Butterfly bushes are staples in many butterfly gardens, but butterflies also get their food from a wide variety of other ornamental flowers and even weeds. The tassel flower, a common weed in the Deep South, blooms early and provides nectar before many cultivated plants begin to flower. Other plants, such as passionflower and many herbs, aren't used for nectar, but instead serve as larval host plants. Butterflies are very host-specific, laying their eggs only on certain types of plants. Painted ladies prefer cudweed, while white peacocks like bacopa.
Male butterflies use puddling areas to absorb salts and minerals to aid reproduction.