Gardening for Insects - or not!

The most obvious feature of a butterfly garden are nectar-bearing flowering plants. Plants commonly visited by butterflies are those which provide sugary nectar used by many species as an energy source. Types of flowers vary greatly in this regard and many commonly used bedding plants such as geraniums and petunias are rarely visited by butterflies, although the latter may be visited at dusk by the large 'hummingbird moths' which are the adult stage of hornworm caterpillars. Table 1 provides a list of some of the better plants to use for attracting adult butterflies.