Attracting Butterflies
Plant a butterfly garden with all of the right kinds of plants and flowers that butterflies love to feed on and lay eggs on, and you will be rewarded with a yard full of butterflies throughout the growing season. Butterfly gardens can be any size, even a window box will suffice! The following lists of nectar and host plants will attract butterflies common to the Sacramento area (American Lady, Chalcedon Checkerspot, Common Buckeye, Lorquin Admiral, , Monarch, Mourning Cloak, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, West Coast Lady, EasternTailed-Blue, Gray Hairstreak, Common Checkered Skipper, Fiery Skipper, Anise Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail, Western Tiger Swallowtail, Cabbage-white, Checkered-white, and Orange Sulphur).
Nectar Plants
Aster (Aster)
Bergamot (Mondarda fistulosa)
Blazing Stars (Liatris)
Blood Flower (Asclepias curassavica)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia)
Lantana (Lantana camara)
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Coreopsis (Coreopsis)
Cosmos (Cosmos)
Dianthus (Dianthus)
Goldenrod (Solidago)
Hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos)
Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)
Lavender (Lavandula)
Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea)
Red Clover (Trifolium pratens)
Swam Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Thistle (Cirsium)
Verbena (Verbena bonariensis)
Yarrow (Achillea)
Yerba Santa
Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)
Host Plants
Alsike Clover (Trifolium hybridum)
American Elm (Ulmus americana)
Flowering Ash (Fraxinus ornus)
Aspen Tree (Populus)
Basswood (Tilia)
Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon)
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
Citrus
Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus)
Crown Vetch (Coronilla varia)
Hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos)
Hollyhock (Alcea rosea)
Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja)
Kentucky Bluegrass (Pos pratensis)
Mallow (Malva)
Milk Vetch (Astragalus)
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica)
Passion Flowers (Passiflora)
Pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla)
Pussy-toe (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
Ruellia (Ruellia)
Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum
Silver Brocade (Artemisia stellariana)
Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)
Spider flower (Cleome hasslerana)
Sunflower (Helianthus)
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Sweet Bay (Magnolia virginiana)
Tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis)
Cow Vetch (Vicia cracca)
White Clover (Trifolium repens)
Willow (Salix)