Earl Nickel,
The Curious Plantsman
As conscientious gardeners, many of us have added plants that attract pollinators to our corners of paradise. This includes butterflies of many kinds, including the well-known Monarch, Painted Lady and Anise Swallowtail. But there is even a more surefire way to attract particular butterflies and moths to your garden and that is by planting host plants for these winged pollinators. As we know, when butterflies first lay eggs on the leaves of their preferred host plant, those eggs hatch to become caterpillars, who then have a ready-made supply of nutritious leaves on which to grow and fatten. And surprisingly, these caterpillars can sometimes be as colorful and beautiful as the butterflies they eventually become. Today we take a closer look at this stage of our favorite California native butterfly life cycle.
Monarch
Easily our most famous Bay Area resident butterfly, Monarchs also have one of the most beautiful caterpillars. Large and long, they are immediately recognizable by their yellow, black and white striping. And where do you find them? Why on ‘milkweeds.’ Most famously, they lay their eggs on the ‘Butterfly weed’ (Asclepias species). The various Asclepias species contain a toxin called glycosides and Monarch caterpillars have adapted to be able to eat these toxic leaves. This toxin discourages creatures from making the Monarch caterpillar its lunch. Adult monarchs retain the toxins and if a bird tries eating one it is likely to have an unpleasant reaction, thus learning to avoid this butterfly.
Annie’s carries four native milkweeds – Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa and A. speciosa ‘Davis’), as well as the Narrow-Leafed milkweed (A. fascicularis) and the curious Nodding milkweed (A. glaucescens). Easy to grow and vigorous, milkweeds love the sun, good drainage and bloom all summer. This native is also a nectar source for a number of local butterflies
Pipevine Swallowtail
Perhaps the most beautiful butterfly in our region, this butterfly has dusky dark outer portions and iridescent blue inner portions. As its common name suggests, this guy prefers only one plant as its host – the California pipevine (Aristolochia californica) or California Dutchman’s-pipe. Though this native vine isn’t widespread, it is very easily grown in our gardens but does grow quite large and sprawling. This Swallowtail is prolific in laying eggs, which hatch to distinctive, chunky black caterpillars dotted dramatically with orange spots. They protect themselves by sequestering acids from the plants they feed on. The adults will feed on the nectar of a variety of local flowers. California pipevine is also a highly prized decorative vine, with small Dutchman’s pipe flowers that are oh so fun to look at.
Anise Swallowtail.
This beautiful yellow and black butterfly is very common in our area. Its caterpillar form is just as striking, a bright green with distinctive yellow spots framed by black borders. It has several host plants, including our native Cow Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum). You can also have great success, as I have, with the common fennel plant.
And we at Annie’s offer both the cow parsnip and a lovely variety of fennel called ‘Zefa Fino’ in the nursery. . Adult butterflies will seek out a great number of native flowers for food. It is one of the easiest and most reliable butterflies in our area. As to the host plants, they are extremely vigorous and more or less take care of themselves. They each get big, so you will have to ‘hunt’ for the tiny eggs when they appear.
Painted Lady
Painted Lady is one of the most familiar butterflies in our Bay Area gardens. A gorgeous orange, with black and orange banding on its upper wings and rows of small black markings on the lower wings, its caterpillar is no less striking. Completely black, with regularly spaced, narrow bands of yellow, black and white, this caterpillar’s unique appearance includes prickly black, branching spikes growing out of each of its body segments
. The main host plant for this gal is our wonderful California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica). This xeriscape plant needs almost no summer water and offers the most shimmering silvery foliage on 3-4′ H&W bushes. Though the flowers are small and indistinctive, this sagebrush still attracts plenty of ‘Ladies.’
California Tortoiseshell
This lovely smaller-sized butterfly has an appearance similar to the Painted Lady. Its black banding is however only along the upper margins of its wings and it possesses no lower black spots. Its caterpillar has a subtle charm, being a patterned gray, with small yellow blotches and less obvious yellow bristles than those on the Painted Lady.
These beautiful butterflies like to lay their eggs on our local California lilacs (Ceanothus) and Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos). That includes the prolific blooming Ceanothus thyrsiflorus and the taller C. ‘Ray Hartman’, though this butterfly likes all Ceanothus species. And Ceanothus species are one of the great native shrubs to add to your garden. A variety of bees and butterflies feed on the flowers’ nectar and songbirds will feed on the seeds that form in the late fall.
Mormon Metalmark
This beautiful butterfly displays a most intriguing pattern, with a chocolate brown body dramatically dotted with white spots. This area is contrasted by bright orange on the upper wings next to the head. Dramatic is an apt description. The caterpillar is also striking in its own right, displaying a purple body and rows of paired yellow spots around the circumference of its body.
You’ll find this beauty munching on the leaves of our native Seaside buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium). Many of you know that California buckwheats are one of the great pollinator plants to add to our gardens. Visited it seems by every bee, butterfly, hummer, beneficial fly & wasp, this prolific bloomer also provides copious fall seed for songbirds. Very durable and easy to grow, Seaside buckwheat is the gift that keeps on giving.
Silvery Blue Butterfly
There may be no prettier butterfly in our Bay Area than the quixotic Silver Blue Butterfly. A gorgeous sky blue throughout, with delicate white veining and a dramatic black border, this elusive butterfly can sometimes be a bit hard to find. And given that its caterpillar is a plain green oblong creature, it seems like this butterfly is the proverbial ugly-duckling-into-a-swan in the world of butterflies.
Its favorite host plant is the native Yellow Coastal Bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus). Forget what you know about little hybrid lupines. This vigorous herbaceous lupine gets to a robust 4’x4′ and in late spring is smothered in cheerful yellow flowers displayed on tall spikes. A magnet for bees as well as a number of local butterflies, this native provides lots of leaves for Silvery Blue caterpillars. Just give it sun and good drainage.
Orange Sulphur moth
The Orange Sulphur’s appearance may not be dramatic but its soft colors are no less alluring. It displays pale yellow wings with an orange aura, bordered by a ribbed, soft brown color. Sublime. It too has a green caterpillar that is meant to ‘hide’ against the green background of the lupine leaves it prefers.
That would be the lovely Silver Bush lupine (Lupinus albifrons). It too forms a voluminous bush (42” x 42”) and produces soft green foliage with a shimmering silvery cast. It produces 8-12” high spikes of fragrant purple flowers throughout the late spring and summer that attract a variety of pollinators. Give it sun, good drainage and deadhead the flowers for prolonged blooming.
Variable Checkerspot
You might think of this black-winged native butterfly as the ‘goth’ member of the family. Black-as-night wings are generously dotted with rows of white spots, with just a few orange spots on the top wings for a touch of color. That color scheme is carried over to the caterpillar.
Black, with rows of orange spots, it is an eating machine on its favorite host plant – the Sticky Monkey flower (Mimulus aurantiacus). For those of you that hike our north bay regions, you have no doubt come across patches of this hardy sub-shrub. Both its orange-flowering straight species and its yellow, pink and red hybrids are magnets for a variety of local pollinators, while our goth friend will happily munch down on this drought tolerant perennial.
Planting & Caring for Host Plants
Virtually all of the plants mentioned here are sun-loving (the Cow Parsnip is part shade) so give them lots of light. And generally speaking, they want good drainage. That’s especially important for the Lupines. Within the above group, only the Lupines and the California pipevine are deciduous, though the Cow parsnip and fennel may shed some leaves. Other than providing healthy plants, there are no special care instructions for attracting the butterflies to lay eggs. It is when the caterpillars appear that one needs to pay attention. First off, you don’t want to remove the caterpillars you are hoping to host. And one has to live with the fact that they will be eating a certain amount of the plant’s leaves. When they are fat enough, they will spin a cocoon and gestate until it’s time for the adult butterfly to emerge.
It is worth mentioning that one should not, under any circumstances, use a pesticide, organic or chemical, on your host plants (or any nearby plants). If there are unwanted bugs on your host plant, you can gently pick them off. On this note, Annie’s does not spray its plants with the Bt caterpillar insecticide, meaning it is safe to grow our plants as host plants. However, Annie’s strongly advises that plants you intend to use as host plants, be thoroughly rinsed with water and quarantined for at least one week before setting out into your garden. In addition, they recommend the plant be allowed to grow for at least one year, so that it has time to grow enough leaves to sustain a hungry caterpillar before allowing it to become a host plant. See more details here.
If birds are eating your caterpillars, you might consider putting a fine netting around the plant. Use stakes and make a little house, making sure not to just drape the netting over the plant as the bird beak can squeeze through the net’s grid and grab a juicy caterpillar. The netting will still let light through and let you watch the progress from egg to caterpillar to butterfly.
A little research on the butterfly you hope to attract and lay eggs will let you know the plants they often seek out for nectar. These plants may first attract adult butterflies, who then spot that host plant you’ve provided for them. That in turn may tempt them to lay eggs there. Adding nectar-rich plants may also attract other butterflies to your garden too!
Availability
Just so everyone knows, some of the Annie’s Annuals plants mentioned here might not be available on the week that you’re reading this blog article. Some of the plant varieties discussed are only available in our retail nursery in Richmond CA. This is generally due to us only being able to grow small crops or the fact that the particular plant does not ship well. A quick look at that plant’s page will let you know if it’s available. If not, just click the Add to Wishlist button and we’ll notify you when that plant is ready to take home.
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