If you wish to keep them a round in your yard, you need to plant the host plants for each species you want. If you check out the FAQ section look for FAQ at the top of the forum and click on it) you will find lists of what plants are hosts for each speices. You will also find lots of other info that is helpful to be successful.

It is best to plant three of the same plant in a triangular shape than to space them out in a straight row. You want the "fragrance" of the plants to be strong enough to bring the butterflies in and enough of the color, too. That is not only true of nectar but also hosts. Butterflies like plants with tubular flowers, but some like brush footed butterflies collect pollen so flowers like Mexican sunflowers are good too. Orange, red, and yellow flowers are popular with most species, I have also found the purples and white to be as good, depending on the flower.

There are lots of knowledgeable people on this forum and I am sure you will get good advice from all. One thing to keep in mind is that it is easier to start with the species that already visit for nectar, then go to the ones that are in your area but not necessarily in your yard. I would suggest finding a good site that gives names of those in your part of your state (or in your county) and go from there. Invest in a good book for identifying species, caterpillars, and chrysalis too.

I have a website but can't racall it right now. I will come back with it if I can find it.

Found the website - www.butterfliesandmoths.org

Thank you, mboston! From the pictures on that website I'm pretty sure the butterflies were some sort of swallowtail!

I already plant in triangles so that's good, and the FAQ host list was helpful too...although I think it created as many questions as it answered! lol! I am not familiar with most of the plants listed...any tips on host plants that are attractive enough to look good in a border (i'm in zone 6)?

Thanks!

Good looking host plants include magenta-colored asters (perennial) for Pearl Crescents, parsley (a biennial) for Black Swallowtails (curly leaf stays short and well contained if you cut off the seed heads), dwarf snapdragons (will reseed) for Buckeyes, and Passionflower vines for Gulf and Variegated Fritillaries. Lady Margaret which has deep magenta colored blooms has been a favorite of both varieties this summer, and it is beautiful and more contained than some of the other passionflowers.

You'll also want some Asclepias curavassica or incarnata for the Monarchs. These tend to get larger, but are beautiful in bloom.

Rudbeckia (yellow) and coneflowers (purple-pink) host Gorgone and Silvery Checkerspots. These are perennials and big attractors. False Nettle is another host plant which is easy to grow in shade. It is host for a lot of different BFs, including Red Admirals.

If you have a place for a large vine, plant a pipe vine or aristolochia, for the beautiful Pipevine Swallowtails.

The large yellow BF that you saw is probably a Tiger, and the black with white dots could be a female Tiger if it was larger than a Monarch. The host plants for these BFs are trees, including Tulip Poplar, which can be kept pruned, and Wafer Ash, a small tree.

When I started raising BFs, I concentrated on Monarchs and Black Swallowtails, probably the two easiest to attract to the garden. I planted parsley, fennel, and rue for the Black Swallowtails; and several varieties of milkweed for the Monarchs. My fav milkweeds are the A incarnata (perennial), which is Swamp Milkweed, sounds terrible, but it is absolutely heavenly in bloom; and A curavassica (annual), Mexican milkweed, which blooms all summer in 3 colors--gold, red, and scarlet. Check out Monarch Watch for milkweed pictures and information.

Good luck on your garden. I also hope you have a speedy recovery.

HTH,

OKSandy