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Sunday - July 04, 2010
From: San Antonio, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Butterfly Gardens, Shrubs, Trees
Title: Plants for shelter for butterflies
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I understand that butterflies need certain plants for food, but are there specific plants that butterflies prefer to use as shelter in central Texas?ANSWER:
The Austin Butterfly Forum (ABF) has an excellent article, Butterfly Gardening Basics, that I encourage you to read. In the article, they advise leaving brushy areas in the yard for shelter but no particular plants are named. Other sources suggest a variety of shrubs, trees, and vines—any sort of plant that can provide shelter from the wind and rain. There are several plants on the ABF's Butterfly Nectar Plants for Central Texas list as well as on their Caterpillar Food Plants for Central Texas list that will serve as shelter as well as nectar sources or caterpillar food. Here are a few suggested ones:
Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac)
Rhus virens (evergreen sumac) evergreen
Cercis canadensis var. texensis (Texas redbud)
Prunus caroliniana (Carolina laurelcherry) evergreen
Ungnadia speciosa (Mexican buckeye)
Forestiera pubescens (stretchberry)
Ilex vomitoria (yaupon) evergreen
Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain-laurel) evergreen
Cornus drummondii (roughleaf dogwood)
Frangula caroliniana (Carolina buckthorn)
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