How to Grow a Butterfly Garden in Texas

Turn your own backyard into a wildlife sanctuary by cultivating plants that attract and breed butterflies that are native to Texas. Butterflies live or migrate in Texas spring through fall, making the garden a lively and colorful place to relax for most of the year. Here are a few steps to encourage butterflies to visit your Texas garden.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Use a sunny corner of the yard to plant your garden. Butterflies are cold-blooded and are attracted to sunny locations.

2. Plant the garden near a fence or wall. Butterflies like to seek relief from the wind.

3. Choose caterpillar food plants as well as nectar plants. Female butterflies need places to lay their eggs and provide food for their caterpillars. Good choices are dill, parsley and Queen Anne's Lace.

4. Attract Monarch butterflies to your Texas garden. Monarchs migrate through Texas in the spring and fall and are popular garden guests. Plant Swamp Milkweed, Antelope-horns and Butterfly Weed for Monarchs.

5. Plant dill and parsley to attract Black Swallowtail to your Texas garden. Swallowtails are common to Texas and their black color is a striking addition to any garden. Black Swallowtails love to lay their eggs in dill weed.

6. Include Butterfly Bush, Coreopsis, Purple Coneflower and Sweet Alyssum. These are drought-tolerant for Texas summers and provide varying heights and blooming seasons to attract butterflies spring through fall.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't use any pesticides in or near the butterfly garden.
• Use drip irrigation instead of sprinklers to leave nectar on the flowers.
• Create a spot for puddling. An empty sandy spot where the soil is often wet allows butterflies to get additional nutrients they need from salts.

Resources

• All about Texas insects
• Aggie Horticulture Guide
• Bird site has info on Texas butterflies