Bringing home the butterflies

Unlike some backyard visitors, butterflies can be a little picky about where they rest their wings.

You can try planting succulent, nectar-rich flowers to lure them in, but some butterfly species might not appear until you put in host plants that caterpillars like to gnaw on before they transform into butterflies. Pick a windy or shady spot, and your coveted butterflies might abandon you for a neighbor's sunny, calm backyard.

But there are a few strategies to attract butterflies, and with a few additions to your garden, butterfly experts say, you'll start to see some colorful creatures fluttering around the yard.

Experiment with different plants and see what comes. It might take a couple of seasons to get the full range of butterflies for your area, but some may show up the first year, said Idie Ulsh, founding president of the Seattle-based Washington Butterfly Association.

"It's easy to bring in what's here, but because of urban development, there are fewer butterflies now than there used to be [in the city]," she said.

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com

Local butterflies

The Cabbage White and the Woodland Skipper are the most common butterflies locally. Experts say their presence is a sign that your garden environment is doing well.

The life span of a butterfly varies, with the four stages of egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis) and adult butterfly ranging from

15 days to several months for the entire cycle.

Adult butterflies start to appear more frequently in the spring, and some species last through fall. So it helps to provide nectar sources from spring through the fall.

Here is a list of local butterflies, when they appear and the host plants that they like in their caterpillar stage.

Cabbage White (non-native)

March-November

In the caterpillar stage, it likes broccoli and cabbage. The butterfly is white with black spots on the wings; two for females, one for males.

Echo Blue (also known as spring azure)

February-October

The caterpillar likes dogwood.

The butterfly is gray-white, with faint darker markings.

Lorquin's Admiral

March-October

The caterpillar likes willows. The butterfly is brownish-black with white spots, and the underside is reddish-brown with white spots.

Painted Lady

April-November

The caterpillar likes thistles, pearly everlasting and hollyhock. The butterfly is orange-brown with white spots on the upper wing, and the underside has a black, gray and brown pattern.

Red Admiral

March-October

The caterpillar likes nettles. The butterfly's wings are black, with white spots near the wing tips and a red band near the edge.

Western Tiger Swallowtail

April-September

The caterpillar prefers trees like willows and aspens. The butterfly has pale yellow wings with dramatic black striping.

Woodland Skipper

July-October

The caterpillar likes grasses. This common butterfly, often mistaken for a moth, is gold-brown and black.

Flowering plants for butterflies

Ulsh recommends planting some of these trees and flowering plants to attract butterflies:

• Trees: Willow, cottonwood and dogwood.

• Flowering plants: Asters, Joe-pye weed, mock orange, purple coneflower, stonecrop, coreopsis, cosmos, lavender, zinnia, pincushion flower, red Valerian, pinks, sweet alyssum, thyme, nasturtium and pearly everlasting.

• Thistles are good host plants and provide nectar but are not typically planted in gardens. If you want to try, some nurseries carry thistle as bird seed, which can be used to grow the plant.

Other tips

• Keep bird feeders away from your garden. Birds like to feed on caterpillars and butterflies.

• Keep a butterfly journal. List what species you see on what plants and time of day. You'll quickly figure out which plants butterflies don't visit and can replace them.

• Don't use pesticides. Spraying will kill the good insects.

Garden design tips

Here are some basic design considerations for creating a butterfly garden.

• Butterflies are cold-blooded and need heat to fly, so a sunny, south-facing location is ideal.

• Make sure the area is protected from wind, and add a water source that you clean regularly, said Robin McCain, a Woodland Park Zoo horticulturist who oversees the garden at the Butterflies & Blooms exhibit.

• Butterflies also like to rest in protected spots, so it helps to add a big rock.

• Caterpillars require different food sources than butterflies, typically feeding on plant matter once they hatch from eggs. Your garden will benefit if you have host plants for caterpillars and nectar sources for butterflies once they emerge, experts say. Try host plants and trees, like willows and aspens, that attract a variety of butterflies seen locally, including the Lorquin's Admiral, the Western Tiger Swallowtail and the Mourning Cloak.

You may not want weedlike plants in your yard, but thistles and nettles also can attract Milbert's Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral and Mylitta Crescent butterflies.

The pearly everlasting is a potential host plant for the Painted Lady butterfly and is a good nectar source, said David Droppers, a University of Washington student who studies ecology and butterfly distribution patterns and volunteers at the zoo's butterfly exhibit.

• Pick flowers with a large platform for butterflies to land on, like a daisy, or a flower like verbena, which has lots of florets, so there's plenty of nectar in one place for the butterfly, McCain said.

• Butterflies also are attracted to scented flowers like honeysuckle and bright purples, pinks, yellows and whites, McCain said. It helps to plant varieties for different seasons so you can have butterflies from spring to fall.