideas to Design a Beautiful Backyard Butterfly Garden

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Did you know that monarch butterflies have suffered a from a 90% population decline in the last few years?  Over 30% of butterfly habitats have been destroyed due to modern agricultural and gardening practices? It’s a very sad fact, but it’s true.

Luckily, you can help by growing a butterfly garden to provide food and habitats to these beneficial insects. 

black swallowtail butterfly feeding on purple coneflower

Backyard Butterfly Garden Ideas

When designing a butterfly garden for your backyard, consider location, host plants, nectar sources, and water. You’ll need all of these things to provide a safe space for butterflies. Varying heights and types of plants are key.

Butterflies are most active in late summer, but they are around from spring to fall. Planning for a variety of food sources and resting places will give you a successful backyard butterfly garden.

swallowtail resting on joe pye weed in butterfly garden

How to Attract Butterflies to Your Backyard

Just like humans, butterflies need food, shelter, and water to survive.  I recommend researching the types of butterflies most common in your local area.  Once you’re familiar with the nectar plants and host plants for these butterfly species, you can start brainstorming backyard butterfly garden ideas.  Cabbage whites, swallowtails, painted ladies, and monarchs are just a few of the most common varieties of butterflies in the United States.

The first step to attracting butterflies is making a plan.  Now that you’ve identified your local butterflies, it’s time to design a backyard butterfly garden.  You’ll want to include diverse plants of varying heights, colors, and growing season.  Butterflies are cold-blooded so also need full sun to get warmed up.  Do you have a water source in your outdoor space?  What other native grasses or native plants can you incorporate into your butterfly garden? 

green butterfly with dots feeding on yellow flower

Food Sources for Butterflies

When designing a backyard butterfly garden, take the entire life cycle of a butterfly into account.  Adult butterflies need nectar but the caterpillars munch on leaves and stems.  As a result, you need both larval host plants and nectar-rich flowers.  If you’re short on space, choose plants that serve as both host plants and provide nectar to adults.  

How to Choose Plants for a Butterfly Garden

The old quote variety is the spice of life is definitely true when designing a backyard butterfly garden.  Choose a variety of plants that will feed several species of butterflies. Include both perennials and annuals.

Colorful flowers, shrubs, and bushes at different heights will attract a variety of butterflies.  Although they are most active in summer, butterflies are still around in spring and even late into the fall.  Plants with different bloom times, including early spring and late fall benefit our pollinator friends.  Include native grasses, shrubs, and flowers when choosing butterfly-friendly plants. 

orange and black butterfly feeding on purple flowers in butterfly garden

Best Flowers for Adult Butterfly

Some of the best types of flowering plants for butterflies include:

  • Purple Coneflower
  • Phlox
  • Meadow Blazing Star
  • Verbena
  • Aster
  • Pansy
  • Butterfly Bush
  • Butterfly Weed
  • Lantana
  • Black Eyed Susan
  • Daisy
  • Joe Pye weed
  • Bee balm

Caterpillar Host Plants

The host plants can be more specific to your geographic location.  Monarch caterpillars, for example, need to feed on milkweed plants.  Swallowtails prefer dill, parsley, and Queen Anne’s lace.  

  • Milkweed
  • Fennel
  • Parsley
  • Dill
  • And many of the nectar-rich plants are also host plants as well, like aster and coneflower.

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red and black butterfly protected by grasses and leaves in backyard

Butterfly Protection

Along with butterfly plants, your garden plans should include places to hide from both predators and the elements.  Small trees, bushes, or even a pile of logs are a great way to protect different butterfly species. They need to be able to get out of the wind or rain.  Plant your butterfly garden in an area that receives plenty of sun.  Butterflies are cold-blooded insects.  This means they cannot regulate their own body temperature and need the sun to warm them up.  

Another way to protect butterflies and all pollinators is to avoid the use of pesticides. Opt for natural pest control methods when needed. Be wary of chemical drift if you have neighbors who use chemical pesticides and fertilizers.  Keep the butterflies safe from that toxicity. 

Water in a Butterfly Garden

Did you know butterflies also need water?  Yes, they love that nectar, but they also drink water.  Provide areas of shallow puddles or even wet sand for them to drink from.  I also like to add flat rocks or a platter as a resting place for the butterflies.

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Be a Butterfly Hero – Grow a Butterfly Garden in a Pot - welcome butterflies

Can I Grow a Butterfly Garden in a Container?

If you are short on space, a container butterfly sanctuary works well.  Make sure the pot or container drains well.  Add holes if needed.  Plant your butterfly-friendly flowers in the soil and place it in a sunny location.

A shallow puddle or other water sources should be nearby.  The best flowers for a butterfly garden in a container are ones that do double duty as host plants and nectar sources.  

Lantana, star flowers, and alyssum are good choices for a butterfly garden in a pot. 

Benefits of a Pollinator Garden

We all love to see an adult butterfly flitting about visiting different plants.  A successful butterfly garden doesn’t just make my heart happy, though. It also provides habitat and food sources for a variety of animals.  

Different types of plants are attractive to other pollinators such as bees.  Birds love to eat plant seeds and eat other garden pests.   A butterfly-friendly garden in your backyard preserves and provides for a whole ecosystem of wildlife.

Whether you have a large beautiful garden or are creating a safe haven in a pot, the butterflies will thank you. 

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About Michelle Marine

Michelle Marine is the author of How to Raise Chickens for Meat, a long-time green-living enthusiast, and rural Iowa mom of four. She empowers families to grow and eat seasonal, local foods; to reduce their ecological footprint; and to come together through impactful travel.

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21 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing this! I was looking for a project to do with my oldest son and this is absolutely perfect.

    1. Thanks so much, Michaela! We did really enjoy this. Can’t wait to find butterflies this summer. 🙂

  2. This is awesome. Years ago, like about 8 years, our daughters teacher sent home milkweek seeds and the kids put together a butterfly garden at school. We planted the milkweed, it is a gorgeous plant. We also have coneflowers, dill, daisies, and phlox in the garden. We love watching for butterflies, they are beautiful flitting around the flowers. Thanks for the list of other plants to bring the butterflies to us, I love your planter, the galvanized tin is one of my favorites!

  3. This is beautiful! We’re making a butterfly garden this year at my Mom’s so I love the plant ideas!

  4. such a cute idea! I have all of these galvanized buckets I could use! I also would like to do a fairy garden for little miss Linley. Now to get my dog to stay out of the planters!

    1. We have that problem too with our dog. And the chickens. Fairy gardens are fun as well. And fairies need plants. 😀

  5. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Looks like we were of like minds this past week. I have butterfly friendly plants in my yard, but never thought of doing a butterfly container garden. Good Idea.