I've always been a bit confused about the painted ladies and thistle thing. They rarely ever show up here, and when they do, they're usually badly worn - I've never found any cats. Thistles grow naturally along parts of my road, but they're very ugly. When I was in Alabama earlier this year, there were some beautiful burgundy colored thistles growing. I didn't get back there to harvest any seeds, but I'd sure like to at some point. The soil over there (Wilcox and Monroe Counties) is red, I mean real red, not just reddish orange like the subsoil here. The soil over there is burgundy, like the thistles -

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There are other types of thistles that don't have thorns, so I'm guessing they use those. I don't think caterpillars could survive C. horridulum!

Sherry

Centaureas are thistles and so are artichokes!
So there are some that are pretty and useful.

I'm not sure Lady butterflies can grow on artichokes or centaureas, though. I'm not even sure how well they do on non-native thistles, although I suspect that is okay. My identification skills are not very good at present, but I believe I saw Lady butterflies this morning when I was out at a local park. I saw some medium-size butterflies with a herky-jerky sort of flight and some sort of triangular pattern in the forewing. There were loads of thistle plants in bloom. When I identified them last year, they were bull thistles. There were also tons of tiger swallowtails, Cabbage Whites, and sulfurs enjoying the nectar.

I think the beautiful thistle Sherry had a picture of might have been Cirsium rivulare 'atropurpureum.' I think it is from Japan. If that will serve the purpose, it certainly could be worth adding to the butterfly garden. It is very pretty.

If anyone wants I have a plethora or thistles that I would be happy to share. They are pretty in bloom and prettier off my yard.

SCG

There are some beautiful native thistles out there that I would certainly grow if I found seeds for them. Check out Cirsium discolor; a native host plant for painted ladies.

Here is a link that might be useful: field thistle

Try Globe Thistle. It serves the same function, provides excellent nectar and is a lot more handsome than its ugly stepsisters.
Painted Ladies will also use members of the Mallow family, esp Hollyhocks as host plants.
Painted ladies will also eat a great variety of members of the Aster Family as well, even overlapping c the American Lady's narrower diet.