The spring gardening catalogs are arriving in the mail - I am enjoying planning new additions to my gardens. I love butterflies and delight in watching them in nature. This year I plan to introduce a few new plantings to attract these intriguing visitors. The Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis Antiopa) is Montana's State Butterfly. I would like to be able to find them in my garden.
I have established lemon thyme and several varieties of mint at the base of my fruit trees. I have noticed an increased number of bumble bees but not as many butterflies as I would welcome.
What do you do to attract butterflies, birds and wildlife to your garden? Please share your suggestions and experiences. Are you interested in exchanging plant seeds? I look forward to hearing from you, in the mean time, here are some resources to brighten these dark Winter days and have you thinking of Spring.
Creating a Butterfly Garden (the basics to get started)
Butterfly Nectar Plants (plants adult butterflies like)
Butterfly Host Plants (plants caterpillars like)
Butterfly Gardening by Area (what butterflies live in your area)
Butterfly Garden Plans (the layout and design)
Butterfly Behavior To Watch in the Garden (feeding, basking, etc)
Sprucing Up Your Butterfly Garden (spruce up your existing garden)
Raise Butterflies & Build Them a Home (add butterflies to your garden)
Butterflies Found In Montana
Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae)
Admirals and Relatives (Limenitidinae)
'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax)
Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini)
Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis)
Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)
Weidemeyer's Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii)
White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis)Longwings (Heliconiinae)
Alberta Fritillary (Boloria alberta)
Aphrodite Fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite)
Arctic Fritillary (Boloria chariclea)
Astarte Fritillary (Boloria astarte)
Bog Fritillary (Boloria eunomia)
Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe)
Coronis Fritillary (Speyeria coronis)
Edwards' Fritillary (Speyeria edwardsii)
Freija Fritillary (Boloria freija)
Frigga Fritillary (Boloria frigga)
Great Basin Fritillary (Speyeria egleis)
Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele)
Hydaspe Fritillary (Speyeria hydaspe)
Meadow Fritillary (Boloria bellona)
Mormon Fritillary (Speyeria mormonia)
Northwestern Fritillary (Speyeria hesperis)
Pacific Fritillary (Boloria epithore)
Regal Fritillary (Speyeria idalia)
Relict Fritillary (Boloria kriemhild)
Silver-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene)
Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia)
Zerene Fritillary (Speyeria zerene)Milkweed Butterflies (Danainae)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)True Brushfoots (Nymphalinae)
American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis)
California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica)
Compton Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis vaualbum)
Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma)
Edith's Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha)
Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchellus)
Gillette's Checkerspot (Euphydryas gillettii)
Gorgone Checkerspot (Chlosyne gorgone)
Gray Comma (Polygonia progne)
Green Comma (Polygonia faunus)
Hoary Comma (Polygonia gracilis)
Milbert's Tortoiseshell (Aglais milberti)
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)
Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta)
Northern Checkerspot (Chlosyne palla)
Northern Crescent (Phyciodes cocyta)
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Pale Crescent (Phyciodes pallida)
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Rockslide Checkerspot (Chlosyne whitneyi)
Sagebrush Checkerspot (Chlosyne acastus)
Satyr Comma (Polygonia satyrus)
Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis)
Tawny Crescent (Phyciodes batesii)
Variable Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona)
West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella)Metalmarks (Riodinidae)
Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo)Parnassians and Swallowtails (Papilionidae)
Parnassians (Parnassiinae)
Clodius Parnassian (Parnassius clodius)
Rocky Mountain Parnassian (Parnassius smintheus)Swallowtails (Papilioninae)
Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon)
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Indra Swallowtail (Papilio indra)
Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon)
Pale Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon)
Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata)
Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus)
Courtesy of: Opler, Paul A., Harry Pavulaan, Ray E. Stanford, Michael Pogue, coordinators. 2006.
Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: Mountain Prairie Information Node.
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