By choosing the right plants you can attract butterflies into your garden and encourage them to stay for a while. Gardeners don’t necessarily need large landscapes to provide the basics for butterfly survival. Butterflies need nectar plants, larval host plants, resting areas, sun and water. This is a list of plants that provide nectar for common PNW adult butterflies, as well as and plants that host their larvae (caterpillars).
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BUTTERFLY |
CATERPILLAR HOST PLANT |
BUTTERFLY NECTAR SOURCE |
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Anise Swallowtail |
Carrot, dill, parsley |
Lantana, mint, penstemon, zinnia |
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American Apollo |
Bleeding heart* |
Blackberry |
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Brown elfin |
Apple, azalea, manzanita*, rhododendron*, salal* |
Cherry, plum, willow*, Indian plum* |
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California Tortoiseshell |
Ceanothus* |
Willow*, lilac, sneezeweed, goldenrod* |
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Common Ringlet |
Grasses* |
Dandelion, buttercup* |
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Common Wood-nymph |
Grasses* |
Coneflower, mint, sunflower, fleabane*, penstemon, clematis |
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Gray Hairstreak |
Pea, mallow*, borage, rhododendron*, rose*, pine* |
Goldenrod*, milkweed*, clover, winter cress |
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Great Spangled Fritillary |
Violet |
Black-eyed Susan, milkweed, verbena, thistle |
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Lorquin’s Admiral |
Apple, cherry, oceanspray*, willow* |
Blackberry, privet, thistle, wild mustard |
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Monarch |
Milkweed* |
Cosmos, lantana, lilac, milkweed*, zinnia |
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Mourning Cloak |
Birch*, hawthorn*, rose*, willow* |
Milkweed*, rockcress, willow* |
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Mylitta Crescent |
Thistle |
Aster*, goldenrod*, pearly everlasting* |
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Orange Sulphur |
Alfalfa, clover, vetch |
Alfalfa, aster, mustard, red-osier dogwood |
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Painted Lady |
Mainly thistle. Also, hollyhock, pearly everlasting, sunflower, |
Aster*, coneflower, cosmos, dandelion, milkweed*, Oregon grape*, zinnia |
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Pale Swallowtail |
Cascara, cherry, hawthorn*, oceanspray*, plum |
Blackberry, columbine*, mint, oceanspray, penstemon, sweet-william |
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Pine White |
Douglas fir*, hemlock*, pine*, redcedar*, true fir* |
Coreopsis, daisies, dusty miller, goldenrod*, lobelia |
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Purplish Copper |
Cinquefoil, dock, sorrel |
Clover, heather, mint |
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Red Admiral |
Nettle |
Aster*, daisy, goldenrod*, milkweed*, thistle |
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Sara Orangetip |
Winter cress |
Dandelion, cherry, monkey flower, plum, strawberry, rockcress |
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Satyr Comma |
Nettle |
Aster*, blackberry, dandelion, rotting fruit |
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Spring Azure |
Cherry, dogwood*, madrone*, oak*, oceanspray*, salal* |
Ceanothus*, cherry, milkweed*, plum, willow* |
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Western Tiger Swallowtail |
Aspen, big-leaf maple*, willow* |
Honeysuckle*, lavender, lilac milkweed*, mock orange*, rhododendron* |
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Woodland Skipper |
Grasses* |
Aster*, black-eyed susan, bluebeard, pearly everlasting*, sage |
*- some wild varieties are native to the PNW
