Fortunately, adult butterflies have more cosmopolitan palates. The flower nectar they need for energy is available from many plants. Butterflies will visit your yard in search of flowers easily accessed by their long coiled tongues. They obtain additional nutrients from moisture in puddles and raindrops, rotting carrion, and other liquids-even your perspiration if you stand very still. The butterfly gardener's challenge is to provide a diversity of plants in communities throughout the property to support both larvae and adults.
Variety is the key.
Choose lots of kind of plants-herbs, annuals, and perennials as vine, groundcovers, and in beds, plus shrubs and trees. Wildflower meadows featuring native plants are ideal. Food crops add to the diversity, too. Assure that blooms are available to visiting butterflies for the entire season. The greater the variety of suitable plants, the greater the potential number and types of butterfly visitors.