You can prolong the butterfly's stay in your garden and draw in others by providing both the food and shelter they need. Butterflies are easy and fun to watch, so make sure you also plan a good place to watch the butterflies visiting your garden. They have many interesting behaviors you will want to observe. On cool sunny mornings, they may bask on a rock to warm their bodies before flight. Males can be territorial and chase other males away.
Females often have elaborate routines for choosing where to lay their eggs.
By creating a butterfly garden, you will not only create a natural habitat for butterflies but also for birds and other wild animals, which contributes to preserving our natural heritage. Lots of photos of butterflies at various stages of life. By Colorado State University. Butterflies and Larval Food Plants Nice chart by the University of California. This page gives a huge list of butterfly plants and the species they attract.