Larval food plants are those on which the eggs are laid and the caterpillars feed. Nectar plants provide nourishment for the adult butterflies. While it is possible to design a butterfly garden with only nectar plants, the number of butterflies visiting these gardens will be lower than those gardens that incorporate larval food plants. Generally speaking, the best butterfly nectar plants are those that are sunloving, purple, pink, yellow or white in color, and single-flowered rather than double flowered. Before you put any plants in the ground, however, sit down and draw a sketch or two - remembering to consider sun, wind, and access to shelter and water.
Butterflies can more easily find large, colorful plantings of flowers.
While it is often suggested that flowers be planted in clumps of the same types, we have found, from experience, that broadcasting a wide variety of seeds will also work. For one site, I purchased very inexpensive, good nectar flower seeds and added some tomato, carrot, parsley and dill seeds. They were then mixed one part seeds to three parts sand and broadcast into a sunny area that had been prepared. This flower prairie attracted many butterflies, but wasn't very successful in feeding the caterpillars. The larval food plants should be separate from the nectar sources.